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I have lived in Hampton Roads most of my life and hurricanes, Nor ’easters and tornados. This year I am married and a mother of two rambunctious toddlers. When preparing for a natural disaster it is stressful, especially when you have kids.
I had started preparing for hurricane season back in June because my state does tax-free holidays to prepare for hurricane season. Here was my list for the tax-free holiday
Tax-Free
-batteries
-Flashlight
-water (Jug)
-canned veggies
-can tuna
-corned beef (Canned)
-Canned fruits
Here is my list six days before Hurricane Irene
-Water
-Bread Flour
-3 Dozen eggs
-Refill on medications
-Butter
-3 Jugs Milk
-Apple Juice
This time around I knew that the bakery will sell out of bread, I figure I should bake my own bread and perhaps bake several dozen cookies. I also canned my own pickles back in June, we never opened and jam. My husband made sure we had our hand cranked radio charged as well as our laptops, tablet computers, Cell phones.
The day before the storm my family had a “scavenger hunt” making sure that everything that can be blown away is inside the house. While my family clean up our yard and tie everything down, I took pictures of our home, for home insurance purpose. We (as a family) Cleaned the house inside and out filling the bath tub with water to flush the toilet. We also packed as if we were going on vacation because we might have to evacuate our home if the storm has not weakened. I also washed ALL the diapers (we use cloth diapers) and baby wipes (cloth).
Our Hurricane Party
My family decided to ride out the storm and we had a little hurricane party. Our day was spent watching movies, playing videogames all day and eating. We were lucky that our power didn’t go out but we had an enjoyable time together. The kids were very well behaved and were not scared of the destructive wind and rain.
The next day after the storm, I feel that the hurricane was not that bad. My husband and I took Pictures of the house for the insurance company and we sure our loved ones were doing well. We took the kids and head to the beach. We couldn’t think of a more perfect way to end a stressful week of preparing for a hurricane and staying in for a whole day.
