Storm Checklist

[coastie]

This is a checklist that I created a couple years ago for storms. It has gone through several changes and this is it currently. Has come in handy a couple times making sure we do everything. It is mostly geared towards snow and ice. For summer we leave the food in the fridge and run the generator based on fridge temp.

Storm Checklist

72 hrs before:
 Test generator, chainsaw and snow removal equipment. Ensure enough oil and mixed gas
 Check supply of gasoline. Fill 2 more plastic cans if looks real bad.
 Clear any debris or lawn furniture and toys from the yard
 Ensure all bottles are frozen in the freezer
 Check flashlights and oil lamps. Check battery and lamp oil supply.
 Check for coolers in garage
48 hrs before:
 Pick up any needed supplies. Get extra milk and other perishables.
 Do all laundry
 Top off vehicle tanks
 Fill wood rack and leave full wheelbarrow in garage
 Get $200 out of bank/ATM.
24 hrs before:
 Move vehicles in driveway
 Feed birds and chickens
 Move snow equipment to attached garage
 Eat leftovers etc out of fridge
 Get out stove, propane tank etc.
 Charge cell phones
 Clean up house
Imminent:
 Move food in fridge freezer to deep freeze
 Put temp sensor in deep freeze and refrigerator
 Flashlights or LED lanterns in every room.
 Refill wheelbarrow with wood if needed.
 Move power supply into house
 Get showers
 Fill brew bucket with water in the kitchen and 2 buckets in the tub.
After Storm:
 If power is out move refrigerator food to cooler and put in garage with temp sensor once fridge hits 38
 Check house and garage for damage
 Clear driveway and clean off cars
 Get out the radio
 Set up propane stove
 Fire up generator when deep freeze hits 20

 

[sportycliff]

nice list, I think I'll steal it!

 

[MrsStrangeNH]

Nice list! Why is 38 your go temp for evacuating your fridge? My fridge is normally between 38-40.

 

[FPrice]

Actually it is a pretty good timeline. I do not think that there is anything on there which would be wasted if the storm did not hit. It gives you time to do these little chores before everyone else panics and allows for any unexpected problems to be resolved and dealt with.

It's a good list, but is the time line realistic? I can't remember ever being in a situation in New England, - with the way the weather changes-, where I was prepping 72 hrs before a storm hit. A monster storm 72 hrs out has always ended up being a dusting. And a rain storm 72 hrs out, ends up being an epic Ice Storm of 2008, etc.

We usually run through pretty much that entire list 6 hrs prior to getting hit by something that's been confirmed to be a bad storm.

 

[atmay]

Actually it is a pretty good timeline. I do not think that there is anything on there which would be wasted if the storm did not hit. It gives you time to do these little chores before everyone else panics and allows for any unexpected problems to be resolved and dealt with.

Most of the 72, 48 hour stuff seems like good things to do regularly anyway. No reason not to go through it all again real quick if a storm is forecast.

 

[atmay]

filling up the bathtub with water at the imminent point is also a good idea. just in case you have a problem with your generator. at least you can still manually flush the toilet while you fix the generator.

I've also seen big water bladders designed to fit in bathtubs, so you can fill your bathtub with water, and have it sit in a food-grade container instead of the bathtub your 5-year old pees in every day.

ETA: http://www.waterbob.com/

 

[coastie]

I've also seen big water bladders designed to fit in bathtubs, so you can fill your bathtub with water, and have it sit in a food-grade container instead of the bathtub your 5-year old pees in every day.

ETA: http://www.waterbob.com/

Wiyth a 5 yr old and a 2 yr old this is very true. The 2 5 gal buckets give me about 3 flushes and if the generator goes there are 3 ponds and a stream across the street. I looked at the Waterbob and how do you empty, clean it and save it for reuse?

The 72 hr list takes me about 15 minutes to do so it isnt much wasted effort. The issue there is usually batteries that got put in kids toys or run down Ryobi batts that need a recharge. I have a good idea about the other stuff so it just a quick glance in the garage to check the gas and fire up the other stuff.

38 is what is the upper safe level on the fridge thermometer I have.

 

[atmay]

Wiyth a 5 yr old and a 2 yr old this is very true. The 2 5 gal buckets give me about 3 flushes and if the generator goes there are 3 ponds and a stream across the street. I looked at the Waterbob and how do you empty, clean it and save it for reuse?

I don't own one myself, but the website says it comes with a siphon pump to get water out (for use, and emptying). For the cleaning, I can imagine it would be about the same as any other hydro bladder, light bleach solution and a rinse.

I'm almost tempted to order one just to see how well it works WRT to your concerns.

 

[ShadeWPI]

If I may adjust your list. It's very good, but I also think the time line may be a little off. As several people pointed out, we tend to have bad storms with little to no warning, so I think you should be at your 48-hour point of readiness continuously. That also keeps you from running out to buy supplies while everyone else is in the "pre-major storm panic" mode. Thanks for the suggestions though, I was missing a few.

Storm Checklist

At the start of the winter & once per month during winter:
 Test generator, chainsaw and snow removal equipment. Ensure enough oil and mixed gas
 Check flashlights and oil lamps. Check battery and lamp oil supply.
 Check for coolers in garage
 Refill gasoline supply
 Keep $200 in cash
 Move snow equipment to attached garage

Once a week:
 Check supply of gasoline. Fill 2 more plastic cans if looks real bad.
 Clear any debris or lawn furniture and toys from the yard
 Ensure all bottles are frozen in the freezer
 Pick up any needed supplies. Maintain a rolling 1-2 week suppply of perishables.
 Do all laundry
 Top off vehicle tanks
 Fill wood rack and leave full wheelbarrow in garage
 Charge cell phones (more often if there used more often. Don't let a cell phone drop below 1/2 charge if possible)
 Clean up house

12-24 hrs before store:
 Fill unused space in freezer with bottles or ziplock bags of water (water will hold temp much better than air space)
 Fill unused space in refrigerator with bottles of water (same as above)
 Arrange food by most parishable on bottom, least / water storage on top.
 Move vehicles in driveway
 Feed birds and chickens
 Eat leftovers etc out of fridge
 Get out stove, propane tank etc.

Imminent:
 Move food in fridge freezer to deep freeze
 Put temp sensor in deep freeze and refrigerator (best if its wireless)
 Flashlights or LED lanterns in every room.
 Refill wheelbarrow with wood if needed.
 Move power supply into house
 Get showers
 Fill brew bucket with water in the kitchen and 2 buckets in the tub.

After Storm:
 If power is out move refrigerator food to cooler and put in garage with temp sensor once fridge hits 38
 Check house and garage for damage
 Clear driveway and clean off cars
 Get out the radio
 Set up propane stove
 Fire up generator when deep freeze hits 20

 

[Yazz]

Water is always the key. I rotate 2 gallon plastic bottles and keep 25 gallons in long term storage. I also have a small stream nearby. I freeze 2 gallon plastic containers all the time. It will keep your cooler cold for several days and there is no water leakage.

 

[ShadeWPI]

Water is always the key. I rotate 2 gallon plastic bottles and keep 25 gallons in long term storage. I also have a small stream nearby. I freeze 2 gallon plastic containers all the time. It will keep your cooler cold for several days and there is no water leakage.

We like to use the 500ml water bottles. We freeze them in 2 different states. Fill them half-way with water and then freeze them on their side. The air keeps them from cracking the bottle and you can fill the other half with water just before you leave on a trip. The ice will melt and rapidly cool the water.

Fill them 90% of the way and leave them standing up with the cap off until they're frozen, then cap them. Less useful for water cooling, these are very effective at keeping a cooler cold for a long time. the smaller size allows them to be packed around stuff easier than large items.

The reason for putting as much water into the fridge as possible is water is 800 times as as air and has a much higher specific heat, so it holds many many times the thermal energy. Also, each time you open a fridge/cooler/freezer you loose some of the cold air that was in it. Adding a lot of water will help keep the fridge colder longer. Even when you're not responding to a loss of power, filling unused space in your fridge or freezer with water jugs can save a lot of power by reducing thermal loss when you open the fridge.

 

[coastie]

We use 2 liter soda bottles and the square juice bottles. As we add/remove food from the freezer we add/remove the bottles to keep the freezer full. If we lose power and move all the stuff to the chest freezer, the bottles we pull from the chest freezer go into the fridge. For long term water storage we have several of the blue 7 gal containers for portability and several drums for non portable. Use a simple siphon to empty them into a bucket. I figure it is about 30 days worth of water at realistic usage.

 

[Titan]

I don't own one myself, but the website says it comes with a siphon pump to get water out (for use, and emptying). For the cleaning, I can imagine it would be about the same as any other hydro bladder, light bleach solution and a rinse.

I'm almost tempted to order one just to see how well it works WRT to your concerns.

For $19.95 plus S&H you could afford to use it, or puncture it and let the water go down the drain. No need to clean it if you consider it disposable.

I plan to buy several to keep on hand.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

I looked at the Waterbob and how do you empty, clean it and save it for reuse?

You don't. The instructions say to slit the bladder when you are done and have the material recycled.

It's designed to be disposable. Even if it could be drained, I wouldn't want to use "fresh" water that came from a plastic bag that had been stored damp for months or years.

 

[atmay]

You don't. The instructions say to slit the bladder when you are done and have the material recycled.

It's designed to be disposable. Even if it could be drained, I wouldn't want to use "fresh" water that came from a plastic bag that had been stored damp for months or years.

I guess the ultimate solution here would be to install another bathtub, and keep the bladder full all the time.

At $20, it seems like a decent idea to pick a few up. It also seems easy enough to use that you shouldn't need to practice it ahead of time, either.

 

[P-14]

Don't forget the water in your hot water tank. Just kill the energy to the tank and use the 40-50 gallons there, too.

 

[Jose]

You could f around with bladders to fill your bathtub or you could just spray it with diluted chlorine bleach and rinse it before filling it.

 

[atmay]

You could f around with bladders to fill your bathtub or you could just spray it with diluted chlorine bleach and rinse it before filling it.

You could f around with chlorine bleach rinse your bathtub before filling it, or you could just put a bladder in there and fill that.

I suppose it all depends on your exact situation. Some of us (i.e., me) live in houses with 80 year old claw-foot tubs that will never come clean, not to mention having 3 women that use the shower on a regular basis. If you know your tub stays pretty clean to begin with, you're probably all set. Personally, I wouldn't drink water out of my bathtub, no matter how well bleached and rinsed it's been.


ETA: I don't work for, am in no way associated with, nor do I own stock in, the company that sells/makes the waterbob. I might just be feeling a bit argumentative tonight, and like I said, no way in hell will I ever drink out of my bathtub.

 

[coastie]

The other option would be to treat or filter the water in the bathtub that you are going to use for drinking. You can boil it, chlorine, backpacking filter etc. I would do this before I spent a lot of money on the Waterbobs. At what point to do you use it? If you fill one before every major storm and then not use the water and throw it out that could be a decent chunk of change every year. You would be better off buying a couple of drums and storing them full in your basement and changing the water out once a year or so. My barrels were old Coke barrels and I think I paid ten bucks a piece for them. Wash them out, bleach them and then fill them. I have a siphon hose to get water out of them if I need it. I havent yet but its there if the generator craps out. Another thing we have done is melt snow in buckets. Fill up a few buckets with packed snow and as it melts combine the buckets and go fill the empty ones again. Worked for our toilet and washing water. We had some drinking water but I wouldnt have hesitated to use the water for drinking after I boiled it one the stove.

 

[Andy in NH]

I installed a hand pump for all my water needs when the power goes out.

This will fill a 5-gallon can in about three minutes:

 

[coastie]

I installed a hand pump for all my water needs when the power goes out.

This will fill a 5-gallon can in about three minutes:

Guessing you dont have deep submersible pump? If so what type of pump is that?

 

[Andy in NH]

My well pump is set at 280', but the static water level is only 12' below ground and the hand pump is rated for 25'.

I don't recall the model number, but the company is called: Bison Hand Water Pumps

Made in Houlton, Maine!

 

[coastie]

So did you just T off your existing line? I have been looking at hand pump options for the house. So far all options have been on the wellhead but I like the idea of it in the house. I built a well bucket a few years ago but it really is a last resort as I would have to pull all the existing pump wires and pipe. I figure with rain catchment and nearby water sources I would most likely never use it.

 

[FPrice]

Everyone concerned with emergency preparations, especially those on the coast, might want to begin running this checklist this week. Huirricane Earl's 5-day prediction shows the outer parts of the storm brushing the coast of New England. Not a big threat at this time but the path could turn inward towards us or outwards to the ocean.

A good opportunity to review how you would prepare for a storm or other emergency by bumping your timeline against the progress of a real event.

 

[Andy in NH]

So did you just T off your existing line?

Yup:

Another member asked me this same thing in a PM, so I'll just paste it here:

I did install mine indoors - right next to the water treatment (I have iron in my water). To elaborate, all I did was call Bison (ask to speak with Lee) and tell them what I wanted to do. They asked a few simple questions; how deep is the well, what is the static level, how far is the cap from where you want the pump in the house, how big is the pipe. Lee was very helpful and answered all my questions to a T. The installation was easy - I did it myself. They provided the pump and all the hardwear. I bought some pipe and built the counter for the pump.

The pump was cut into the well pipe before the water gets to the water treatment. I can't tell the difference by taste of the water that come out of the hand pump.

The valve closest to the camera controls water to the house.

The valve connected to the vertical hose controls water to the hand pump.

 

[coastie]

Everyone concerned with emergency preparations, especially those on the coast, might want to begin running this checklist this week. Huirricane Earl's 5-day prediction shows the outer parts of the storm brushing the coast of New England. Not a big threat at this time but the path could turn inward towards us or outwards to the ocean.

A good opportunity to review how you would prepare for a storm or other emergency by bumping your timeline against the progress of a real event.

Heres my added list for Earl if it comes close:

 Fill empty NATO can
 Get more batteries
 Change the oil and filter in the generator
 Test the new camp stove
 4 sheets of ½” plywood

Wednesday/ Thurs

 Secure bees
 Tarp the firewood

Imminent

 Move chickens into coop and move chicken tractor to side of house

 

[eric_07]

Can someone explain the "deep freeze" referrals?

Thanks

 

[MisterHappy]

I gotta ask....If you're on town water, as opposed to a well, do you go get bottled water, and, if so, why?

 

[eric_07]

I gotta ask....If you're on town water, as opposed to a well, do you go get bottled water, and, if so, why?

I'm guessing if the power is out the town isn't going to have any running equipment to pump the water out to your house.

 

[MisterHappy]

Actually, it's never been an issue, (Framingham) All of the pumping stations have their own back-up systems for power, and pressure is maintained by gravity.

I figure that if the SHTF that badly, 10 gallons of Poland Springs will not make a huge difference....

I know that there is a large population on this board, and especially on this sub-forum, that do the well thing.

just wondering priority-wise!.

So....when and how do we start a pool on how over-hyped this storm's gonna be?