What are the disaster recovery limits of the US government? What is the nation truly capable of recovering from? I have never considered this question until the 2017 hurricane outbreak. Even the 2011 tornado outbreak didn’t test my conscience the way this did.
When does the US government tap out? While its hard for Americans to believe it, resources have their limits. There is only so much that can be done by a government when storms of this size keep coming. What will the 2018 hurricane season look like and how will the earthquake threats of 2018 strain the governments ability to administer disaster relief?
You are the only one with your family’s best intentions in mind. You must be prepared, come what may. Now that we have some time to prepare for the coming hurricane season. I am going to give you 14 things to stockpile for the next hurricane:
#1. Water
The number one issue that hurricane survivors face is access to clean water. That might be clean water for hygiene or clean water for drinking. Either way, the flood waters are all contaminated and so are most local bodies of water.
Whether you decide to buy retail water or store water in specialized containers like water bricks, this should be priority number one.
#2. Gasoline
In my world gasoline is the doorway to success, in regard to hurricane preparedness. Generating power using gasoline is how I create comfort, safe food and quality of life after hurricanes. The generator was an investment but it’s the gasoline that makes her go.
I lived through a hurricane without a generator and I promised that would never happen again. Now its up to me to keep enough gas on hand to assure the generator runs. Get some nice large gas cans and find a safe place to store them while full.
Masking tape and marker can be used to date the gas. You should know how long its been around, so you can gauge if it needs to be used up soon or not. You don’t want to be dependent on stale gasoline.
Related: How To Make Fuel From Birch
#3. Tarps
Hurricanes bring damage and they bring it in a big way. Downed power poles, trees or even flying debris can create gaping holes in your home. Having tarps at the ready will allow you to act fast to keep your home from being destroyed by water damage.
There is really no substitute for large tarps. Don’t open them and they store better. We try to buy a couple each year even if we hadn’t opened last years.
#4. Cordage
The tarps won’t do ya much good if you cannot tie them down. It’s important that you have cordage on hand for these types of scenarios. There are a million and one ways that having rolls of cordage on hand can help. I like to keep two types on hand specifically. I like to have thick rope on hand as well as paracord.
Care for your cord and store it somewhere dry and if you are looking for efficiency in the face of disaster, keep it close to the tarps.
#5. Batteries
Batteries are entertainment, they are light, and they are communications. I have two-way radios, flashlights and toys that are all part of my hurricane preparedness plans. While I have made a conscious effort to move away from batteries and to solar USB power, there are some things that need those lithium ions.
I am a battery on clearance kind of guy. I don’t buy cheap brand batteries. I find them useless, but I do look for quality brands on sale.
Related: Which Batteries Are Best for Survival Situations?
#6. 2 Cycle Oil
If you have made the commitment to store the gasoline, you should also have the two-cycle oil for your machines and tools. Primarily, I keep this on hand for the chainsaw. If you have anything that can impede your routes of escape or fall onto your property you should have a chainsaw. If you have a chainsaw you better be able to fuel and sharpen it.
#7. Flashlights
The way that I govern flashlights in my own stockpile requires two very distinct types of flashlights. For my wife and I its important that we both have high lumen, reliable, high quality lights. So, having at least two of these on hand is important to me.
Having two young kids I also like to have options for them. So, I buy inexpensive flashlights that are powered by AAA batteries. I want flashlights in every room, but I don’t want to spend $40 on Olights in every room.
Small lanterns can also be a big help. The pop up lanterns are very impressive in how much of a room they can light up.
#8. Cash
As Americans we really stink at saving money. So, it would stand to reason that we are also pretty bad at saving cash, maybe worse.
Hurricanes bring on sweeping power outages. These are indiscriminate. Which means they shut your lights out just as quick as the banks and the power to ATMs. How are you going to get the things you need if all your money is saved in a bank?
A serious emergency fund is quite the goal. A dream would be to have 3 months of living expenses in metals and cash. That is lofty stuff. Still, there is no better time to start than now. Start putting a little hurricane cash away for a rainy and windy day.
#9. Ready to Eat Foods
Sometimes trivial things like your favorite foods will offer you serious comfort after a disaster. You might be trapped in your neighborhood, you might have lost all the food in your fridge and it will be important that you have an option or options, for your breakfast, lunch and dinner.
You don’t have to go the route of 25-year shelf life food storage options. You can also buy foods that are ready to go out of the package. I like having nuts, granola, beef jerky and canned fish around. These are great options. Canned fruit is another great option.
If you find pleasure in high calorie bars, they are great to keep on hand, as well. When disaster strikes, don’t even worry about dinner. Have it on hand already.
#10. Combat One’s Full Spectrum Hygiene System
This is a newer product that I have fallen in love with. It’s a waterless hygiene product that uses the power of colloidal silver to kill bacteria and get your body clean. Staying clean when the water is out, and the power can be a real challenge. Infection becomes a real concern when traipsing through flood waters.
The summer heat can create some serious stink in a week’s times without water. Instead of wasting precious water on cleaning yourself, stockpile the tactical bath by Combat One. It’s an eight-cloth pack designed to clean your whole body.
#11. First Aid
People get hurt and killed in hurricanes all the time. The high winds send debris flying and trees falling. Sometimes a simple tourniquet can be the difference between keeping someone alive or not. At the very least you should have a family sized first aid kit on hand.
I think its important to have one household first aid hub and trauma kits elsewhere. I keep them in bags and vehicles.
#12. Basic OTC Medicines
If you live through a devastating hurricane you are gonna have a headache. Be prepared with a stockpile of medicines for everyone in your house. That means you must include little ones as well. Make sure you can handle things like fever, stomach issues, cough, cold and pain.
Buy your meds and rotate them out. While they can be used past their expiration date they may not be as effective.
#13. Ammunition
Another hurricane recovery standard, unfortunately, is looting. If you have anything of value, you better have a way to protect it. That could be a business, valuables at home or even the guns themselves. There are some people who know no bounds when it comes to their evil. Even in times of great despair they will come after what’s not theirs.
Read our article on buying bulk ammo cheap and start your stockpile today.
#14. Alternate Cooking Fuel
If you do plan on cooking be sure you have alternate fuel sources. Rocket stoves or camping stoves are great ways to cook but you must have the fuel you need to keep them burning.
I keep a single burner stove that is fueled by small, screw on propane gas. This single burner setup allows me to cook hot food. While the hurricane season happens in the summer, there will come a time when your body is hungry for a hot meal.
Tax Free Holiday
The very best opportunity to build your hurricane stockpile is to take advantage of various states tax free holidays. There are 9 states across the nation that are currently offering these.
This is a great time to make that purchase of a more expensive item. Save money on a great generator by waiting for the tax-free holiday. Below I have listed each state involved and the dates of their event.
Happy hunting!
- Texas (energy star products, air conditioners) May 26-28th, 2018
- Florida (hurricane preparedness equipment) Jun 1-7th, 2018
- Virginia (energy star products) Aug 3-5th, 2018
- Louisiana (firearms & hunting supplies) Aug 31-2nd, 2018
- Florida (energy star/WaterSense products) Sep 21-23rd, 2018
- Georgia (energy star/WaterSense products) Cancelled
- Maryland (energy star products) Feb 16-18th, 2019
- Alabama (hurricane preparedness supplies) Feb 22-24th, 2019
- Missouri (energy star products) Apr 18-24th, 2019
- Texas (Emergency supplies) Apr 27-29th, 2019
- Louisiana (hurricane preparedness items) Cancelled
You may also like:
11 Unusual and Uncommon First Aid Items
How To Make Your House Invisible To Looters (Video)
9 Places to Scavenge After SHTF
Gasoline is Not a necessity. But a battery operated fan is. Get off the petrol. I have live thur hurricane all my life in Fl. Water batteries, more water . a headlight LED, rario andfan. Food of course.
I loved our battery operated fan and a small battery TV. OK, it was only black and white. But it gave us plenty of information.
I don’t think this list can stop at fourteen items. When something huge like this happens then there will be a shortage of everything. I didn’t see toilet paper there. Who wants to go without that? The way I see it is whatever you use on a daily basis is what you need in an emergency situation. Of course focus on the greatest needs first and the article does mention some. Food, water, self defense, medical. But what about tools? Personal hygiene? Wal-Mart may not be available for a month or so. After Katrina I went to Mississippi to visit family and we stopped at the local Walmart but was not allowed in. The supplies they had were being reserved for first responders and was being guarded by the national guard. Could not even get into Walmart. So what we had is what we had nothing else. What you have may only what you have for months so get it now. I have several Tupperware boxes full of everything my family uses every day ready to be used when necessary. Medical, personal hygeine(including feminine products, tooth paste, tooth brushes, hair brushes, wipes, etc), tools, clothes, paper towels, extra chainsaw chains. You know everyday items. Get them now a little at a time and before you know it in a couple years time your storage area will be full. Just keeping it real.
Forgot to mention, FEMA has already come out and told America they are not ready for multiple national disasters. Maybe one and that is all. If there are several that hit this year then many will not get federal aid. We will see a shortage of supplies even all the way up to New York if the hurricane hits our southern coast. Good thing the author is stocking up on tarps because those are gone within hours to patch up leaking roofs. And tarps are picked up from stores a state or two away because all are depleted. It can happen verrry quickly. Bottled waters gone in hours, plywood boarding windows, nails, screws, gone. PVC fittings and pipe and glue gone and depleted during freezes. Better get it now.
Not mentioned very often – but equally important – the Emergency Command Centers for the Big Box Stores like Wally World and Home Depot would also be overwhelmed by multi-disaster (nationwide) SHTFs ….
I do not live in a hurricane area but your suggestions are spot on for any disaster. You mention storing gasoline…how long can fuel be stored?
Rick, If you buy an additive called Stabil and follow the directions on the bottle you can make gasoline last at least a year. I add it to the gas in my lawn tractor every Fall and my tractor starts right up roughly 6 months later in Spring when we have good enough weather to cut the grass. Works every time.
If you buy Regular gas without the alcohol it will last much longer. It’s pricey, in my area a good .30 cents higher, but worth it. Have not had to replace fuel lines since I started.
If you use a product called PRI-G or PRI-D, G for Gasoline and D for diesel fuel, you can store fuel forever, but retreating in 5 or 6 years might be needed depending on storage conditions.
Just to give you an idea, I bought around 3,500 gallons and I still have the slip some where, but that #2 off road diesel for my generator, was $0.63 a gallon, so that tells you how long its been around. I bought it in 1996 I believe it was.
I opened it up a couple years ago to check it and it was still the EXACT shade of pink as the fuel I had just purchased, and I never retreated it, but I did seal the tanks up air tight and they were FULL with hardly any air inside it. I ran it in the generator to exercise it for a few hours, and it ran perfectly.
PRI products are the only thing for long term storage. Even the military uses it for their fuel reserves.
Mine is much simpler.
1. Non perishable food
2. Bottles of water
3. Gas stove
4. Extra clothes and blankets
5. Flashlights and lanterns
6. Medical supplies
That’s a good list for any circumstances, but a major disaster like a hurricane could probably do with some extras. James mentioned tarps, for example. After a hurricane you’ll probably still be living in your house, unless it was totally destroyed, and you’ll want to weatherproof any storm damage as well as you can.
Solar powered flashlights.
We used them during our last hurricane.
I use the batteries that are made to recharge tablets and smartphones to power my LED flashlights. I have to rewire the flashlights either directly or with a micro USB plug. I was able to run a 300-lumen flashlight for three days straight from a 10,000 mAH battery. That is 5 volts 10amps. It ran for around 80 hours straight. Christmas of 2015 the Tractor Supply Co. was selling a little flashlight that was powered by a rechargeable lithium battery that could recharge a basic flip-phone one or two times. It had a strobe light and a flashlight mode and that was it. No red covers or anything to prevent losing your night vision. I bought one at $20 and then they went on sale so I bought some more then after Christmas they went on sale for $5 and I bought 10 of them. Gave em away as gifts. Wish I had kept some but they would probably be bad by now. To replace the batteries you had to destroy the body of the light.
Considering that hurricanes happen in places where the temperature can get quite hot, storing gasoline can be quite dangerous. Number one rule, make sure it is not stored anywhere where it can overheat and explode, and in the proper containers. That could mean don’t store at all, based on the first sentence. Keep your car tank full during hurricane season so you can use it for other things, if necessary.
Two way radios are a must. Family band radios are a good start, they require no FCC license, but a start is not a finish. With technicians ticket, 2 meter is a step forward from that, and many people have VHF radios as well as UHF. The need for more than local communication can make itself known in a hurry.
With a general class license, you can use long distance capable bands in the HF range. This includes, but is not limited to 20, 40, and 80 meters. Long wire antennas can be strung or thrown into trees for distance communication.
If you are a general class license holder, you will probably already have a camping or remote area HF antenna in a bag or backpack around the hamshack.
The farther you can communicate, the better prepared you can remain during an emergency. Two meter repeaters may be off line, and digital repeaters may be down for longer than analog ones. 20 meters is a good long range band, 40 is as well, but you have to be a general class operator to use it legally.
Ham clubs will help you get the licenses you need, and can help get the equipment you will need to transmit and receive. Mobile and battery powered units are good to have. You can use a mobile outside of a car if you have a working 12 v battery.
If you decide to get a license and ham rig and license, use it before an emergency happens, partly because you will know where in each band you use, help is likely to be found, but having people who will be listening for your call sign increases the chance of help being available.
Unless it is a national disaster, it is unlikely the radius of damage will be more than the reach of a ham radio. If you keep a radio in your car, and are not immediately or adversely affected by the situation, you can find out what help they already have and what help people need right now.
Ham radio is not grid dependent, mobile ham radio is more independent that a base station, even if the base station has independent power and replacement antennas.
@Kenn: apparently, you still can’t talk to relatives that live 800-900 miles away, or even 150 miles. That is what I need to have to talk to my 2 children. I thought you could talk across continents…..guess that’s only in the movies. PLUS THEY need to have a hamm radio, and they are younger with families and wouldn’t be able to get it and keep it ready.
You piqued my interest with the body-washing alternative. To the point that I wanted to do some research and maybe purchase the body cleaning wipes you mentioned. But this is what I found:
“Colloidal silver… can build up in your body’s tissues over months or years. Most commonly, this results in argyria (ahr-JIR-e-uh), a blue-gray discoloration of your skin, eyes, internal organs, nails and gums. While argyria doesn’t usually pose a serious health problem, it can be a cosmetic concern because it doesn’t go away when you stop taking silver products.
Rarely, excessive doses of colloidal silver can cause possibly irreversible serious health problems, including kidney damage and neurological problems such as seizures.
Colloidal silver products may also interact with medications, including penicillamine (Cuprimine, Depen), quinolone antibiotics, tetracycline and thyroxine (Unithroid, Levoxyl, Synthroid) medications.”
So, I’m going to stick with my vinegar bath, and essential oils to combat bacteria.
As far as I know colloidal silver is only a problem if you’re ingesting it, which some people do. There’s a (false) belief that taking colloidal silver will “detoxify” your body. It won’t; it will just turn you blue. Using it in body wipes should be fine though.
Claude, the issue for silver is taking LARGE amounts of it. The use of 20 to 40 ppm Colloidal silver is not going to turn anyone blue. There are supportive documents to be found at Internet sites that explain how to use silver. Silver can be used as an anti-bacterial medicine, so long as no one gets the idea that they need grams or ounces of silver per dose. You do not, and, where silver meets bacteria, bacteria dies. Bacteria never develops a resistance to silver. Before penicillin, silver was the #1 antibiotic.
Also, sun-bathing is a natural way to kill bacteria on the skin. Spend one hour completely nude in the UV rays of the sun (no more than 1 hour) per day, and that kills much of the bacteria.
This is true, but it might not be the most practical way of keeping yourself clean and hygienic during a bugout. I’d definitely be interested in anything that let me have a quick wash without needing to use precious water supplies.
I would add a handheld dual band radio, with a battery replacer if a vehicle is available after the fact. Two batteries and a way to charge them, like a small inverter you could run off a car battery would be helpful. Two meter is a ham band , as is 70cm, but they only require a technicians license. The process of getting a tech license does not involve learning Morse code. after a disaster, ham radio is one of the first links to get help to the injured or those trapped in a place they can not get outside of. Being a member of a ham club is beneficial for many reasons, two of them are they will come looking for you, and you will already know the set of frequencies they will be using. Being trained in basic first aid can keep you alive until help arrives, if there are injuries. having a radio and first aid training are two big things after a hurricane that can get you located.
PRI-G, for gasoline, and PRI-D for diesel are the best fuel treatments to keep these fuels for long periods of time. The pink stuff from Walmart is not as good as the PRI-G, or PRI-D products. They are available through Amazon.
Gasoline for long term buy MARINE GRADE …it cot more and DOES NOT contain Ethanol…….Ethanolwithout additives MIGHT last 30 days IF THAT WITHOUT ADDITIVES….it absorbs water
No one mentioned baby diapers…..One has babies ine is going to need a lot of them.
No one mentioned a shovel…..among other things it can be used to dig a make shift slit trench or dig cat holes to poop and cover up….Such hygiene is most important and do not locate such to cause contamination….stud up on proper field hygiene!
People with working toilets and septic tanks can use water from a pool or collected from standing water to flush their toilets but BEWARE of over using the flush as you might overload the system if the drainage is bad.. and it can back up and YOU DO NOT WANT THAT!
One can buy 5 gallon buckets with a toilet seat and use plastic bag liners and tie the bag off and dispose of it..
One best make alternative plans to take care of business and keeping clean and properly dispose of waste.
Water Fill all of our tubs and those clean milk jugs and plastic bottles Two Liter or whatever you have. Do Not FORGET to drain your water heater for water. ou can take those plastic bottle in your freezer and use them in coolers and drink them as they thaw.
FREEZERS take a plastic cup fill it with water and let it freeze an put a quarter on top…….keep it there…. as long as the quarter is on top of the ice food is good to eat…..If you have a generator depending on ts size you can power the Freezer for a few hours and then power something else such as your tv and computers.
A small Honda generator at 1KW can say run our freezer or Refrigerator for a fe hours set them at their lowest settings to keep as cold as possible… then use the generator say for TV Internet and computers….
We have one over 6KW and we can power most anything got it at Lowes around $600.00 or so…. runs 14 hours on a full load. e have thought about hooking it up to the house……. Also have thought about hooking it up to propane so we don’t have to go out and fill it up. We have a Propane oven and stove……and a large tank….
so cooking is no problem…
We use numerous heavy gauge extension cords and those surge protectors….
Stock up on Charcoal one can alas gook with it OUTSIDE….I use a Chimney and newspaper with a few squirts of cooking oil on the newspaper to light the charcoal….No liter fluid neede
As long as your car runs you can get several USB plugs for the cigarette lighter charger ports and charge your phones tablets even some laptops….. buy several they are inexpensive… make sure you have appropriate cords cables as needed for the various devices……You can find them in packages in a lot of convenience stores at least where I live……..
more later
Just a thought…..A MAJOR Hurricane is about to Rock Hawaii…ALL of the Islands……The 13K Ft Mountains and their total effect on the storm will remain to be seen.
ALL of the people are being told to BUY AT LEAST TWO WEEKS WORTH OF FOOD AND WATER AND OTHER SUPPLIES!!!
That should be a good HEADS UP FOR EVERYONE…..MUCH BETTER than just a 72 hour supply that is just a minimum…Granted Hawaii is a group of islands Far from anywhere and a different situation from he Continental US.No Matter Supplies WILL BE LIMITED NO MATTER WHERE you may be!
The more supplies you have….. the better off you will be and BE READY to Protect them and your family or Ready to barter and help others WITHOUT hurting your supplies and your family.
Things like HARD CANDIES……..Butterscotch and various flavored candies…..great for kids for example are even great for adults. REMEMBER Vices!!!! Smoking and dip tobacco,, cigars and cigarettes….and alcohol even it you do not use such are great for Trade and Barter…..The more you have to offer the more comfortable you can be and Trade/Barter/Share with. In the long run and make new friends and alliances…….. perhaps help with your security…..Just an example……….Other items those handheld puzzles board and card games are another thought for Trade and Barter………….Boredom is severe with children and adults…………..Just some thoughts to consider…….
Seventy-two hours worth of supplies is a joke. Even FEMA realizes that now. They are now advising ten days worth of supplies. Again a joke. It takes FEMA at least three days to realize there is a problem, another three or four days to start the mobilization process and another three or more days to have the mobilization teams arrive on scene. The teams then have to set up and determine just what the problems are and how to address them.
THEN and only then do the relieve efforts start. And they start in the biggest population centers first. If you are in an outlying region, plan on seeing FEMA, if ever, in about a month to six weeks.
I think a 90 day supply of everything you might need is not unreasonable for the average disaster. A super disaster, probably a year is close to reality.
If you have lived in any region that gets hurricanes, snowstorms, tornados, earthquakes for any period of time you know how long it takes emergency forces to get into action in your area. If you haven’t lived in your neighborhood through one of the above mentioned natural happenings, ask your old-time neighbors who have lived in your neighborhood how long it takes responders to respond. They can clue you in on how much you need to lay in and what you need to lay in for your area.
Purchase airtight tubs that have multiple latches, they are on amazon as a 4 set. You can seal many item in these and put in dry goods to keep them safe from water damage.
I learned this the hard way……..
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017BZ839G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1