If you have been bathing in the hot weather, wondering when a drop of rain will be coming, you may be in for a surprise. Storm season is currently ongoing, with lots of tornadoes and cyclones hitting the shores. You may have noticed that Hurricane Ida made a pass through the southern states of America and the Caribbean. This is just one of the major storms that could be coming, so ask yourself, is your home prepared for such an eventuality? Making a normal home storm-resistant is not hard. You don’t need to hire experts to come and do it for you; you need to understand the more vulnerable parts of your home and get to work. You can strengthen them or give them an alternative point of use.
Working your hob and oven
Most modern homes have electric appliances. So when the power goes out, they are left without any way to cook food if they have an electric cooker and oven. Even the microwave can’t save you then. However, you can convert your electric cooker to have an emergency gas supply so that you can cook your food this way. Speak with a company like Annapolis Propane about fitting a gas propane tank to your cooker and supplying gas to the hobs in times of need so you can safely cook your meals for the family without power coming to the home.
Alternatively, you can also buy emergency camp supply cookers that use a solid fuel cooker. They are called solo stoves, which you use to cook individual meals using either a solid tablet fuel or a special block of wood that burns slowly. These should, however, be used carefully, preferably on a solid floor and away from anything flammable. The flame is also naked, and therefore it’s not safe for children to be close to the cooking process.
Secure outdoor furniture
The best advice we can give you for outdoor furniture is to lock it away somewhere safe. Suppose you have room in your garage the store it there. But we also know that many of you won’t have space to spare, and outdoor sofas, seating, and other things like dining tables, are all exposed. You can nail down the furniture so that the winds won’t blow them away. However, you can also try to secure them down using a cable or wire, but this depends on having a very sturdy anchor. If you don’t have any of these, you should try to find a self-storage unit where you can safely keep your things.
Many self-storage units will give you insurance, but it’s best to go with a storage unit far from the storm, at least far enough that the floods won’t affect it. If you have room inside, move the outdoor furniture in, but this can double as a hazard if there is a flood, preventing those inside from accessing doors and windows.
Protect naturally weak areas
There are some naturally weak areas of your home. Think about where a burglar would try to get in. the back door, windows, garage door, etc.; you may also have a weak roof that creaks and groans whenever it’s windy. It’s best to try and secure these areas well ahead of any storm. So it would help if you had some metal shutters which you can place over the outside of windows. These will need to be nailed or screwed in place, but they provide a solid regress for your windows after the storm is over.
It would help if you also tried to put a new lock on the door or perhaps strengthen the one you have. You don’t want the door latch to be ripped off, and the winds rush through your home. It can be terrifying to have your door flung open and then ripped off as a tornado passes by. Covering for your patio doors is also essential as this large glass door is so vulnerable to flying items being launched by the winds. Strengthen the garage doors with any 2-by-4s that you have laying around.
Basic emergency supplies
If you live in an area with frequent storms, you should have an emergency kit of some sort. The very basic supplies are not hard to get, and neither are they expensive. You should have some, if not all, of these items.
- First aid kit, fit for 2 people to use. If you have a family of 4, 2 first aid kits are essential.
- You should have one gallon of water per person per day. This is not just for drinking, but washing, cooking, etc.
- A cell phone charger
- Local maps
- A list of emergency contacts, friends, family, local authorities, etc.
- A flashlight with batteries for 2-3 full days of use.
- Food that can last you for about 3-5 days. Preferably this will be dry foods like oats, potatoes, flour and chocolate bars.
- Sleeping bags, at least for 2 people.
- Space blankets to keep warm, maybe 2-3.
The next question is, how long should these supplies last you? Well, you’ve seen that we recommend about 2-3 full days worth, but this is just an estimate. It depends on how far you live from viable help. If you’re in the country, then maybe 4-5 days is best. If you are in the suburbs, then 2-3 days is good enough. Urban areas usually get assistance the quickest, so you might be fine to store 1-2 days worth of supplies. It also depends on the severity of the storm and the competency of your local authorities.
As you can see, it’s not rocket science to make your home storm-resistant. You need to find the most vulnerable areas of your home and strengthen them. Have some way to cook food, so install a propane tank or have some emergency solid fuel and camp cookers around. Invest in emergency supplies and store them safely out of harm’s way.
