Storm Sense

I live on the East Coast - and I always live on some coast - The Hubster is in the Navy - it kind of makes sense. Anyway, we are currently waiting to see exactly what Hurricane Earl will do. I am not terribly concerned... i grew up in Hurricane Alley (Charleston SC) and have been prepping for storms for my whole life. So has TeenDream. You just make sure you have bottled water, batteries, non-perishable food, and toilet paper. then there are a few extras that a wise woman makes sure she has on hand: baby wipes (for bathing if the water goes), more TP than you can shake a stick at (just because you REALLY don't want to get caught short), and brownies - the brownies should be self-explanatory.

Before a storm there are certain things you should always do:

Spray for bugs.... use a good indoor outdoor spray - trust me on this. Storms are aphrodisiacs for bugs... I call it the "Oh my God we are going to die let's do it" phase. They do it, goto ground for the storm, give birth and die. Two or three days after the storm you are overrun with a million little bigs... Nasty.

Do all your laundry. You don't know if you will lose power and water - it is better to lose those two things AFTER your clothes are clean. Take if from someone who washed he clothes in a garbage can after a typhoon..... do your laundry.

Wash your dishes - same thing as with your clothes.

Put clean sheets on the bed - even if it isn't clean sheet day. You will love yourself for it

Bake those brownies, cookies, whatever.

Make sure you have plenty of propane or charcoal for your grill. If you lose power you can cook the perishable food in your freezer - don't tell me you can't cook a turkey or ham on a grill, or muffins. biscuits, and pizza. you can do it - I have - but only if you have what you need to run the grill.

Charge everything!! Phones, hand held games, dvd players, iPods, laptops - whatever. Particularly if you have kids.... that should be self explanatory.

DON'T freak out. There isn't anything you can do about the weather. You can evacuate - and some people have to - but other than that just work on being calm. If you freak out then anyone you are with may do so as well. The only ting worse than an adult freaking out is two adults freaking out.

Become familiar with the terms "Cone of Uncertainty" and the 1-2-3 Rule. They are basically the same thing. They show you the potential range for the storm.

Remember that in the past few years weather has become "sexy". Really?!?! Yep. Jim Cantori and the rest of the Weather Channel peeps are really working on making weather sexy and dramatic. Well, weather is dramatic enough, thank you very much. Watching somebody stand outside in the middle of a storm has become part of our lives these days.... And Weather guys and gals are turned on by their jobs - they want you to like it too . They want you to see that their job is vital, sexy, and dangerous. I'll go with the vital. I'll even go a little bit with the sexy. Dangerous?!?! Only if you go out in it - and they do. Take what they say with a grain of salt..... just remember to be prepared.

Anyway - 125 mph winds don't scare me after doing the typhoon thing in Guam. Our wind gauges (on the AFB there) broke at 185 and that was BEFORE the eye wall got there.....

So, come on over Earl. We are ready. See you when you get here....