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Methuselah 
LSU Fan
On da Riva
Member since Jan 2005
10836 posts
 Online
| Your Hurricane Preparation - what worked, what could be improved and any tips (Posted on 9/4/12 at 3:24 pm)
Since we're on the downside of this thing now, I guess it would be a good time for everyone to chime in on how their prep held up. And of course any special things you do to prepare that may not be widely done. Here's a brief rundown of my prep.
- Boarding: worked well but I think I'm going to go with all functioning shutters. (For some reason my house has about 1/2 real shutters and about 1/2 faux which requires me to haul boards out. I'm getting kinda old for that but luckily my son is now old enough to help with the heavy stuff.
- Water - held up well. Had 3 cases of 16 ounce bottles and about another 5 one gallon jugs. Also had a 5 and a 10 gallon container I filled with tap for flushing if I needed. Water never went out though.
- Generator. Worked very well. I have a fairly small one (5500 I think) but it did what I needed it to. Ran 2 refrigerator/freezers, enough to keep things frozen/cold, enough lights for at night, small window AC that I put in my living room window and the washer (I'd unplug one of the fridges when I washed just to be on the safe side) and a couple of small fans. Lot of my neighbors have gone with the back feeding from the generator through the dryer but I've been hesitant so far.
- that's enough for now - might chime in with the other stuff later in the thread.
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rmc
LSU Fan
Zachary, LA
Member since Sep 2004
21142 posts
| re: Your Hurricane Preparation - what worked, what could be improved and any tips (Posted on 9/4/12 at 3:35 pm to Methuselah)
We always have water, and usually stock up an extra case or two of 16 oz bottle, but its not something we worry about like we probably should.
On generators -- we do one of two things right after power comes back that saves us some trouble later. Either (1) drain all of the gas out or (2) put sta-bil or some other product in. It is just easier for us to drain it and use it for the lawn mower or whatever. Before the hurricane we change the oil in all of them (we have 4 that are stored in my shed).
We also took some small rebar bent like a candy cane and used it to fasten my kids swing set and trampoline to the earth.
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Shankopotomus 
USA Fan
Waiting on my Hornets Team Icon
Member since Feb 2009
16856 posts
| re: Your Hurricane Preparation - what worked, what could be improved and any tips (Posted on 9/4/12 at 4:04 pm to rmc)
just curious, how do you drain your generator?
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gmrkr5
LSU Fan
BR
Member since Jul 2009
5428 posts
| re: Your Hurricane Preparation - what worked, what could be improved and any tips (Posted on 9/4/12 at 4:46 pm to Shankopotomus)
the generator leaking gas out of the shutoff valve was not cool... didnt do it when i changed the oil the week before the storm. went to give it a quick once over Tuesday night before things got ugly and it started leaking. turned it off and on a few times and it stopped but something is still weird. had to fiddle with the choke to get it to even out while running.
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4LSU2
LSU Fan
Madisonville
Member since Dec 2009
14387 posts
| re: Your Hurricane Preparation - what worked, what could be improved and any tips (Posted on 9/4/12 at 4:59 pm to Methuselah)
I loaded the family up Monday evening around 6 PM and drove to the in-laws in Shreveport. I-10 was a parking lot around BR. Here is what worked...
I took Hwy 25 from Covington to the state line where it became MS Hwy 27. I stayed on 27 to Monticello, MS where I caught Hwy 84. I took 84 West all the way to Alexandria where I picked up I-49. The entire trip took me 5 1/2 hours with a 30 minute stop to eat and gas up. The ride usually is 4 1/2 to 5 hours taking the normal route through BR, depending on traffic. The roads to Alexandria were vacant as could be, and much better than fighting interstate parking lot traffic.
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tracytiger
LSU Fan
Baton Rouge
Member since May 2009
1598 posts
Online
| re: Your Hurricane Preparation - what worked, what could be improved and any tips (Posted on 9/4/12 at 5:16 pm to 4LSU2)
I left and had a really long vacation. Monday before the storm until Labor Day.
I'm still scratching my head that I ran away from a tropical storm. When I was younger, we laughed at tropical storms. I looked at the worst storms to hit Baton Rouge, Betsy and Audrey happened before I was born, Andrew was the worst one I had experienced and then wham, bam we get Gustav and Isaac.
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4LSU2
LSU Fan
Madisonville
Member since Dec 2009
14387 posts
| re: Your Hurricane Preparation - what worked, what could be improved and any tips (Posted on 9/4/12 at 5:20 pm to tracytiger)
I know what you mean. My wife is expecting and we lost power in BR for 4 weeks after Gustav. I wasn't going through that shite again. I drank beer in a pool all day Tuesday and Wednesday up there.
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MoreOrLes
LSU Fan
Member since Nov 2008
14907 posts
| re: Your Hurricane Preparation - what worked, what could be improved and any tips (Posted on 9/4/12 at 5:31 pm to Methuselah)
No Boarding
Plenty of Kentwood
2 Generators
4 window AC's from sears
AX,Prybar and cordless saw in attic
Never even lost power for more than 5 minutes
PURE LUCK
This post was edited on 9/4 at 5:32 pm
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Dorothy
LSU Fan
Munchkinland
Member since Oct 2008
13339 posts
| re: Your Hurricane Preparation - what worked, what could be improved and any tips (Posted on 9/4/12 at 6:26 pm to Methuselah)
I bought extra cases of water (16 oz bottles), even though we've never needed it in BR for any storm I remember. I figured we could always use it later, especially since we drink bottled water at our camp.
Cleaned out old/nasty stuff from all our freezers before the storm to make room in the freezer, then froze a bunch of the water bottles so they would be small chunks of ice to help keep things cold in case our generator failed. We never lost power, but I offered my "ice stash" to a couple of friends who were in search of ice to keep their food cold after the storm.
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Napoleon 
New Orleans Saints Fan
La Nouvelle-Orléans
Member since Dec 2007
23911 posts
| re: Your Hurricane Preparation - what worked, what could be improved and any tips (Posted on 9/4/12 at 7:33 pm to Methuselah)
I either want to convert my generators to natural gas, buy a whole home unit, or buy bulk gas. The hardest thing was the struggle to fill the cans those first few days. Usually we go with two generators. One to power the a/c and one to power the house. This year we only had one. So we had a window unit, then every 115v circuit in the house. We have a 40 amp input for the generator, then cut the breaker for the A/C compressor and fan and then hook to that as well with a dedicated unit.
Though I want a 11kw whole home.
Water and food we did well on, I will get dry ice for next time as well.
Never boarded windows.
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d6k
LSU Fan
New Orleans
Member since Dec 2005
995 posts
| re: Your Hurricane Preparation - what worked, what could be improved and any tips (Posted on 9/4/12 at 8:32 pm to Methuselah)
quote:
- Generator. Worked very well. I have a fairly small one (5500 I think) but it did what I needed it to. Ran 2 refrigerator/freezers, enough to keep things frozen/cold, enough lights for at night, small window AC that I put in my living room window and the washer (I'd unplug one of the fridges when I washed just to be on the safe side) and a couple of small fans.
Same size as we had (although it was my neighbor that lent it to us) but we ran the same two fridges and one A/C unit and several fans...at certain times I would turn on my TV and directv and watch for a bit...also took some Christmas lights out the attic and plugged in three or four strands to give light in the kitchen and living room (worked well and used up very little energy)
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BottomlandBrew
LSU Fan
New Orleans
Member since Aug 2010
6632 posts
Online
| re: Your Hurricane Preparation - what worked, what could be improved and any tips (Posted on 9/4/12 at 8:46 pm to Methuselah)
What didn't work: I'm never evacuating to my MIL's house again. I'd rather put a bullet in my head. Next time I will go to my sister's. At least there I get to hang out with my nephew.
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NorthEndZone
LSU Fan
Member since Dec 2008
1763 posts
Online
| re: Your Hurricane Preparation - what worked, what could be improved and any tips (Posted on 9/4/12 at 9:17 pm to Methuselah)
Worked:
Turned A/C, freezer, and fridge colder several hours before I expected to lose power.
Cooked as much of the seafood and meat in freezer as possible before losing power.
Got extra ice as late as possible just before first squalls hit.
Kept doors closed as much as possible to keep indoor humidity much lower than outdoor and did not open windows. Slept reasonably well for 4 nights without a generator. Having 9 foot ceilings and a well-insulated house helps. 65% humidity and 81-82 degrees is bearable.
Used outdoor gas grill to cook defrosted meat that was not cooked earlier. Can also cook some seafood this way.
Most importantly, stuffed towels at bottom of outside doors to keep water driven by wind from wetting floors.
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TigerTatorTots
LSU Fan
The Rec, Middle Courts- retired
Member since Jul 2009
58129 posts
Online
| re: Your Hurricane Preparation - what worked, what could be improved and any tips (Posted on 9/4/12 at 9:47 pm to Methuselah)
<---Getting a whole home natural gas generator
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Ziggy
New Orleans Saints Fan
Ponchatoula, LA
Member since Oct 2007
18589 posts
| re: Your Hurricane Preparation - what worked, what could be improved and any tips (Posted on 9/4/12 at 9:54 pm to TigerTatorTots)
Same here.
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Spock's Eyebrow
LSU Fan
Member since May 2012
1224 posts
| re: Your Hurricane Preparation - what worked, what could be improved and any tips (Posted on 9/4/12 at 10:57 pm to Methuselah)
Filled a 5 day ice chest with 80 lbs of ice Monday and stored 50 more lbs in the freezers to replenish as necessary. This was so much better than being caught without ice and trying to find some the day after. However, we got lucky for once and only lost power for a couple of hours. The ice in the chest did last until Saturday, but that was with the house at 70-74F. Now I've turned off the icemaker and am loading the bin with the remaining bagged ice to use it up. 
We only had one radio, and it was impossible to find a decent little radio locally the day before the storm. The one I bought at Best Buy Tuesday is a real POS (Insignia Armband Radio) and going back. I ordered another for next time off Amazon (Sony SRF-M37W), and it works good.
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LSU2001
LSU Fan
Member since Nov 2007
929 posts
| re: Your Hurricane Preparation - what worked, what could be improved and any tips (Posted on 9/5/12 at 7:43 am to Spock's Eyebrow)
20 kw whole home natural gas generator with 200 amp transfer switch installed 2 years ago when I built my house worked really well. Was able to keep everything running with no problem. I did only run it at night because I didn't want to have a huge gas bill.
I didn't board/shutter anything and I should have. During the storm my east facing front door was pushed open at the top and wind driven rain was forced into the house. Shutters are definitely budgeted before next season. Water was no problem because I had plenty of bottled and I have a 600 gallon spa to use for flushing if necessary. However, water service never had an issue. Biggest thing I didn't think about was how to watch TV and didn't have a digital antenna That was fixed as soon as stores opened. Overall, I was well prepared and did fine. We were without power for 7 days.
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LSURussian
LSU Fan
Baton Rouge
Member since Feb 2005
63203 posts
Online
| re: Your Hurricane Preparation - what worked, what could be improved and any tips (Posted on 9/5/12 at 8:52 am to Methuselah)
I need to start my portable generator a few times a year if it hasn't been used for a hurricane.
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jmarto1
LSU Fan
Houma, LA
Member since Mar 2008
10042 posts
| re: Your Hurricane Preparation - what worked, what could be improved and any tips (Posted on 9/5/12 at 9:41 am to Methuselah)
Stayed with my parents in Slidell. The biggest thing that worked? My mom had a separate electric pole put in on her property just for her and buried as much of the lines as she could. Never lost electricity. We did forget to get a camping toilet since we new that the toilets wouldn't flush.
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Crawdaddy
LSU Fan
Slidell
Member since Sep 2006
9617 posts
| re: Your Hurricane Preparation - what worked, what could be improved and any tips (Posted on 9/5/12 at 11:34 am to jmarto1)
My house in Slidell never lost power or tv.
I had plenty of water, beer, ice, and food. I had access to a local store for more suplies if needed.
I will never board up.
If I lost power and could not deal with it after a few days, I would have ran up to my Dad's place.
All covered
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