ShellbackBill
Member
- Jan 17, 2015
- 67
- 1
And your neighbors are glad the lights are out.
Tropical Distrurbance? New to Houston, what does that mean?
- Thread starter mikebandw186
- Start date
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And your neighbors are glad the lights are out.
ShellbackBill
Member
- Jan 17, 2015
- 67
- 1
Last edited:
When I lived in an apartment, ahead of Ike I filled up the bathtubs for flushing the toilets, and I filled up every available food storage container with water. Most went into the fridge, and some into the freezer. I filled up my car with gas about 6 hours before the storm hit. It was pretty quiet out there, but the station close to my house was still open. I washed dishes and did all my laundry ahead of the storm in parallel with getting ready. I got everything of significant value up off the ground, but I lived on the first floor. Didn't do anything about the windows/doors. I had a decent supply of canned food, plus I was pretty fat, so I figured I wouldn't starve before things got back to normal. I also lived close to downtown, so I figured services would be restored quickly in my area.
As it turned out, I didn't lose power, cable, or internet during Ike. Ike rolled through on a Friday night, and on Saturday I ate my spam and eggs. Sunday I walked across the road to a Quiznos and stood in line for 20 minutes to get a sandwich. On Tuesday I was back at work helping the refinery restart... life got back to normal pretty quickly. But, for some people who didn't get power back for two weeks, or whose homes flooded, Ike really sucked. I was definitely lucky.
As an apartment dweller, here is what I would do:
1) fill up bathtubs with water
2) fill up food storage containers with water and put them in the fridge and/or freezer
3) do all dishes
4) do all laundry
5) fill up the gas tank in the car(s)
6) take stock of your food situation
With a tropical depression/storm, you don't have a lot to worry about as long as you don't get flooded out. Even if you lose power and it stays off, much of Houston will be OK and you can go places that have power/food (malls, walmarts, etc.) Hurricanes are a different matter. Use this tropical storm as a sort of trial run to get ready for late summer/fall.
Stay safe!
As it turned out, I didn't lose power, cable, or internet during Ike. Ike rolled through on a Friday night, and on Saturday I ate my spam and eggs. Sunday I walked across the road to a Quiznos and stood in line for 20 minutes to get a sandwich. On Tuesday I was back at work helping the refinery restart... life got back to normal pretty quickly. But, for some people who didn't get power back for two weeks, or whose homes flooded, Ike really sucked. I was definitely lucky.
As an apartment dweller, here is what I would do:
1) fill up bathtubs with water
2) fill up food storage containers with water and put them in the fridge and/or freezer
3) do all dishes
4) do all laundry
5) fill up the gas tank in the car(s)
6) take stock of your food situation
With a tropical depression/storm, you don't have a lot to worry about as long as you don't get flooded out. Even if you lose power and it stays off, much of Houston will be OK and you can go places that have power/food (malls, walmarts, etc.) Hurricanes are a different matter. Use this tropical storm as a sort of trial run to get ready for late summer/fall.
Stay safe!
As am I!
OP,
It's not named, (yet) but it's a storm with rain, lots of rain.
And wind, lots of wind. Google "storm surge" and consider your location.
I live a long way from the coast, but spent weeks doing powerline repairs from them in deep east TX.
It gets rank with no power.
It's not named, (yet) but it's a storm with rain, lots of rain.
And wind, lots of wind. Google "storm surge" and consider your location.
I live a long way from the coast, but spent weeks doing powerline repairs from them in deep east TX.
It gets rank with no power.
ROGER4314
Been Called "Flash" Since I Was A Kid!
Every storm is different and this one looks like it will give a lot of rain and winds will be minimal. If you like rain.....you'll be in Hog heaven! Allison brought us 27-29 inches of rain on the east side of Houston. This storm is predicted to bring up to 10" of rain. We had 12" in 18 hours a week or so ago.
Do your laundry, lay in water & food. I have freeze dried food so that stuff is good for 25 year shelf life. Get batteries and flashlights, bug spray and battery operated lights & fans.
Flash
Do your laundry, lay in water & food. I have freeze dried food so that stuff is good for 25 year shelf life. Get batteries and flashlights, bug spray and battery operated lights & fans.
Flash
Haven't missed a hurricane/tropical storm in Houston in 63 years.
Never left. Never lost a home, until Allison.
Which one was worst is relative ...
Alicia was the longest without power, in the Heights, took three weeks before power restored.
People too readily forget that NONE of the storms/hurricanes that any of us have ever gone through dropped the volume of water on Houston as Allison did--simply because the storm stalled and stayed right over the city for six days running. It dropped over 38 inches of water during that time and there's no city in this State that can handle that much rain in that period of time without epic flooding occurring. I can understand why folks in Austin and/or San Antonio don't have bad memories of Allison, but Houstonians surely do.
Sure, the other named storms of note in our history blew harder, or surged higher, but NONE of them dumped the amount of rain as Allison. And the insurance payouts prove the story. And no, I"m not talking about what happened in NOLA during Katrina, because this is Texas Gun Talk, not Louisiana Gun Talk.
Out in eastern Liberty County (where I was on duty for eighteen straight days during and after Ike), we were without power for almost two weeks and had massive damage due, most likely, to a high amount of tornadoes spawned by the Hurricane. It was a mess.
While I agree, with the bayous around Houston the run off will be pretty quick. I lived in Houston 40+ years. Seen Katy Freeway between downtown and the loop under several feet of water couple of times and it was gone by the next day.
Govern wisely and as little as possible~Sam Houston
That's all well and good; however, when the water gets that high, thousands of homes experience flooding damage that doesn't go away the next day. The roads are but one part of the equation.
What irritated me about Ike was my location. I didn't flood and I had a generator, so those weren't a problem.
Actually, I had a neighbor who evacuated, gave me the keys to his house, and asked me to take care of it. I had to eat all those steaks in his freezer; they would have gone bad! And that new generator, sitting in the box in his garage with all the cans of gasoline? Obviously, it needed to be checked out, right?
My problem was my location. At the time, there was only one road into the subdivision and it got covered with downed trees. Nobody could drive in or out for almost a week. The trees across streets in the subdivision could usually be avoided by taking an alternate route but we still had a few neighbors who had to borrow cars because they were completely blocked in by fallen trees.
All in all, the situation sucked.
My prep for this coming storm will be pretty simple. I'm going to get some milk and bread, some ice in a chest, and fill up a bathtub with water for flushing. I just looked and I'm out of C batteries for my primary flashlight so I'll get a couple. Oh, and I'm cancelling my appointment with a doctor in the med center scheduled for Wednesday morning. I don't want to be out driving at the height of the potential flooding.
To the OP - I cite my preparations only to demonstrate that prepping is something you must customize to your own needs. The thread so far has mentioned just about everything. Which of those things resonates with you?
Actually, I had a neighbor who evacuated, gave me the keys to his house, and asked me to take care of it. I had to eat all those steaks in his freezer; they would have gone bad! And that new generator, sitting in the box in his garage with all the cans of gasoline? Obviously, it needed to be checked out, right?
My problem was my location. At the time, there was only one road into the subdivision and it got covered with downed trees. Nobody could drive in or out for almost a week. The trees across streets in the subdivision could usually be avoided by taking an alternate route but we still had a few neighbors who had to borrow cars because they were completely blocked in by fallen trees.
All in all, the situation sucked.
My prep for this coming storm will be pretty simple. I'm going to get some milk and bread, some ice in a chest, and fill up a bathtub with water for flushing. I just looked and I'm out of C batteries for my primary flashlight so I'll get a couple. Oh, and I'm cancelling my appointment with a doctor in the med center scheduled for Wednesday morning. I don't want to be out driving at the height of the potential flooding.
To the OP - I cite my preparations only to demonstrate that prepping is something you must customize to your own needs. The thread so far has mentioned just about everything. Which of those things resonates with you?
- Jul 1, 2011
- 27,739
- 21
It's official, Bill is alive.
That's some really good information. I'm glad to hear from people who have lived through one.
I probably don't have enough food if things were to turn really bad. Maybe 3 days of real meals, depending on power outages. Then onto cans and dry cereal. I don't have any MRE's or freeze dried stuff, because the apartment has almost no storage. And I have definitely prioritized Bullets over bandages and beans. My wife is starting to get on board with the whole "prepper" thing, even though she thinks I take it a little too far.
As far as water, I went to Costco today and bought a couple cases of bottled water. Certainly enough for the week. Not the most economical method. I also have the water bladders for the bathtubs. So clearly enough water if they are full.
Past that, I can't really store extra gasoline, unless I keep it in the car. I did fill the tank today though. I would love to have a generator too, but the living situation kinda screws that up.
Thanks again for all the advice
I probably don't have enough food if things were to turn really bad. Maybe 3 days of real meals, depending on power outages. Then onto cans and dry cereal. I don't have any MRE's or freeze dried stuff, because the apartment has almost no storage. And I have definitely prioritized Bullets over bandages and beans. My wife is starting to get on board with the whole "prepper" thing, even though she thinks I take it a little too far.
As far as water, I went to Costco today and bought a couple cases of bottled water. Certainly enough for the week. Not the most economical method. I also have the water bladders for the bathtubs. So clearly enough water if they are full.
Past that, I can't really store extra gasoline, unless I keep it in the car. I did fill the tank today though. I would love to have a generator too, but the living situation kinda screws that up.
Thanks again for all the advice
Saltyag2010
TGT Addict
If they declare martial law try and kill as many seagulls as possible. Why? Because F- seagulls
THIS
It means. Don't drive through underpasses. Any place that has a little sign with 4,3,2,1 from top to bottom is a dead giveaway.
And go about your day. When it passes. You're gonna think was that it?
