Frankenstorm - What are you doing to prepare

As the east coast of the US prepares for a 100 year storm, I took my aunt through the zoo they called a grocery store today. No water was left, no candles and I don't even want to talk about the bread and milk. Today, I review my diabetes plans for an emergency. I expect a good chance of no electricity and no water. I have placed extra freezer packs in in case I need to move my insulin to protected coolers. Tomorrow, I'll load up plastic containers with water. But otherwise, I think I am ready.

What do you do to prepare for such an emergency? What really worries you?

my home on long island had to be evacuated. here in brooklyn we gathered up flashlights, batteries, fresh nuts and dried fruit.instant oatmeal/grits, and chocolate pudding. i am uncertain how destructive its actually going to be. i mean, with a name like "Sandy" how bad can it really get?

A 100 year storm. I lived through the flooding in Iowa with my dad a few years ago and it was horrid. The town is still recovering.

I checked my med supplies thoroughly and am fine.

I am in the middle of a major kitchen remodel--no kitchen, stove, etc....One frig in the basement.
1. Insulin bottles in use are not refrigerated. Those in the frig will stay cool for several days with careful opening of the doors.
2. Water removed from the sump pump if the electricity is off will be used to flush toilets (we lost water for 4 days with Isabelle)
3. Filling pitchers, etc with water to drink--if I can retrieve them from the storage of all things kitchen.
4. Bought a supply of food essentials (no laughing!) that include sardines,smoked clams, tuna,soups that can be eaten cold, crackers, juice boxes, etc. If electric remains, we have the frozen stuff we were eating anyway--if defrosted we can eat it unheated.
5. We cleaned gutters, removed deck furniture, took down my 4'X8' Obama campaign sign from the yard....
6.Filling cars with gas and having cash on hand.

Oh, and I bought a couple of nice bottles of wine.....

With the remodel, our lives are already in a storm--we will survive.

Just be safe.

I live on south shore of Cape Cod and Islands in Massachusetts. We are not getting a direct hit but will still get high winds and tides. Today we took the screens down and put the deck furniture away. Plenty of insulin and supplies in the house, and food too. Kids are away at college. Hubby and i should be fine here for a few days in case power goes out.

While this storm is not affecting me living in Texas, I remember a couple of hurricanes that I had to deal with growing up and as an adult. One of the things my Mom taught us to do was fill the bathtub pretty much full with water. While you might not want to drink this, it works to dip and flush toilets should the water go out. Now I just make sure I have batteries for my pump and glucometers, I don't worry to much about the insulin unless the outside temp is going to be hot. In the heat, if you can plan ahead, I freeze gallon milk jugs with water. The big blocks of ice take longer to melt than the bagged ice so the it will last longer in the coolers if needed. I supplement those with bagged ice then too. Mom use to get dry ice for the chest freezer too. I honestly would not worry to much about keeping the Dex charged - I'd be more likely to use the car to charge my laptop and/or cell phone to try to keep online capabilities. I already have camping supplies (propane stove) so make sure enough propane canisters. At least then I can prep soup and the like. And use up the leftovers in the fridge, eggs, etc. Make sure you have things like protein bars, granola bars, peanut butter, crackers, fruit that doesn't need the fridge and the like. You can get powdered milk (hate it, but works if you really need milk!)Lots of books (hit the library!), games, and a good pillow. I'd be pretty much set!

I do hope everyone is able to remain sheltered and safe through this storm. My prayers are with those in the path of this storm. Stay safe!

Uh, remember Katrina?

I am here in the DC area and we just did the basics (cleaned the gutters, stocked up on some BG-friendly food items, cleaned out the refrigerator, filled up some water coolers in case we lose water, got the cooler out and have cooling packs in the freezer). Thankfully, the weather is much cooler than it was during the last storm, so most of our food items would keep just fine out in our yard in the event we lose power (which we probably will).

Seeing as the freak derecho over the summer had our neighborhood without power for a week, we're not taking chances with this storm. All outside furniture is in the shed, medical supplies are in a grab-and-go box, cooler ready with jugs of frozen water, gutters cleared, extra water, cans of beans as my non-refrigerated protein source, batteries and candles, etc.
Not panicked. Just would rather be prepared.

Yesterday, we went out to fill any of our prescriptions that needed filling, bought foods that can be eaten without having to cook them, bought another 36 half liter bottles of water, made sure we had batteries for our flashlights and the radio, which is likely to be our sole source of information from the outside world after the power goes down. Cleared our deck of anything that could be turned into flying debris, brought in fake plants, cut down tree limbs that could whip up against the house....in essence, just your "normal" prep for a nasty storm.

PP&L, my electric company, called to tell us that it's almost guaranteed that we will lose power and to expect the power to be out for a week or more. I can only hope that it won't be that long, but that's not likely.

If the power does go out for more than a few hours, I plan to put my insulin in my Frio packs until the power returns. Frios are nice, since they don't require a frozen pack to keep the insulin cool! So, that's not a big worry.

My biggest worries at this point are not diabetes-related, but more normal person related, such as how long will the power be out, will the water be affected, too, and how high are those winds going to be?

There are a lot of people who seem to think this will be little but a giant blowhard, but I don't think so. I think it's going to be bad!

Oh, I've known Sandys who've been absolute nightmares. Just because NOAA/NWS chose "Sandy" as the name for this storm doesn't mean it won't be bad!

>> Oh, and I bought a couple of nice bottles of wine..... << ROFL! Someone after my own heart! I have a bottle of good German apple schnapps which may have to be cracked open if the power stays out for too long. ;)

Don’t forget to fill up your cars and have cash on hand. If the electricity goes out the gas pumps and ATM’s won’t work.

Cedar Rapids/Iowa City 2008? Wasn't there for the 2008 flood itself but I am from the area (I actually grew up on the Mississippi so am used to seeing the first couple streets of downtown get flooded most years.). I understand downtown Cedar Rapids still has a way to go, and of course the U of I buildings on the riverfront are still sorely missed.

Now I'm in MD and get to be hit by Frankenstorm :-). Yes, clean out the fridge time! I betcha it's one to two weeks before we get electricity back. At least the house will be cold enough (40's and 50's) for storing insulin (it's a lot harder when the electricity is out for a week in the summer and the temperature is 90 or 100F).

Wishing you all in the storm bound areas, a safe and blessed next few days. Keep your heads down.

LOL

Yes, Tim, it was 2008. I am a U of I grad and the campus destruction was unbelieveable. Remember the chapel near the stident union? Gone, and I was in a lot of weddings held there. I loved to take my books and sit on the riverside to "study" in the spring.

I am not far away from you--in Northern VA. I also have a huge home remodel ongoing. Trees are swaying like twigs and it is just the beginning....

PS--I also grew up on the river in Davenport.

I am in western PA. I didn’t make ice because I forgot but when I remembered it, my thoughts were the same as Tim – it will be cold enough in here I won’t need to worry about my insulin.

To get ready, I did laundry so have enough clean clothes to last if the power goes out. I recharged my phone to use in an emergency and as an alarm to remind me to take insulin. I took the garbage over to the dumpster yesterday in case it is a couple days of heavy rain. I put outside stuff away yesterday so nothing can blow away.

I am like Angela, I am more worried about the non-d things. How cold will it be without power? My dog is getting older and he is really bothered by the cold so I worry about him.

So far, so good in terms of power. Only one quickie power outage and one brown out that lasted only a couple of seconds.

Finished up my preps when I activated my Frio packs in case we lose power:

Check out the maple tree. The shot on the left was taken yesterday; the one on the right was take a mere 24 hours later:

Finally, about 1/2 hour ago, I heard something banging against the side of my house. The siding broke!

The eye is still 200 miles east of us and isn't due here for several more hours. Sounds like fun....not!

I saw Ginger posted a pic of her dog on FB. I am going to get my dog's coats out just in case - might be hard to find them in the dark and the cold bothers him.

Not much. I have a generator in place. Last year we were out of power for one week because of the freak snow storm. I'm ready!!!