Katrina Lessons:

Or situation : 60 miles NNW of New Orleans, on a slight hill 40 ft ASL, so storm surge wouldn't bother us. All tall trees on the property were far enough away that they couldn't fall on the house. We decided to stay, but were concerned about wind. We had one or two micro tornados within 1/4 mile of the house, and a wind gust of 155mph was recorded 15 miles south. Lots of tree damage, and I now have a spare barn roof in my yard from my neighbor's.

Now that phones are working somewhat reliably, and the generator is going, I have a few new insights into emergency preparedness.

1) PSK's are nice to debate, and we've done a lot of that here. But they are only for last resort. If you know, or suspect something is coming, prepare for the macro situation, not the micro. I have not opened my PSK once. Nice to know it's there, but it has been useless otherwise.

2) EDC rules. I carry, and have repeatedly used the following:
A.G. Russell Featherlite knife. ATS 34 blade, locking,
superlight, and very handy. You always are using a knife.
Victorinox SAK. not made anymore, but it's a between a Ranger and a Champ. the pocket toolkit. don't care for the knife blades, that's why the Russell is carried.
Photon II. No Power, gets dark at night, and dark in some spots in the house even in daytime. Need I say more?
Superior Sharpener on keyring. Very useful to keep the blades in decent shape.
Bic lighter. Hey, you gotta cook sometime.
I also carry a flint and steel, whistle and P-38 can opener, but they haven't come into play.

3) gas cans. Gasoline is liquid civilization. Once I got the
generator, the living standard here at the house went up 100 years. But you need to have fuel to maintain that standard. I currently have 3 5gal cans plus one borrowed (thanks Cliff!). As soon a supply improves, I'm buying another nine. 60 gal. should be enough for 10-14 days without resupply.

4) Ice chests - the swing top "playmate" variety are OK for picnics, but not for this. The gap that lets the top pivot also lets your ice melt way too fast. I was tempted to get one or two big Igloo type, but thought better. If you're constantly opening a big chest, you're decreasing your storage time. Now I'm going to buy 4 smaller Igloo type, preserving 3/4 of my ice supply.

5) Generator - with a generator, I can power my well (running water), a window AC in the Louisiana heat, Satellite TV and laptop (news and communications), and one other major appliance. Normally that's the fridge, but we occasionally unplug that to run either the washing machine or microwave. Dryers are outdated. This setup gets us from the 1800's into the late 20th century.

6) if you're counting on your cell phone for help, DON'T. The land lines are working better now, but most cells are iffy at best. So far Verizon seems to be the clear winner. I am firing Cingular at the earliest opportunity. If they want to sue me for breaking a contract, they have to do it here in Louisiana, where cell service failed massively, especially for emergency services and government. Ain't a judge who's gonna let that fly. Sue away Cingular.

7) How ever many people you're planning on, double it or more. When they evacuate major metropolitan areas there just aren't enough places to go, particularly if time is short. A friend or family member will invite someone else, trust me.

8) Time is your enemy. We were OK on everything but power, and thus gas, and cooling. We had to search and scrounge for the generator, window AC and gas cans. And we had to take what was available. Fortunately, we got good brands, but don't count on luck.

9) PRACTICE!! Last September, hurricane Ivan was supposed to come here. Before we finished the prep work, it turned away. But we finished anyway, as a dry (literally) run. Having most of our supplies already here, a wife who knew our situation and plans, and having plywood pre cut to fit the windows were critical. Our preps revealed many flaws we corrected, just like this time revealed flaws. And we
are and will correct them.

10) Cooking. we've been using a charcoal grill, but that's a pain. As soon as the mail resumes, we are expecting a Coleman dual fuel stove. Why dual fuel? So we don't need to get charcoal, propane or coleman fuel, it just uses the same unleaded regular the generator and vehicles use. Commonality of supply and easier logistics.

11) Logging gear. A chainsaw, 40 ft heavy chain, and pickup are vital in areas with heavy timber. We were able, with the help of the neighbors, to clear our road by nightfall. If anyone had been injured and needed a hospital, we could get them there before helos could fly.

12) stoppers to hold water in a tub don't always work. We had a 50% failure rate.

13) before we got the well hooked up we were worried about sanitation. Buckets of water from a neighbor's pond are a good field expedient to flush toilets.

14) good neighbors are very very important. you can't do it all yourself. Survival is a team sport.

Now that things are improving, we are doing after action reviews here.
the things on our list:

More Gas cans. Reason already noted. I'm not worried about stability, I use unleaded in the tractor and will rotate my supply.
I'm going to insert a plug in the 220 line at the well. Next time, all I'll have to do is unplug from the house supply and plug in the 220 cord into the generator. I'll rig a short extension between the fridge and the wall, and hang the plug, concealed alongside the counter. It's not fun to have to move a fridge out form the wall in a crisis. Then
all I need do is reach the connection along the counter, unplug and replug into the generator line. We should then be able to have auxillary power in 30 minutes, not a few days.
We'll be keeping several cases of MRE's, in addition to our regular hurricane rations.
Hire Verizon.
New Ice chests.

Just remember, we down here are not victims, we are survivors.

Peanut