FLORIDA HURRICANE PREPARATION

[redant]

FLORIDA HURRICANE PREPARATION

You all should be aware of hurricane preparations, but in case you need a refresher course: We're about to enter the peak of the hurricane season. Any minute now, you're going to turn on the TV and see a weather person pointing to some radar blob out in the Atlantic Ocean and making two basic meteorological points.

(1) There is no need to panic.

(2) We could all be killed.

Yes, hurricane season is an exciting time to be in Florida. If you're new to the area, you're probably wondering what you need to do to prepare for the possibility that we'll get hit by "the big one."

Based on our insurance industry experiences, we recommend that you follow this simple three-step hurricane preparedness plan:

STEP 1: Buy enough food and bottled water to last your family for at least three days.

STEP 2: Put these supplies into your car.

STEP 3: Drive to Nebraska and remain there until Halloween.

Unfortunately, statistics show that most people will not follow this sensible plan. Most people will foolishly stay here in Florida. We'll start with one of the most important hurricane preparedness items:

HOMEOWNERS' INSURANCE: If you own a home, you must have hurricane insurance. Fortunately, this insurance is cheap and easy to get, as long as your home meets two basic requirements:

(1) It is reasonably well-built, and

(2) It is located in Wisconsin

Unfortunately, if your home is located in Florida, or any other area that might actually be hit by a hurricane, most insurance companies would prefer not to sell you hurricane insurance, because then they might be required to pay YOU money, and that is certainly not why they got into the insurance business in the first place. So you'll have to scrounge around for an insurance company, which will charge you an annual premium roughly equal to the replacement value of your house. At any moment, this company can drop you like used dental floss.

SHUTTERS:

Your house should have hurricane shutters on all the windows, all the doors. There are several types of shutters, with advantages and disadvantages:

Plywood shutters: The advantage is that, because you make them yourself, they're cheap.

Sheet-metal shutters: The advantage is that these work well, once you get them all up. The disadvantage is that once you get them all up, your hands will be useless bleeding stumps, and it will be December.

Roll-down shutters: The advantages are that they're very easy to use, and will definitely protect your house. The disadvantage is that you will have to sell your house to pay for them.

Hurricane-proof windows: These are the newest wrinkle in hurricane protection: They look like ordinary windows, but they can withstand hurricane winds! You can be sure of this, because the salesman says so. He lives in Nebraska.

Hurricane Proofing your property: As the hurricane approaches, check your yard for movable objects like barbecue grills, planters, patio furniture, visiting relatives, etc... you should, as a precaution, throw these items into your swimming pool (if you don't have a swimming pool, you should have one built immediately). Otherwise, the hurricane winds will turn these objects into deadly missiles.

EVACUATION ROUTE:

If you live in a low-lying area, you should have an evacuation route planned out. (To determine whether you live in a low-lying area, look at your driver's license; if it says "Florida," you live in a low-lying area.) The purpose of having an evacuation route is to avoid being trapped in your home when a major storm hits. Instead, you will be trapped in a gigantic traffic jam several miles from your home, along with two hundred thousand other evacuees. So, as a bonus, you will not be lonely.

HURRICANE SUPPLIES:

If you don't evacuate, you will need a mess of supplies. Do not buy them now! Florida tradition requires that you wait until the last possible minute, then go to the supermarket and get into vicious fights with strangers over who gets the last can of cat food. In addition to food and water, you will need the following supplies:

23 flashlights. At least $167 worth of batteries that turn out, when the power goes off, to be the wrong size for the flashlights.

Bleach. (No, I don't know what the bleach is for. NOBODY knows what the bleach is for, but it's traditional, so GET some!)

A big knife that you can strap to your leg. (This will be useless in a hurricane, but it looks cool.)

A large quantity of raw chicken, to placate the alligators. (Ask anybody who went through Andrew; after the hurricane, there WILL be irate alligators.)

$35,000 in cash or diamonds so that, after the hurricane passes, you can buy a generator from a man with no discernible teeth.

Of course these are just basic precautions. As the hurricane draws near, it is vitally important that you keep abreast of the situation by turning on your television if you have a generator that's working to keep the tv going and watching TV reporters in rain slickers stand right next to the ocean and tell you over and over how vitally important it is for everybody to stay away from the ocean.

Good luck and remember: It's great living in Paradise

[tank]

Another note on the roll up shutters, they WILL quit working 48hrs before a storm is supposed to hit. Usually on the windows that are next to impossible to access. You should just close them in late May and open them in December, just to be safe.

My storm kit is 4 cases of beer, 100 lbs of ice and a chainsaw + 2 cycle premix.

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

Hurricane? What is a hurricane? It has been so long I forgot what that is.

[Mandrew968]

It has been a long time!! I remember being a kid during one--me and my buddies went out on our bicycles and rode all over US1; there was ZERO traffic and all of the homes were boarded up, like the entire Miami was left for just us! Not sure why I was allowed to go out during a Hurricane... I had to be 12 or something like that. Awesome memories

[_Keith]

Another note on the roll up shutters, they WILL quit working 48hrs before a storm is supposed to hit. Usually on the windows that are next to impossible to access. You should just close them in late May and open them in December, just to be safe.

My storm kit is 4 cases of beer, 100 lbs of ice and a chainsaw + 2 cycle premix.

Pretty much the same kit here, excepts add 4 cans of Off Deep Woods Insect Repellent and a Snake Bite Kit

[BS Man about Palms]

Our Hurricane prep out here is to turn on the TV and watch whats happening on the east coast.... between the earthquakes of course.

[DoomsDave]

Ah yes, insurance is well described.

Though being in Nebraska is not really protection - from a hurricane, yes, but not from devastating winds.

Ask the good people of Hallam, NE.

http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/nebraska-tornadoes/

Here in California, we'll put out some big rain buckets in hope of catching some . . . . .

[_Keith]

Ah yes, insurance is well described.

Though being in Nebraska is not really protection - from a hurricane, yes, but not from devastating winds.

Ask the good people of Hallam, NE.

http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/nebraska-tornadoes/

Here in California, we'll put out some big rain buckets in hope of catching some . . . . .

Although the mainline winds are a great concern, many times the worst damage is from tornadoes in the outer bands. And most times when you hear of mass casualties related to hurricanes it will be from water (flooding) not wind.

[palmislandRandy]

I tried plywood for Hurricane Wilma. One board ended up right through my neighbor's bay window. I now have accordion shutters that I hope I never use. Don't forget to fill your bathtub up with water!