You're not lyin! Every girl needs emergency chocolate! haha--Make a couple batches of brownies and wrap them up and freeze them. Helps with a chocolate craving and you don't feel like you have to eat the whole pan.
Always, always ,always have packages of underwear stashed away. One can deal with tops and bottoms being not clean but undies, no. also for too us women our hygiene it's must be stashes away for emergencies also.
I phone has the ability to message with satellite even for people who can’t afford Starlink. They just switched. It used to just be 911. But now it is all messaging.
Quick tip on cleaning pots and pans. Wipe out your pans with paper towels. Have a spray bottle with dish soap and water. Spray down and wipe, then rinse. I am a Florida resident, been thru several hurricanes. Also, make sure your vehicles are full of fuel.
Yes, that's a great tip! We weren't able to put anything down the sink, though, because the septic system wasn't working. Next time we know to clean the pots as soon as possible (even when you are SO exhausted) and find a way to dispose of the rinse water somewhere it wouldn't attract animals.
I believe the method this person is talking about, requires no rinse water. You wipe off food debris with a paper towel. Then you have a bottle like spray Dawn to spritz on soap( by the way, you can refill that bottle with about 1/3-1/2 soap to water mix). Wipe off soap with paper towel. We have added a step by using a spritz of a solution of isopropyl alcohol and water. Wipe with paper towel. Dish done and the alcohol and soap towels can be used to wipe out the food on the next dishes. There is no rinse water. We use this method to extend our ability to boondock in our trailer. We also use paper plates and bowls. Baby wipes for hygiene. Also micellar water used with multi-purpose wipes that you just add water to, for cleansing the face, can make not showering daily much more tolerable. I have found that plastics would have never caught on for food, if we didn't have dish washers. They are a pain to clean. I have eliminated them in all forms, in my trailer.
Cast iron pans are the easiest to wipe clean. You just need to rub them with lard or tallow and then wipe excess off. However, the fat attracts rodents and other critters, so you need a storage plan. I use my oven for storage of my cast iron.
We lost our vehicle and live-in camper in Helene. We were well prepared for a “normal” bug in or bug out situation. But this was not normal. So my #1 learning is (as we start all over😢): have a second location for your items that you can get to within a week. Second: keep a backpack ready to go.
So sorry for your loss. Yes, a bug out bag has definitely been shown to be necessary for everyone, because this situation was not normal. Other people might not think they’ll ever need to evacuate in 2 minutes, but WNC, TN, SC, VA and other areas didn’t think they would need to. A second location is a great idea if you have it.
Interesting review from a first-hand survivor, thanks for sharing. Thanks for taking your time to make this video inmidst all the chaos and hardship you're suffering in the moment. Stay strong and keep going! #1 molded grill - take some soda-water and a brush and remove the mold within minutes. #1 alternatives - keep some bricks and a grate and take them to the second floor in case of a hurricane warning, then you can build 1/2/3 rocket-stove/s, which is highly efficient. #4 rain gear - rain boots are good, fishing chest waders are even better. #5 Organize your emergency stuff in plastic boxes and label them, use different colours for labelling (e.g. red for fire-related items, white for first-aid, blue for water) and don't make them too heavy to haul around. Use boards to separate layers, so you can get a box from the bottom without moving the upper layers. #6 shower - get a solar shower, basically a black HD- plastic bag, that heats the (rain?)water with the sun. #12 emergency radio - IMHO it's common sense to turn it on, if desaster strikes. You get reliable information - on social media, there are a lot of trolls, spreading fake news. #15 Don't forget to put your ressources into rotation, take only food you're eating regularly and replenish each meal immidiately. #19 Instead of cotton towels use microfibre cloth, after squeezing they are ready for another job. Rinsing them with (rain?) water makes them almost as new.
Definitely agree with #4,5 and 12! Also keeping the boxes of emergency items lightweight is so important. I'm choosing smaller boxes rather than larger ones to store things now.
@@SingleGirlsDIY I have city water/sewer in south Georgia. If I think the electricity may go out long enough, or, flooding might knock out the city water, I fill the bathtub. I can dip the bathtub water into the top of my toilet and get a few flushes that way. This tip is useless in your case, but, maybe you could pass it along for someone else who doesn't have to "flush up"?
#6 Shower - Walgreens has a no rinse bath and one for shampoo. We bought these for a family member who was not able to get in shower any longer. BUT I used them during power outages during hurricanes, heat water on camp stove or BBQ grill. It works great!!
Your video is exactly the information people preparing for disaster need. I had figured out a year ago that while I am well equipped to shelter in place I am not prepared to bug out. I am still making strides for that. Like you there are things I have I cannot find. I do not know where my hand cranked radio or my two burner propane stove are. Thanks so much for sharing your real world experience with us. We live in a basement apartment. We were not in the direct path of Helene but just the heavy rains were enough for ground water to seep in when the ground became saturated. We had minimal flooding in our home but spent the next three days helping friends clean basements. I learned a flat shovel is something I should add to my preps. That would have made scraping mud off the floor much easier.
Yes, a flat shovel should definitely be on your list of preps! We found that a big push broom was great to use to push out the water out of the basement, as well as to push away the piles of leaves that were outside after the storm. So sorry to hear that you had some flooding, too. The water rising up from under the floor, rather than coming in through the doors, was surprising. Now's the time to find those things! I think organization is just as important as the actual preps, after going through this!
just a quick reply. bugging out is only an option if need be. yes flooding and hurricanes count as need be. but staying if at all possible is the right thing to do if you bug out know where all your stuff is. put in a place altogether so it will be together. you do not want to be bugging out looking all over the place for things. bad weather you can look and find disasters it's hard to do. i am not crittizeing you for this but take time from t.v going shopping and look for your radio and stove if found great i say this because life goes on once emergencys are over and we go back to normal and still no radio or stove. again not questioning you its i here all the time, can't find something they have, they look and look and then have to leave. when all is quiet hey did you find your stuff...oh no no time to look i'll do it later. next energency hey where is my stuff. beleave me been there will not again all my stuff is right together. live and learn i did.
@ you are so right. I still can’t find my weather radio. I decided having a second one (One I can find) is not a bad idea. I went shopping and have found the technology has improved enormously since I bought the lost one. Now they are rechargeable by USB and some will hold enough power to keep phones charged for days. I like to have redundancy in all these systems. I do have multiple was to cook in an outage. I will be getting multiple ways to get information. I also see a need for writing down the phone numbers of family and friends since all I have done for years is look them up on a phone and press “call”.
@@stuartaminion511 yay! I found my stove and lo and behold I had the forethought to put it on the same shelf as my bug out box of non perishable meals. I did figure out a year ago that I was well prepared to shelter in place but watching people have to throw whatever they could into the car in the wake of a wildfire made me realize when time is short I did not want to go through my pantry to figure out what I need to bring with me so I made a container of a weeks worth of meals along with instant coffee. That is where my stove is. These videos of people’s real life experience are the most helpful ones to prepare for these things.
Beverly Yes! Thanks for reminding me to hand write phone number in an ‘old fashion’ phone book! Seriously was thinking about that last week? Compile all personal info, family pictures, BIRTH CERTIFICATES, DL, Social, names addresses insurance Co, acct # etc. Keep info on a thumb drive. ( or four) Just remember where you stored them for easy access!😳Y’all be safe!
Watching this debrief in New Zealand and planning on sharing it with my husband, who works in emergency management. Post-event analysis is critical to drive improvement - thank you for sharing this valuable and hard-earned information, and all the best for the recovery phase.
Thank you. It’s interesting to hear post event analyses from Hurricane Helene. So many people all saying the same thing: communication was a big problem. Such an important prep to think of.
1. Redundancies of essentials, multiple energies like electric, propane, butane, wood, solar/wind, heat and cooking, pots and pans, lights, paper plates 2. Backup commo, phone, satellite phone/text, long range walkie-talkie, short wave radio, personal hilltops antenna 3. Simple gravity septic system 4. Heavy duty rain gear, water proof not resistant and muck boots 5. Plastic laminated master list of easy access tools, equipment, and their location 6. Take a shower the night before 7. Frozen jugs of potable water in the freezer 8. Ice cubes with a penny on top of the cube 9. Keep laundry done ahead of time 10. Backup insulated drinking water, with water and coffee 11. Practice using prep-tools, cooking on fire, medical equipment 12. Emergency radio for outside news 13. Understand satellite commo, like Garmin, Starlink, practice working with it 14. Be skeptical of conspiracy theories. Verify information 15. Plenty of right kinds of extra food, with variety, quick and easy preparation 16. Emergency toilet, composting toilet, incinerator toilet, outhouse for waste disposal 17. Use church, neighbors and governmental assistance for food, water, essentials, rather than personal stuff 18. Don’t store things in cardboard boxes, plastic containers are better. 19. Extra towels, washcloths and rags stored away. 20. Close windows to prevent humidity in the house 21. Keep chocolate and sweets 22. Check on neighbors, asking the right questions about essentials, food, water, heat, shelter, clothing, medical aid… 23. Mail delivery will be way later, weeks delayed, medication delays 24. Use Facebook and social media groups to help with commo and help, disaster assistance.
I am so sorry that you and your family were caught in this terrible disaster. It must be very stressful coping for months with everything that needs to be done to get back to a normal life. Thank you for sharing your experiences with those of us who have not yet been directly impacted by a major disaster. To anyone who has not yet experienced such a disaster, I would say that unless you have a second home somewhere away from the disaster area and can evacuate to there, nothing can really prepare you for the hardship of losing your home to an earthquake, landslide, wildfire or other major natural disaster. Even if you have good insurance coverage or are rich or have kind relatives or friends who let you live with them, it will take time to rebuild your damaged home or establish your life somewhere else. And this will be unbelievably stressful for months. For coping well with a lesser disaster, your preps must be in good condition and readily available to you. And the best way to do this is to conduct an annual inventory and inspection of your preps. This will tell you what has quietly rusted, been damaged by rodents or gone rancid in storage and needs to be replaced. And it helps if every teen and adult in the household does realistic practice/training every six months for grid-down living. You do not really know what you will miss most until you have to go days without electric power or clean water. For me, what I missed most was ice cubes -- much more than going without TV, hot meals or hot showers. I would have never expected that. Now I have a countertop ice cube maker and a small generator to power it and other small appliances such as a countertop microwave and an electric heater. For the coffee drinkers in my household, we now have a stockpile of jars of instant coffee, two butane stoves (safe ways to boil water indoors) and plenty of canisters of butane fuel. Be sure to include in your preps some morale boosters for each family member because this will help everyone in your household cope better with all the dreadful stuff you will face. A #10 can of instant chocolate milk mix, box of crayons and some coloring books can help grade school children cope better.
These are all wonderful ideas!!! Thanks so much for sharing. The entertainment options are so important for kids. If it is a disaster, they are going to be out of school and they are going to get bored even more than normal. Sorry you were affected, too, but it sounds like you also learned some lessons for how to prepare. The most important thing that you said was "not yet been directly impacted by a major disaster." Everyone should be prepared and not naive that nothing could happen.
As a Floridian and one of my suggestions with prepping is to not have all of your prepping of the same item in the same location. For instance medical supplies make sure you don't keep all of your medical supplies in one location. In this case keeps some in the basement and keep some upstairs. This way if one location is compromised the other location is still okay. I also do this with my rotation Pantry I don't keep all of say my pasta sauce in one location I have two separate areas in my house just in case.
You know, that has always been my thinking, too. I do have medical supplies on two floors, food on two floors, etc. Just in case needed to bug in downstairs or do something like get out of flooding downstairs. I found that when you are in shock, though, your thinking just isn't as clear and I needed super simple storage and labels. It might be just a need to just duplicate items upstairs and downstairs rather than keeping one thing in one location and something different in another. With the stress of living through the disaster, it's surprising at how simple you need to make things, rather than hiding preps in whatever places you can and hoping you can remember where they are later.
@@simplyadventures1732 As many storms as I have been through I hadn’t thought of splitting things up. Medical stuff is in one place because of my illness. But I can see why to split it.
I just moved to a 3 story rental and bathrooms are on 2 floors. I have been debating whether to put first aid on each floor or not. My answer is now yes - put some in each bathroom on floor and even on the top.
Thank you thank you thank you for making this incredible informative video! I hung on to your every word and learned so much.I went down to Louisiana to help about 2 or 3 months after Katrina hit.The only thing I would add is to make sure you have everyone in your family's email address.In the event cell phone towers are down if you can get to a desk top computer and other person can get to a computer you can find out where they are.Many people in Katrina had no idea where their loved ones were even 3 months later ( and since they could only file one claim per family they didn't even know if they could legitimately file a claim where they were at.)They didn't even know what state there loved ones were taken to!
Thankfully I was fine as far as material preparedness. I travel and live out of my minivan for months at a time so I have an entire off grid home setup in that space. Plus even though I live alone, I’ve always kept enough food and supplies on hand for me, my 3 sons, and my granddaughter. It’s not logical because they don’t live anywhere near me but I still do it. Life after the hurricane was a normal day in the minivan for me. What I wasn’t ready for were the emotions that hit me after the hurricane. Being ok when my neighbors weren’t ok was something I could not have emotionally prepared for. The need to share my resources and help others was something I hadn’t factored in. I had never considered the pain of living in a world where the people around me were struggling but I was ok. I had so much guilt because I was prepared! The entire thing was a roller coaster of emotions and people who have never been through something like that just can not understand the trauma. It felt like my community had been bombed and the depth of the shock and grief we all experienced at once reverberated through us. It’s been proven that we feel each other’s energy physically and mentally. In no way were any of us emotionally, mentally, or spiritually ok.
Same!! Some of my friends completely lost their homes. One friend was majorly flooded but the house was going to be okay except the power lines fell on the house and set it on fire and it burned to the ground. With his pets inside. We all rallied and went from house to house with chainsaws, buckets, garbage bags you name it. I took 20 black garbage bags of soaking wet clothes home to launder. My house is two feet up so I didn't get flooded but I lost a giant oak that just missed the house. I felt lucky. My friends and I talked about this sadness and grief we felt. It lasted for a long time. My short term memory was about 5 minutes or less. I'm glad you brought this up because none of us here thought about that part. We talked about it afterward but now we know it's a real thing. And it can be very draining. Thank you.
Great vid. Went through Ian in 22. No power, water, phones 9 days. Had propane and solar gens, most stuff we needed, but sure got an education on "what didn't I think of". You reminded me of some things I've yet to complete, and some new ones. Pay attention people! If it can go wrong it will. Once you're in the middle of it, it's to late to prep. Thanks again for such a well thought out list, while it was fresh on your mind.
A few suggestions 1. Pump carafes like you see used at coventions for serving coffee. The will keep hot water usably hot all day.. Same for ice water. I have 3. 2. I recently bought a roller type clothes wringer. That cames in real handy for wringing out soaked towels or clothes. 3. A small battery powered water pump with shower attachment. 4. Get a generator disconnect and plug to connect a generator directly into your house. That would solve the septic pump problem and make a lot of other things easier.
I am super prepped here just south of Tampa. But I'm reading all the comments and picking up all kinds of ideas! Yours in particular jumped out. Thank you.
Wow, this was an excellent debriefing - thank you. Interesting how your emotions started out light and then the stress came back into your voice and your face. You’ve been thru a harrowing experience. We appreciate your willingness to revisit your pain in order to help us. The opening tale of cooking - well, it could’ve been a Comedy of Errors as you moved thru each back-up. The serious side of that situation really hit home with me. A sincere Thank You for that dire warning. Also, you revealed your good heart by giving the last resource away to a neighbor with a greater need. ❤ COMMUNITY. Thats the first prep! BTW, your lighting was darn good and the cut-out drywall is an effective backdrop. I’m also on a septic so *ouch* sanitation is an issue for my neighborhood as well. You are stronger than you’ve ever been. You are an asset to your community. God bless you!🙏🏻
Thank you!!! Yes, you can emotionally feel like you've healed until you start recounting the harrowing events and reliving it. Beyond the physical needs it will take some time to heal mentally from this disaster. We are stronger and have learned the true power of community!!!
I truly believe THIS VIDEO is the most important one to listen to. I have been praying for you all. I pray things just keep getting easier. There's always a silver lining. God speed. ❤
Thank you for this. It must be hard to relive this tragedy so soon, but your first-hand account is very worthwhile. You raise points I never thought of.
I hope everyone, everywhere is watching as many of these videos as they can find. Then, turn off their power and water for a planned 24 hr period to test everything they think they have prepared. Regular use of your emergency gear is what rarely happens. We just assume it'll work when we need it. Peanut M&M's are your friend. Lol Thanks so much for sharing.
Definitely agree. You don't want to be in the middle of a disaster only to find out your preps don't work. And, yes, M&Ms are being added to my chocolate stash, as well!
Coffee hack: Get a french press. Assuming you can boil water, add hot water and coffee grounds, wait, 4 minutes, press and yay coffee. No power hungry stuff needed. And the coffee tastes better.
I use an insulated French press everyday and was going to share this tip as well. 😂 one of the best things I’ve ever bought. I use it for both coffee and tea.
One thing many people forget to have for an emergency is plain old bleach. You can use it to sanitize drinking water , clean and disinfect items, etc. With some dilute bleach you could have had that grill cleaned, rinsed and dry out to use in fairly short time. Also wiping down stuff with dilute bleach will stop mold from growing on stuff, it should not be used on everything, as it will fade many colors. I see from your background you have been stripping the walls down to dry out. Spray some some dilute bleach on the wood and wall surface to prevent mold, just be sure to ventilate well as it drys. Best of luck getting everything back to normal.
Thanks. We had bleach, but prefer a mold killer solution we have on hand. The mold was so intense and so much that it couldn't have been cleaned. Both of us have reactions to mold and no grill is worth putting your health at risk in the middle of a disaster. Wish I could attach the photos and video of the mold. It was unlike anything that I've ever seen.
Keep in mind that bleach has a shelf life. I think about 6 months. If it is expired, then you may be making things worse by spreading bacteria around instead of killing.
I've heard bleach can whiten mold without removing it, and creates a favorable environment for mold to grow, while an acid solution like vinegar will kill and prevent mold. I'd like to find actual researches to sort it out.
@@creuvette29 Yes, bleach is actually not great for cleaning mold. It does not work as well as other things. Here's some tips from the EPA: www.epa.gov/mold/should-i-use-bleach-clean-mold
We have lost power many times due to tornadoes and storms living in north Texas. We have purchased and use a propane camp stove along with a propane coffee maker numerous times over the years. We keep it stored and ready to go in our laundry room because of the frequency of use. However when the power went off in 2021 for 3 days with temps dipping to -13 with windshield we found out how NOT ready we were! Like you we made lists of items and things we would do differently. 100% agree with doing all the laundry and taking showers especially due to the frozen pipes. As well as filling up all the bathtubs and water totes full of water. I’ve cooked with cast iron for more than 40 years so it wasn’t much different than stove top cooking. It’s difficult though when the hardest learned lessons comes with the shock of never before seen and unexpected events like what you’ve been through! How do you plan for that? I truly feel sorry for those who take nothing away from the current events and don’t prepare because the power and WiFi are working again!
I hear you. It's hard to prepare for the unthinkable! And yet, it’s so important to listen to others that have gone through the unthinkable so that you have some idea where the gaps are. Living in Texas how would you know to have prepared for cold like that? Just like living in North Carolina how would you know to prepare for a hurricane?
Back up bathroon: 5 gallon bucket, round toilet seat and cover material such as peatmoss, sawdust or coco coir. Have a safe place all ready to empty bucket as needed like a hole in the ground away from water etc, cover with dirt you dug out of the hole.
We don’t like coffee makers cluttering the countertops, so we use French presses, for coffee and tea. Just add boiling water. Also keep a bugout bag with essentials, and a medical bag for off site emergencies. The night before the storm, I filled pots and pans in the kitchen with water. We used baby wipes to clean hands and before we could shower. When we got the generator going, trouble lights came in handy to light large areas. When I finish a jug of laundry detergent, I add water and label it “wash water” to use for cleaning up. A clothesline and clothespins came in handy too. Cast iron fry pans and Dutch ovens are great for use on grill burners or camp fires. Rocket stoves are easy to make with bricks or cement blocks. RUclips has instructions. They’re very efficient and just use sticks for fuel.
Definitely need to make a bug out bag. After hearing so many stories of people literally having 2 minutes to leave their house because the flood water was rising so rapidly, I know that there wouldn't have been nearly enough time to get essentials together. I do the same thing with laundry detergent bottles.
💛🧡💛 Admiring your honesty and willingness to be vulnerable to some extent. Wow! You're helping so many of us to be better prepared and we can troubleshoot more accurately. God bless you!!
Really thoughtful, much needed awakening! Thank you! Everyone needs to listen and take these suggestions to heart! Our weather is changing, storms are coming more often, more severe, horrific damage, dams breaking! Have noticed, in just last ten yrs, all over the world, …..flooding, blizzards, tornados etc worsening, All having a mind of their own. TIP: I keep a huge supply of frozen, pre fried, Salmon patties made with extra can/tin sardine’s in olive oil and some quinoa as filler but, more for the extra protein. I eat on these 2-3 times a week and replace with new batch. Try to keep 80-90 on hand, particularly through hurricane season BTW I hate sardines! However, when incorporated with the Salmon, onion, some crushed crackers w eggs…..you’ll never know they re there!! Good protein source!
I dont like sardines but I try to eat some, good ides for the patties! I will try. I make salmon patties with cooked potatoes, garam masala, ajowan seeds, crush coriander seeds, salt and onions.
Upgraded from technician to General privileges for my Ham radio ( one prep I had neglected - too much work ) . Then bought a Satellite phone (can call world wide no license required ) . You can program 3 contacts for SOS button . They can find you anywhere with GPS on your phone and you do not even have to talk ( just push SOS button ) . No cell towers or electricity necessary- could save your life if you use it once .
I love that you have your satellite phone programmed for SOS! That's a great idea. We are DEFINITELY looking into satellite communications and potentially Ham radio license after this experience.
Yes! The hand crank radio, tons of battery candles to access all areas of the house, car radio did work but no gas so had to be careful not to run battery down. Had gone to a pool store got 12 5 gallon chlorine buckets with lids, filled then before no water and that water was a godsend forflushing washing cleaning.
A couple notes that may help. A 1) All household medical items in one place. Everything! It really saves time if you remember to put it things back. 2) Instant coffee or a French press if you have another method to boil water. 3) Shower wipes. They are larger and some of them are rather plush. Mine are from Amazon. 4) Ask the doctor about an extra rx to put aside meds- because of medical issues I have extra meds for travel. You guys did an amazing job!!!!
A lot of books never underestimate the way our grandparents lived during depression. Im telling you, you will be so happy to have those books. I even bought books from amish on how they do things w/o electricity. It is great to have those books when needed. I am big on organization of materials. Plus our family has emergency plan where to meet up at out farm homestead and a friends place if needed. Items are kept at both locations have plan A B C. Unfortunately I believe it will get worse before it gets better. Then it will get better. I am Christian so all my faith hope and love comes from Christ Jesus. Build community and resource together that helps so very much.
Wow this is the best prepping video I have seen! So sad that this happened to you all down there. I'm going to take your advice about getting plastic totes. And I'll get a couple spray bottles.
Thanks for the suggestions which help us to think about the problems and ideas of how to make it better. I love your attitude of kindness and thoughtfulness. Some postings are so negative that I just move on. You and your family are amazing.
Used to live in hurricane zone and was prep conscious before Katrina and more so after. If something was in the Gulf I did all the laundry,made sure dishes were done, sheets changed,gas tank full,oil changed even as every one else was relaxing. Right about chocolate, always have it in freezer when on sale. Instead of putting water in freezer pack it with flour, cornmeal as emptied. We did pancakes from scratch as bread sub. Oatmeal with canned fruit, eggs when hens started laying again. Used mop, not towels. Put first aid stuff in tool box. Do not miss that stress!
You know, never thought we'd be experiencing this stress in the mountains! All good suggestions that you have! Yes, from here on I'll definitely do laundry before. Thankfully I did the dishes the night before! Great idea with packing flour instead of water in the freezer! Thanks!
Funny story: before Helene, I did just that: washed all the dishes and laundry so I would at least have that, like my first hurricane experience. Dryer filled with water and went up to the sink. The stuff in the uppers was fine, but when you see the mud and smell, you are going to want to wash it again anyway. Good thing I had disposable
Cast iron cookware you can cook on wood and hot ashes without a lot of trial and error. My biggest mistake has not been practicing cooking outdoors. When supplies are precious learning to cook out with limited supplies is not ideal. In “good” times practice cooking outdoors in wood fires, hot ashes, propane grills, charcoal and smokers. Thank you for your video, we too experienced the never flooded before basement where all our emergency supplies are kept and the plastic tubs saved everything. I’m now putting our “go” backpacks in plastic tubs after this!
Yes it's so important to test things when you have the ability to spend time and resources to refine your skills. Glad you are putting everything in plastic tubs. They were so important, as you know!
Don't know if this is helpful or not, but an adaptation of the following method may work for greasy cook pots (If you have some kind of lid or cover, or cling wrap option for them). Method (was for plastic containers with lids that pretty much seal) - small amount of warm, not hot water; basically about one quarter of a cup, depending on size of container. One or two scrunched up sheets of paper towel. Small drop of dishwashing detergent. Close, and shake (best over the sink or basin) vigorously. Dispose of now saturated paper towel, and left over water. Rinse container with clean water (hot is fine if you have it). But it gets ALL GREASE off plastic containers, and tomato paste staining too. For a large pot, still only use an inch of WARM water in the bottom. Small drop of detergent, couple sheets of paper towel. It will work. Biggest issue is the swishing part if there is no close fitting lid you can keep on. Cling wrap and being careful will work for sure. Even a person's shower cap fitting over the top of the pot, will work, if careful. Better than having them pile up and cause stench. If you've never seen this method, or used it and doubt the effectiveness, try it out on Chinese plastic take-out containers. Just a little warm water, be very moderate. I use it all the time on my more durable plastic containers. It works. The slightly grainy paper towel is the magic ingredient. Cheap is fine. For keeping yourself clean, do NOT underestimate half a bucket of warmish water. Get a washer/flannel, wet it and wipe upper half of the body first, don't over do soap. Do lower body next. Then use the remainder of the water to rinse off everywhere. Last bit, feet in. We don't need showers, except for hair washing convenience. And because they feel good 🙂 We ran out of water once during a terrible drought; had to keep buying water in. So half buckets worked, and it actually felt just great, actually felt cleaner, because the washer was doing all the work, not just the water and soap.
What a refreshingly honest portrayal of what could happen to any of us! You were amazing in your presentation and just the best information on what we could do to prepare. Thank you so much for this video and I look forward to more!❤
@@SingleGirlsDIY LOL, my wife and I were just talking about your video when I heard the notification sound. Your ears must have been burning. But these are so helpful. We had a short local outage and I was hunting around for extension cord that was short to connect my EcoFlow Pro to my Mom in Law's recliner which she sleeps in, didn't want along one. Ordered 2. One thing I did was to attach a 6-foot extension cord to my refrigerator. The power cord is too short to reach around to the front so I had to do gymnastics to get to the plug. Now I have the cord within easy reach and I can plug the fridge into the EcoFlow no problem.
Your comment about organization really hit home for me. When my power went out for a week when the temps were 14 degrees, I had to try to remember all my preps. Totally forgot about the stash of hand warmers. I've since started to make a list of all my preps for the particular need, in this case keeping warm.
My comment is off the subject, but she mentioned boxes in the basement, this came to mind.Cardboard boxes promote insects. Consider paper boxes as roach condos. Just as wood shingles are infested with bugs like silverfish. The ample supply of silverfish is a food supply for spiders. This is something I learned as an exterminator.
Hi. Good video. We were in same boat, in Upstate SC and know all you are saying. Felt prepared, prepared far more than most, yet discovered some shortcomings. You obviously did so much RIGHT, and ahead of time though! On subject of coffee for your preps (realizing you personally came up short on cooking appliances), consider a camp style percolator and have instant coffee on hand for emergencies!
I have a pour over type with a stopper mechanism so you can steep tea or make coffee stronger. also have some empty tea bags that can be used for coffee as well. Once you have a way to heat water!
I have been into emergency preparedness for a long time and I still learned a few things from this video. Took extensive notes. I only have one suggestion, which is to look into getting a GMRS radio license for the family and some GMRS radios for the family and perhaps neighbors. Excellent content though!
Solar shower for camping. It's a big black plastic container with a hose, a hook, and shower head. Set in in the sun for a while and it gets pretty warm even hot on a warm day. Set up a shower with plastic shower curtain around a couple trees.
I'm only 39 seconds into this video and stopped to take notes. THANKS SO VERY MUCH. This collective info from sad experience is so helpful for others! My heart hurts for you and all affected. New subscriber.
Add having bleach and vinegar on hand to clean mold. I don't understand why, by the end of 2 weeks, the mold and rats nest weren't handled. Maybe the one burner was enough given how much work cleaning up they had on their hands. Priorities are real and truly needed.
Thank you! Yes, after going through it I don't want people to go through the same things. If I can help others prevent some of the same mistakes it will be great. Thanks for subbing!
Been prepping since the great T P shortage. Because of this video I put a hot plate on my shopping list . I have 1 that I've had for my 18 wheel from 2000 . Long story short . Great video
Thank you for being so vulnerable and honest. I'm in mid-South Carolina, so went four and a half days without power; nothing like what you experienced. Like you, I was well prepared. Sitting with reports of possible tornadoes for tomorrow, the potential for a crisis in such cold weather is terrifying. I'm so glad you made it through. I hadn't thought about rain gear, so I learned that from your video. All good information. Thank you.
Thank you so much! It was definitely an experience. We are so thankful to have prepared in advance. Thankfully we could help others with our preps, too.
@@SingleGirlsDIY How about this for another video: You talked about how many good people were reluctant to take help. Are you aware of any bad people that stole or abused the things the volunteers and aid groups were offering? See any examples of stores or gas stations overcharging for ice, food, gasoline? Outright theft or looting?
Coleman makes a stove top coffee maker if you can't manage a percolator. They also make a stove top oven. There are griddles, toasters, waffle irons... from many sources. Sun or Camp showers, one for each person and one for the kitchen hang them outside in the sun, then wrap in a thick towel to keep it hot...hot water for dishes and showers. (Don't forget the value of 3-4 dish pans for kitchen and bath...think Victorian style wash stands [pitcher of water, basin, mirror]). Also a wringer and clothes line are great help. Lots of easy aides to thriving even when you are in shock from all kinds of disasters happening all at once like with Helene (no power, no water, lost ability to cook , no communications, property damage, no transportation.......)
Great suggestions, thanks for sharing! I do have an off-grid washing machine for emergencies. We knew the power was coming on soon, so didn't bother doing clothes for a few days, but if it had been longer we would have used it.
This is such an honest and humble reflection of your experience. I learned so much. I would have had many of the same issues you talked about. I have to listen again and take notes. Thank you and good luck!
Been through floods, earthquake, and wildfire and I've got to say that I will never store emergency supplies in the basement again. After the Loma Prieta quake, I would not have gone into our basement for any amount of money. Also, organizing your supplies is good, but don't put them all in a location where one downed tree or flood or landslide can ruin them or cut you off from them. Cell towers always go down, and Internet is fragile. You used to be able to rely on land lines, but they are as fragile as cell now. A better quality generator could have saved you a lot of grief. We have one that runs our whole house and switches automatically when the power goes out. We run it on a schedule during disasters, but we can do laundry, recharge devices, and take hot showers while it's on. Neighbors are an important resource. Check in with them daily and work together on mitigation and recovery. When things are bad, they're the only help you can rely on. We meet with our neighbors periodically. It's good to know where the nearest neighbor with medical expertise lives in case someone is injured.
As far as your meals. I just started looking into meals in a bag. You can find them on RUclips and you gather all the shelf stable ingredients for a recipe and put them in a bag. Then the whole meal is all together and you just open cans and dump mix and Cook and eat.
When I lived on the boat I had propane, and when we bought the house I switched the cooktop over to propane. I found a lot of prepping is just going through stuff at regular intervals and making sure it’s clean or full or no unpleasant surprises. We bought the house in between major floods of our local river and the propane tank was empty, the propane heater was broken, the wood stove had been pulled out, we really didn’t expect that second flood and it was miserable. We had a two burner camp chef and a bottle on the kitchen floor. Yes our septic was sketchy too, so when we were on the boat I had to haul water and I’d “wash” my pots and pans with a soapy wet rag, use paper plates, boil 2 quarts of water and use some to cut grease, and the rest to rinse, and just reverted back to that and either “watering” the bushes outside or using kitty litter for our needs. Basically it’s going to be gross in some ways. We are building a house right now and opted NOT to get the fujiclean system that needed power, stuck with a basic gravity system and fewer bedrooms. I agree that doing practice runs is really helpful though you are well past that with the length of time and the damages you received. Thank you for sharing, it helps everyone to be prepared!
Thank you very much for this very helpful video . I feel i learned alot from you already . I leave in NWF and in the 16 years i live here i did not experience any hurricane situations. I do stress and prepare every year but you never prepared enough because each of the hurricane strikes and intensity are different a bit . I do buy more stuff every year to my prep kit but i did never tested out still in the boxes 😢Hopefully this hurricane season soon is over and i will make sure for the next season i am more organized , prepared and test out everything . I'm looking for to watch your next video and please make a video the things was very helpful you had prepped and also the tools items needed extra in case of the flooding situation . God Bless You and your family and wishing you a stress free speedy recovery.
Thank you so much, that really means a lot! Yes, we lived in central Florida for a decade and never experienced anything like this with all of the hurricanes we went through. Each storm is different and there is no good way to prepare for everything. Please do organize and test out everything! It was something I kept putting off and it is easy to keep putting it off. But it really does matter. Take care!
Want to add one other thing is that if in the house mostly there is one person with the whole plan what to do in case off. If this person is not available there can be that certain things are missed by the rest. A small booklet with instructions or scenario's can help but also to find the holes in the plan. For older kids to know what to do when power goes out and their parents are not there. Like do not open fridges/freezers. Start saving water in bags. etc etc. Next ofcourse a try out with the kids.
It seems like the smaller propane stove would have worked one you cleaned out the mouse nest. The food is inside a pan or pot so it would separate from anything that might be dirty. Just a thought.
You’re right, it probably would have worked! In the middle of a disaster, you just may not be thinking clearly. I think we were so exhausted and in shock that didn't think through that scenario.
Following along with your video, I started comparing if we had sufficient redundancy. 1) Cooking: We have the big generator, of course, but we also have a charcoal grill (that we use weekly) and several bags of charcoal for emergencies, and we have a 2-burner propane burner that's in our bugout trailer (with a LOT of propane bottles). 2) Comms: Generators allowed us to keep phones, etc. charged. We also have GMRS and HAM radios for emergencies with emergency frequencies stored (we're working on our technician licenses). 3) Cookware: While we have plenty of that, you did highlight our weakest point, which is water. We're midway through design and implementation of a catch-system, and we do have a lot of filtering/treatment capability for going out to our local creek and lake, but we definitely need more local storage. 4) Rain Gear: While rain is NOT a thing we normally deal with in southwest Texas, we do have sufficient rain gear. 5) Storage: We have a 12x24 shed with dual lofts, and I have it pretty well organized for easy access to everything. We have a special section for prep items that, depending how much heads-up we get, would end up getting put in the SUV or the bugout trailer if we needed to leave (more propane, water, gas for generators/vehicles, heavier duty tools). It's definitely available for bugging-in. 6) Shower: One of the items on our to-buy list is a Joolca (or similar) instant hot water unit. We want it for our bugout trailer, but is easily usable anywhere. We do have a lot of wipes and dry shampoo. 7) Frozen water: We opted to pack our freezer with food items instead of water, and we just keep adding to our bottled water supply regularly (rotating everything, obviously). 8) Laundry: Being just the two of us, laundry is not a huge issue for us. 9) Insulated Bottles: We have a ridiculous number for 2 people. As for coffee, we have a french press in our bugout trailer and even a little grinder for our beans. They are really easy to use and allow us to enjoy coffee any time. 10) Trying Out Preps: Amen to that. Thankfully, since we take our bugout trailer on trips occasionally, we're able to field test a lot of things and refine things upon our return. 11) Emergency Radios: Refer back to #2, Comms. Both our GMRS and HAM radios have freqs for local emergency info. 12) Satellite: During snowmageddon we still had our satellite TV rig, so our generator allowed us to use that. We've since ditched that, and are considering Starlink (still a bit costly). 13) Emergency Toilet: Composting toilets are the way to go. The Vanlife community is a wealth of info and experience on what works...and you can make your own VERY easily. The only real prep you need is plenty of compost material (coconut coir, peat moss, similar) and a shovel. 14) Plastic Totes: We said goodbye to cardboard and wood containers years ago. Also, if you have wood floors, don't store ANYTHING (even plastic totes) on the floor. If it gets wet, termites LOVE this. 15) Towels: Yes, yes, yes. Again, it's just my wife and I, but we have 4 dogs, so towels are plentiful in our house. 16) Ventilation: Anything you can do to dissipate heat and humidity is helpful, so even a dehumidifier can be worth it if you can spare the electricity from your generator. 17) Comfort food in general: ALWAYS an important thing to consider. Just really think about storage and shelf-life. 18) Neighbors/Community: A disaster is not the right time to be introducing yourself to your neighbors. Build your community NOW. You each may have tools, skills, etc., that help each other when things get bad. Gasoline was running out in our town during snowmageddon, and when we saw some of our neighbors running their vehicles to charge up their phones, we had them bring us their devices as needed since we had a generator. We told them to save their gas in case they needed to leave. 19) Social Media: I'm very prolific across several social media platforms, so these are easy to leverage as needed. I would suggest, though, that people USE them on a regular basis so that you're a known entity and not just some random, once in a blue moon poster/submitter---you can get lost in the chaos otherwise. 20) Have a Bugout Plan: You an have all the preps/redundancies in the world, but sometimes the disaster may be so bad or threatening that the smart answer is to LEAVE. Not having a well-understood, practiced plan to escape (and where to escape TO) is simply tempted tragedy. We have a tiered plan based on how much heads-up we have. Our plan covers 5 minutes, 15 minutes and 1 hour.
Thanks for sharing your really comprehensive prepping plan. It's good to see that you've really considered all the details! Excellent points and some good tips!
I have on of those small coil-type immersion heaters for things like hot water for instant coffee, instant oatmeal, instant mashed potatoes, etc. It draws only 300w and is great with my 1200w power pack. It heats water to a boil quickly on very little power. It would be perfect to heat just enough water to wet a wash cloth for a quick refreshing face and body wash.
I don't know how much space you have, but the military trailer diesel generators are an amazing option, plus, you can mount the Starlink on the trailer itself. What makes this so good isn't just the electricity, it's that you can bring it where it is needed, and have communications if setup correctly. They make a great platform for both home and rescue use. There is enough room to mount waterproof boxes for water purification and cooking. Helene was supposed to go directly over my, but shifted a hundred miles East.
Great tips. I already do many/most of the things listed (50 years growing up in Florida and various mini-emergencies). Makes me feel good to know I’ve got most the bases covered! 👍
Cleaning up your grills and making them sanitary again may be an unpleasant job, but, it's doable. Easy-Off oven cleaner can be your best friend. Use it beyond generously. Use it in a warm place. Give it plenty of time to work. Protect your eyes, skin, and lungs! Hose off with a powerful stream from a hose nozzle. It may take two, or three applications of Easy-Off. When It looks good, spray with a good sanitizer. Let it dry. Then fire it up to about 400° F. That should kill off anything undesirable that remains.
Our electric kettle doesnt pull to much energy and it only needs to run for 2 minutes. We've used it many times with our generator. Its great for instant coffee, soups, and it works great for oatmeal, mac and cheese, cups of rice and tons of other cup food readily available at dollar stores.
Thank you for posting this and the blog post. It's probably a positive note that when you prep, and you aren't devastated like others, your prep gear really helps others out that are in need. I loaned lights, medicine, chainsaw, radios, and more to my aunt and uncle that were affected and not prepared.
I go back country camping. A lot of the time I have no cell reception, or very limited reception. This means no internet. Being able to keep in Contact with family is important for me when I go camping. I bought a starlink mini a couple months back to fill this gap I had with keeping in touch with family. This in turn rolls over to emergency preparedness at a drop of a hat. Using it while camping gives me the experience, and knowledge needed, to better use it when disaster strikes. Thanks for the video
Thank you so much for sharing your experience and lessons learned. I too took lots of notes and will be updating my preps based on the info you shared.
I leave all my backup cookin stoves (gas canisters) in their box to keep crap out of them. I probably hav about 19 backup stove including backpack lightweight screw on stove tops. Also hav several camp cook sets. And foil pans. Plenty of paperware and plastic ware. This last i buy at DT but mostly at least 75% off all holidayware like at walmart!!! So it will be a little more fun in a bad situation!!!! Also plenty of otc medication and bandages. Baby wipes. Lots. If they dry out add water to package. I make mine soppy wet for cleaning self. Also hav some flex solar panels n couple sm generators and couple solar batteries. I also hav one of those little wash machines 15# that will run on solar panel. They work well. Not for heavy duty but will do small liads of clothes. I hav DT solar yard lites worked great one year at Christmas blizzard no elec. Cooked on grille. Other than tube i dont do any other medias. I hav pressure canned or dehydrated almost every in my freezer. I hav done all of this since 2019. Did not happen overnite. None of this is bragging its what my gut started telling me to do starting with C 2020. I watch for sales for everything : amaz days, black fridays ,big sales or markdowns. Hav emergency radio but dont kno how well that will work in my area in mountains. your lighting is good. Also 5 gal bucket water (rainwate,r wash water or melted snow, NOT drinking water) down toilet to flush . also tubers hav ways to block smell inside toilet after flushing.
Hello from Central Colorado, here in our area the emergency situation would be forest fires, flooding, and severe snow storms. We have the Arkansas river thru our valley, if God forbid one or all three reservoirs fail, flooding might happen. We need to know where to escape to higher ground in our valley. Thank you for your suggestions.
@@patriciacooke886 exactly im in south central west of canon city. Off of Hwy 50. Sounds like you might be too. A long ways from the nearest store. Right now ive got 15" of snow and anothet foot today and tomorrow. Most likely a power outage coming. Im pretty much ready!!!!! For me im up on top of hill so hopefully wont hav to worry about flooding unless something freak happens!!! Everything else yes. Big fire went thru here bout 15 yrs ago before i moved here!!!! Im about 17 miles from the Arkansas. For bug out cookin i suggest a lightweight screw on stove top on a propane bottle 4pk 19.00. maybe a propane bottle adapter if stove butane. Butane will not work below freezing. Something to think about. So will hav to keep a butane canister (cold) next to your body!!!! Propane Will last a long time . I do hav both fuels. Thats what i hav ready to go in case. Or go hiking!!!!! I also hav a jetboil knockoff ( Swonder watch for sales under 40.00)that works great with a propane adapter. It will travel with me if needs. I keep everything in 5gal plastic buckets or after holiday markdown totes
Yes, I keep a lot of our backup things in original boxes, but with the flooding that didn't help me out. Totally agree on the Dollar Tree foil pans! We're going to be stocking up. And, yes, I've bought lots of holiday paper goods at Hobby Lobby for 90% off. We have Christmas and Easter paper plates in our prepper boxes. We have lots of 5 gallon buckets, too. Your list is awesome and I agree... gut feeling starting in 2020 (though I've been stocking emergency items since well before then) and definitely do it over time using sales! Thrift stores and garage sales are excellent places!
Yup i used to hit thrift stores alot but here it seems most charge almost the same charge as new. Anyway everything in totes or plastic 5 buckets!!!! Mice or water!!!!! Fill the buckets n totes!!! Mice are attracted to cardboard as are bugs!!!! I hav halloween , summer winter, fall, thanksgiving , day of dead, valentines paper goods also😊. Very festive here!!!! i do hav boxed things on top shelves.
This is an amazing first-hand account. So many things I never thought of. I have a suggestion for #7 - as you remove things from the freezer, shove something into the void left by the meat. A blanket, some paper, a couch cushion. That's how I camp with my cooler and it does a pretty good job. I'm sorry this happened. And I'm glad you're here to tell the tale. May you have what you need.
sorry this happened to you and others but thank you for taking this negative event and turning it into something good by giving good advice and share your experience.
Starlink saved us during an ice storm last year, along with solar generator. It’s expensive, and hard to justify, but they could save your life, and or make your life more comfortable during long term power outage.
Having a large roll of plastic is a great prep to have it eliminates the need for putting towels down. You can section off rooms, lot cover windows, lots of uses
@SingleGirlsDIY I wanted to let you know how much my husband and I appreciate your video. You really made us put our thinking caps on and evaluate plans that we have in place. Im grateful for you sharing and am praying for you and your family.
Wow! What a phenomenal video. Popped up as a recommendation and so glad. So much great info. We are in central gulf coast Florida, and you included so much i will need to rewatch and further absorb. Thank you ! Subscribed.
Another great video! I recognize some of my own prepping "fails" on your list - the need to have my preps much better organized, and none stored in cardboard boxes if possible, etc. Very helpful "lessons learned" - Thanks!
FYI plastic totes are also good if you have a house fire if your items are in the tote and it doesn’t get hot enough to melt them they will probably be fine, but if it’s in cardboard, the water from the fire department will run everything also
not only store in plastic, but color code them as well. first aid and medical supplies in red, water filters etc, in blue, cooking in another color and so on. makes things easy to find.
I think we need to have generators. Especially if you have a lift station. You can get set up so you have a “emergency” breaker panel that just serves Some lights, Fridge, heat, cooling, lift station. Whatever you think you have to have in an emergency. You don’t need a whole house generator. you might really just need fridge, Freezer, Lift station, well pump if you have a well and a couple of outlets for convenience. Something to think about,
Same situation. Basement flooded and most of my camping gear was in the basement. We have a smaller generator & had recently purchased an even smaller one (which we loaned out to our neighbor) but we didn’t have enough gas! Stations were closed immediately afterward & when one opened the crowds were scary! Police had to guard pumps & keep fighting to a minimum. I was surprised by some of the behavior. We’ve all taken stock & hopefully are better prepared. I had packaged items & couldn’t find them either! I think I need a notebook with items & location listed & label better because so many items were being moved so if I thought I knew- I didn’t.
Stock up many instant beverages, instant foods, canned foods, ready to eat foods, etc. I got types of noodles/pasta that only needs to soak with boiled water only (like vermicelli, angel hair pasta, else) Stock up sterno and refills, parafin etc. In disasters practicallities are the best. For long time survival like depression rice, wheat berries, beans are way to go. In disasters instant foods or ready to eat is top. I stock up military mre's. They're good for disasters
I totally agree with you about the instant foods for the first few weeks. And the MREs. I don't think people realize that not all pasta cooks the same, and that some only needs hot water and other needs to boil in water for more than 10 minutes.
@@Hope-ot1xy MREs are Meals Ready to Eat. They are foods packaged in plastic kits that can be heated with a container enclosed in the kits. All you need is water to add to the heater system and it heats up the meals. This is what governments generally supply in disaster relief situations. I unboxed an MRE meal kit in this video: ruclips.net/user/shortsEXgaKAbNwME?si=QxleHXWnqIpz53Qj
Great video. I live in the US Virgin Islands and have been through many hurricanes. No evacuations here, we ride them out and our power was out for 90 days each hurricane I’ve been through. One thing that I feel would be nice for those especially up in the hills is all of our stoves here are gas because we also have power outages on the regular. They are converted to propane and we keep 2 large cylinders of propane all of the time. Just a thought. We also rely on cisterns for our water so we are never without water like many were up by you. Laws are different on that topic in each state, of course. I will watch what you did right next! I enjoyed your video 😊
We're a fan of Dude Wipes, but there are so many brands that definitely do the same job. So important to have any of them on hand! We used three packs.
Thank you for the video, I am also a prepper, I have watched a few of the videos from hurricane Helene and I have gotten some great information. One tip from another video was to keep a crock pot full of hot water for cleaning hands dishes etc and crockpots don't use a lot of wattage. The one thing that has been repeated over and over is the Star Link sat. We purchased ours a couple of weeks ago on sale and set was so easy. You have brought up some great points, I need to check my gear and organize. Thanks again 😊
Glad the video was helpful. Thanks for the tip about the crockpot! That is a great idea, especially to have some hot water. Yes, I think every single person in the mountains that lost power has mentioned wanting a star link. I can’t imagine how many thousands of star links were bought in the past month after the hurricane.
Regarding the windows being open or closed, my friend’s land flooded (not her house). The house was closed up & despite the fact that the house didn’t flood they sustained severe mould damage inside the home (had to gut the internal walls/floors). I imagine your grill may have got mould was because it was outside & closed up in high humidity In my experience (in tropical Australia) during cyclones / rain bombs etc, opening at least one window is wise (preferably a a very sheltered window - I use the one in my bathroom because everything is tiled) & if possible run a fan or better yet the air con on “dry air” function or dehumidifier to help try out internal surfaces. In the absence of those things I have literally wiped down walls & floors with old towels to remove condensation., Great video, thank you & hi from Australia 🇦🇺
Hello in Australia! Thanks for the info. Yes, I think the severe mold was because of the hurricane and the humidity. In Florida after hurricanes, we had to wipe down walls with towels to remove condensation, too.
if you have a source of back-up power a slow cooker with bag liners is an easy way to be able to clean up after cooking. you can also use a slow cooker to heat water for small clean-up tasks.
I do need to add slow cooker liners to my list. My slow cooker did work great during the power outage. Warming water that way is brilliant! Thank you!!!
Things to keep in mind as far as “weather” apparel…. First and foremost… GORETEX!!! It breathes but is water “proof”. Second is SMART WOOL!! My whole family always has Smart Wool socks.. I buy them and put them in their stockings every Christmas!!! They keep you warm even if they are WET!!! Smart Wool always makes clothing. I personally do not own any but it is also a great product!! Another good brand of socks are Darn Tough.. but wool and linen clothing is best when things are wet!!
Thank you. Absolutely essential information and several things I not only wouldn’t have thought of but didn’t even know existed. I hope you are able to get back to normal soon.
Thank you. A good look back. Organizing is the best tip. I have a lot but it's scattered. Communication...I don't have a good solution for that. I do keep a pair of 2 way radios so we can communicate with our immediate surroundings but it's not the internet. Once you don't have the internet you don't have immediate answers to your questions. Then you have to figure it out for yourself and that's where costly mistakes could be made.
It's important to understand this last hurricane has been a regional disaster in many areas, and not just your normal 30 day prep disaster. Don't be too hard on yourself about it. These are all great points.
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
Be sure to see my list of 50 Things We Did Right in Hurricane Helene! singlegirlsdiy.com/best-things-we-did-to-prepare-for-hurricane/
You're not lyin! Every girl needs emergency chocolate! haha--Make a couple batches of brownies and wrap them up and freeze them. Helps with a chocolate craving and you don't feel like you have to eat the whole pan.
Always, always ,always have packages of underwear stashed away. One can deal with tops and bottoms being not clean but undies, no. also for too us women our hygiene it's must be stashes away for emergencies also.
I phone has the ability to message with satellite even for people who can’t afford Starlink. They just switched. It used to just be 911. But now it is all messaging.
Quick tip on cleaning pots and pans. Wipe out your pans with paper towels. Have a spray bottle with dish soap and water. Spray down and wipe, then rinse. I am a Florida resident, been thru several hurricanes. Also, make sure your vehicles are full of fuel.
Yes, that's a great tip! We weren't able to put anything down the sink, though, because the septic system wasn't working. Next time we know to clean the pots as soon as possible (even when you are SO exhausted) and find a way to dispose of the rinse water somewhere it wouldn't attract animals.
I believe the method this person is talking about, requires no rinse water. You wipe off food debris with a paper towel. Then you have a bottle like spray Dawn to spritz on soap( by the way, you can refill that bottle with about 1/3-1/2 soap to water mix). Wipe off soap with paper towel. We have added a step by using a spritz of a solution of isopropyl alcohol and water. Wipe with paper towel. Dish done and the alcohol and soap towels can be used to wipe out the food on the next dishes. There is no rinse water. We use this method to extend our ability to boondock in our trailer. We also use paper plates and bowls. Baby wipes for hygiene. Also micellar water used with multi-purpose wipes that you just add water to, for cleansing the face, can make not showering daily much more tolerable. I have found that plastics would have never caught on for food, if we didn't have dish washers. They are a pain to clean. I have eliminated them in all forms, in my trailer.
Better yet, keep vinegar on hand and spray bottles to clean anything, it even kills germs
@@TheonewhomJesusloves895 So true!!!
Cast iron pans are the easiest to wipe clean. You just need to rub them with lard or tallow and then wipe excess off. However, the fat attracts rodents and other critters, so you need a storage plan. I use my oven for storage of my cast iron.
We lost our vehicle and live-in camper in Helene. We were well prepared for a “normal” bug in or bug out situation. But this was not normal. So my #1 learning is (as we start all over😢): have a second location for your items that you can get to within a week. Second: keep a backpack ready to go.
So sorry for your loss. Yes, a bug out bag has definitely been shown to be necessary for everyone, because this situation was not normal. Other people might not think they’ll ever need to evacuate in 2 minutes, but WNC, TN, SC, VA and other areas didn’t think they would need to. A second location is a great idea if you have it.
Interesting review from a first-hand survivor, thanks for sharing. Thanks for taking your time to make this video inmidst all the chaos and hardship you're suffering in the moment.
Stay strong and keep going!
#1 molded grill - take some soda-water and a brush and remove the mold within minutes.
#1 alternatives - keep some bricks and a grate and take them to the second floor in case of a hurricane warning, then you can build 1/2/3 rocket-stove/s, which is highly efficient.
#4 rain gear - rain boots are good, fishing chest waders are even better.
#5 Organize your emergency stuff in plastic boxes and label them, use different colours for labelling (e.g. red for fire-related items, white for first-aid, blue for water) and don't make them too heavy to haul around. Use boards to separate layers, so you can get a box from the bottom without moving the upper layers.
#6 shower - get a solar shower, basically a black HD- plastic bag, that heats the (rain?)water with the sun.
#12 emergency radio - IMHO it's common sense to turn it on, if desaster strikes. You get reliable information - on social media, there are a lot of trolls, spreading fake news.
#15 Don't forget to put your ressources into rotation, take only food you're eating regularly and replenish each meal immidiately.
#19 Instead of cotton towels use microfibre cloth, after squeezing they are ready for another job. Rinsing them with (rain?) water makes them almost as new.
Definitely agree with #4,5 and 12! Also keeping the boxes of emergency items lightweight is so important. I'm choosing smaller boxes rather than larger ones to store things now.
@@SingleGirlsDIY I have city water/sewer in south Georgia. If I think the electricity may go out long enough, or, flooding might knock out the city water, I fill the bathtub.
I can dip the bathtub water into the top of my toilet and get a few flushes that way. This tip is useless in your case, but, maybe you could pass it along for someone else who doesn't have to "flush up"?
#6 Shower - Walgreens has a no rinse bath and one for shampoo. We bought these for a family member who was not able to get in shower any longer. BUT I used them during power outages during hurricanes, heat water on camp stove or BBQ grill. It works great!!
@@lilblackduc7312 Definitely! This is a great tip for most everyone that doesn't have a lift station running on electricity for their septic system.
@@cmely9673 Great idea!
Your video is exactly the information people preparing for disaster need. I had figured out a year ago that while I am well equipped to shelter in place I am not prepared to bug out. I am still making strides for that. Like you there are things I have I cannot find. I do not know where my hand cranked radio or my two burner propane stove are. Thanks so much for sharing your real world experience with us. We live in a basement apartment. We were not in the direct path of Helene but just the heavy rains were enough for ground water to seep in when the ground became saturated. We had minimal flooding in our home but spent the next three days helping friends clean basements. I learned a flat shovel is something I should add to my preps. That would have made scraping mud off the floor much easier.
Yes, a flat shovel should definitely be on your list of preps! We found that a big push broom was great to use to push out the water out of the basement, as well as to push away the piles of leaves that were outside after the storm. So sorry to hear that you had some flooding, too. The water rising up from under the floor, rather than coming in through the doors, was surprising. Now's the time to find those things! I think organization is just as important as the actual preps, after going through this!
just a quick reply. bugging out is only an option if need be. yes flooding and hurricanes count as need be. but staying if at all possible is the right thing to do if you bug out know where all your stuff is. put in a place altogether so it will be together. you do not want to be bugging out looking all over the place for things. bad weather you can look and find disasters it's hard to do. i am not crittizeing you for this but take time from t.v going shopping and look for your radio and stove if found great i say this because life goes on once emergencys are over and we go back to normal and still no radio or stove. again not questioning you its i here all the time, can't find something they have, they look and look and then have to leave. when all is quiet hey did you find your stuff...oh no no time to look i'll do it later. next energency hey where is my stuff. beleave me been there will not again all my stuff is right together. live and learn i did.
@ you are so right. I still can’t find my weather radio. I decided having a second one (One I can find) is not a bad idea. I went shopping and have found the technology has improved enormously since I bought the lost one. Now they are rechargeable by USB and some will hold enough power to keep phones charged for days. I like to have redundancy in all these systems. I do have multiple was to cook in an outage. I will be getting multiple ways to get information. I also see a need for writing down the phone numbers of family and friends since all I have done for years is look them up on a phone and press “call”.
@@stuartaminion511 yay! I found my stove and lo and behold I had the forethought to put it on the same shelf as my bug out box of non perishable meals. I did figure out a year ago that I was well prepared to shelter in place but watching people have to throw whatever they could into the car in the wake of a wildfire made me realize when time is short I did not want to go through my pantry to figure out what I need to bring with me so I made a container of a weeks worth of meals along with instant coffee. That is where my stove is. These videos of people’s real life experience are the most helpful ones to prepare for these things.
Beverly Yes! Thanks for reminding me to hand write phone number in an ‘old fashion’ phone book! Seriously was thinking about that last week? Compile all personal info, family pictures, BIRTH CERTIFICATES, DL, Social, names addresses insurance Co, acct # etc. Keep info on a thumb drive. ( or four) Just remember where you stored them for easy access!😳Y’all be safe!
Watching this debrief in New Zealand and planning on sharing it with my husband, who works in emergency management. Post-event analysis is critical to drive improvement - thank you for sharing this valuable and hard-earned information, and all the best for the recovery phase.
Thank you. It’s interesting to hear post event analyses from Hurricane Helene. So many people all saying the same thing: communication was a big problem. Such an important prep to think of.
1. Redundancies of essentials, multiple energies like electric, propane, butane, wood, solar/wind, heat and cooking, pots and pans, lights, paper plates
2. Backup commo, phone, satellite phone/text, long range walkie-talkie, short wave radio, personal hilltops antenna
3. Simple gravity septic system
4. Heavy duty rain gear, water proof not resistant and muck boots
5. Plastic laminated master list of easy access tools, equipment, and their location
6. Take a shower the night before
7. Frozen jugs of potable water in the freezer
8. Ice cubes with a penny on top of the cube
9. Keep laundry done ahead of time
10. Backup insulated drinking water, with water and coffee
11. Practice using prep-tools, cooking on fire, medical equipment
12. Emergency radio for outside news
13. Understand satellite commo, like Garmin, Starlink, practice working with it
14. Be skeptical of conspiracy theories. Verify information
15. Plenty of right kinds of extra food, with variety, quick and easy preparation
16. Emergency toilet, composting toilet, incinerator toilet, outhouse for waste disposal
17. Use church, neighbors and governmental assistance for food, water, essentials, rather than personal stuff
18. Don’t store things in cardboard boxes, plastic containers are better.
19. Extra towels, washcloths and rags stored away.
20. Close windows to prevent humidity in the house
21. Keep chocolate and sweets
22. Check on neighbors, asking the right questions about essentials, food, water, heat, shelter, clothing, medical aid…
23. Mail delivery will be way later, weeks delayed, medication delays
24. Use Facebook and social media groups to help with commo and help, disaster assistance.
Thank you! Your list is so helpful.
Why #8? what is a penny in an ice cube going to be useful for?
@@zimrasawyer1881as the ice melts the penny will sink so you can determine how much melt has occurred
I am so sorry that you and your family were caught in this terrible disaster. It must be very stressful coping for months with everything that needs to be done to get back to a normal life. Thank you for sharing your experiences with those of us who have not yet been directly impacted by a major disaster.
To anyone who has not yet experienced such a disaster, I would say that unless you have a second home somewhere away from the disaster area and can evacuate to there, nothing can really prepare you for the hardship of losing your home to an earthquake, landslide, wildfire or other major natural disaster. Even if you have good insurance coverage or are rich or have kind relatives or friends who let you live with them, it will take time to rebuild your damaged home or establish your life somewhere else. And this will be unbelievably stressful for months.
For coping well with a lesser disaster, your preps must be in good condition and readily available to you. And the best way to do this is to conduct an annual inventory and inspection of your preps. This will tell you what has quietly rusted, been damaged by rodents or gone rancid in storage and needs to be replaced. And it helps if every teen and adult in the household does realistic practice/training every six months for grid-down living.
You do not really know what you will miss most until you have to go days without electric power or clean water. For me, what I missed most was ice cubes -- much more than going without TV, hot meals or hot showers. I would have never expected that. Now I have a countertop ice cube maker and a small generator to power it and other small appliances such as a countertop microwave and an electric heater. For the coffee drinkers in my household, we now have a stockpile of jars of instant coffee, two butane stoves (safe ways to boil water indoors) and plenty of canisters of butane fuel. Be sure to include in your preps some morale boosters for each family member because this will help everyone in your household cope better with all the dreadful stuff you will face. A #10 can of instant chocolate milk mix, box of crayons and some coloring books can help grade school children cope better.
These are all wonderful ideas!!! Thanks so much for sharing. The entertainment options are so important for kids. If it is a disaster, they are going to be out of school and they are going to get bored even more than normal.
Sorry you were affected, too, but it sounds like you also learned some lessons for how to prepare. The most important thing that you said was "not yet been directly impacted by a major disaster." Everyone should be prepared and not naive that nothing could happen.
As a Floridian and one of my suggestions with prepping is to not have all of your prepping of the same item in the same location. For instance medical supplies make sure you don't keep all of your medical supplies in one location. In this case keeps some in the basement and keep some upstairs. This way if one location is compromised the other location is still okay. I also do this with my rotation Pantry I don't keep all of say my pasta sauce in one location I have two separate areas in my house just in case.
You know, that has always been my thinking, too. I do have medical supplies on two floors, food on two floors, etc. Just in case needed to bug in downstairs or do something like get out of flooding downstairs. I found that when you are in shock, though, your thinking just isn't as clear and I needed super simple storage and labels. It might be just a need to just duplicate items upstairs and downstairs rather than keeping one thing in one location and something different in another. With the stress of living through the disaster, it's surprising at how simple you need to make things, rather than hiding preps in whatever places you can and hoping you can remember where they are later.
@@simplyadventures1732 As many storms as I have been through I hadn’t thought of splitting things up. Medical stuff is in one place because of my illness. But I can see why to split it.
I just moved to a 3 story rental and bathrooms are on 2 floors. I have been debating whether to put first aid on each floor or not. My answer is now yes - put some in each bathroom on floor and even on the top.
Thank you thank you thank you for making this incredible informative video! I hung on to your every word and learned so much.I went down to Louisiana to help about 2 or 3 months after Katrina hit.The only thing I would add is to make sure you have everyone in your family's email address.In the event cell phone towers are down if you can get to a desk top computer and other person can get to a computer you can find out where they are.Many people in Katrina had no idea where their loved ones were even 3 months later ( and since they could only file one claim per family they didn't even know if they could legitimately file a claim where they were at.)They didn't even know what state there loved ones were taken to!
Such wise advice. Makes me want to make some locations changes ASAP. You never know when a disaster may strike.
Thankfully I was fine as far as material preparedness. I travel and live out of my minivan for months at a time so I have an entire off grid home setup in that space. Plus even though I live alone, I’ve always kept enough food and supplies on hand for me, my 3 sons, and my granddaughter. It’s not logical because they don’t live anywhere near me but I still do it. Life after the hurricane was a normal day in the minivan for me.
What I wasn’t ready for were the emotions that hit me after the hurricane. Being ok when my neighbors weren’t ok was something I could not have emotionally prepared for. The need to share my resources and help others was something I hadn’t factored in. I had never considered the pain of living in a world where the people around me were struggling but I was ok. I had so much guilt because I was prepared! The entire thing was a roller coaster of emotions and people who have never been through something like that just can not understand the trauma. It felt like my community had been bombed and the depth of the shock and grief we all experienced at once reverberated through us. It’s been proven that we feel each other’s energy physically and mentally. In no way were any of us emotionally, mentally, or spiritually ok.
Same!! Some of my friends completely lost their homes. One friend was majorly flooded but the house was going to be okay except the power lines fell on the house and set it on fire and it burned to the ground. With his pets inside. We all rallied and went from house to house with chainsaws, buckets, garbage bags you name it. I took 20 black garbage bags of soaking wet clothes home to launder. My house is two feet up so I didn't get flooded but I lost a giant oak that just missed the house. I felt lucky. My friends and I talked about this sadness and grief we felt. It lasted for a long time. My short term memory was about 5 minutes or less. I'm glad you brought this up because none of us here thought about that part. We talked about it afterward but now we know it's a real thing. And it can be very draining. Thank you.
Great vid. Went through Ian in 22. No power, water, phones 9 days. Had propane and solar gens, most stuff we needed, but sure got an education on "what didn't I think of". You reminded me of some things I've yet to complete, and some new ones. Pay attention people! If it can go wrong it will. Once you're in the middle of it, it's to late to prep. Thanks again for such a well thought out list, while it was fresh on your mind.
Thank you! Yes, it’s easy to forget after the power comes on what your pain points were in the middle of a disaster.
A few suggestions
1. Pump carafes like you see used at coventions for serving coffee. The will keep hot water usably hot all day.. Same for ice water. I have 3.
2. I recently bought a roller type clothes wringer. That cames in real handy for wringing out soaked towels or clothes.
3. A small battery powered water pump with shower attachment.
4. Get a generator disconnect and plug to connect a generator directly into your house. That would solve the septic pump problem and make a lot of other things easier.
I am super prepped here just south of Tampa. But I'm reading all the comments and picking up all kinds of ideas! Yours in particular jumped out. Thank you.
Wow, this was an excellent debriefing - thank you. Interesting how your emotions started out light and then the stress came back into your voice and your face. You’ve been thru a harrowing experience. We appreciate your willingness to revisit your pain in order to help us. The opening tale of cooking - well, it could’ve been a Comedy of Errors as you moved thru each back-up. The serious side of that situation really hit home with me. A sincere Thank You for that dire warning. Also, you revealed your good heart by giving the last resource away to a neighbor with a greater need. ❤ COMMUNITY. Thats the first prep! BTW, your lighting was darn good and the cut-out drywall is an effective backdrop. I’m also on a septic so *ouch* sanitation is an issue for my neighborhood as well. You are stronger than you’ve ever been. You are an asset to your community. God bless you!🙏🏻
Thank you!!! Yes, you can emotionally feel like you've healed until you start recounting the harrowing events and reliving it. Beyond the physical needs it will take some time to heal mentally from this disaster. We are stronger and have learned the true power of community!!!
I truly believe THIS VIDEO is the most important one to listen to. I have been praying for you all. I pray things just keep getting easier. There's always a silver lining. God speed. ❤
Thank you so much for your kind words and prayers! 🙏
Thank you for this. It must be hard to relive this tragedy so soon, but your first-hand account is very worthwhile. You raise points I never thought of.
Thank you! Hope you learned something that could help you!
I hope everyone, everywhere is watching as many of these videos as they can find. Then, turn off their power and water for a planned 24 hr period to test everything they think they have prepared. Regular use of your emergency gear is what rarely happens. We just assume it'll work when we need it. Peanut M&M's are your friend. Lol Thanks so much for sharing.
Oh, you KNOW chocolate is part of my preps! 🤣
Definitely agree. You don't want to be in the middle of a disaster only to find out your preps don't work. And, yes, M&Ms are being added to my chocolate stash, as well!
Well done!
This and the Texas freeze 🥶
Coffee hack: Get a french press. Assuming you can boil water, add hot water and coffee grounds, wait, 4 minutes, press and yay coffee. No power hungry stuff needed. And the coffee tastes better.
That's a smart way to brew coffee without electricity, thanks for sharing!
A french press is a great way to brew coffee. Mine is insulated to keep it warm. Just boil water and your good.
I have some containers with freezedried coffee in my storage just in case, pour hot water to make some acceptable coffee❤
I use an insulated French press everyday and was going to share this tip as well. 😂 one of the best things I’ve ever bought. I use it for both coffee and tea.
I use a pour over every day
One thing many people forget to have for an emergency is plain old bleach. You can use it to sanitize drinking water , clean and disinfect items, etc. With some dilute bleach you could have had that grill cleaned, rinsed and dry out to use in fairly short time. Also wiping down stuff with dilute bleach will stop mold from growing on stuff, it should not be used on everything, as it will fade many colors. I see from your background you have been stripping the walls down to dry out. Spray some some dilute bleach on the wood and wall surface to prevent mold, just be sure to ventilate well as it drys. Best of luck getting everything back to normal.
Thanks. We had bleach, but prefer a mold killer solution we have on hand. The mold was so intense and so much that it couldn't have been cleaned. Both of us have reactions to mold and no grill is worth putting your health at risk in the middle of a disaster. Wish I could attach the photos and video of the mold. It was unlike anything that I've ever seen.
Keep in mind that bleach has a shelf life. I think about 6 months. If it is expired, then you may be making things worse by spreading bacteria around instead of killing.
I've heard bleach can whiten mold without removing it, and creates a favorable environment for mold to grow, while an acid solution like vinegar will kill and prevent mold. I'd like to find actual researches to sort it out.
@@creuvette29 Yes, bleach is actually not great for cleaning mold. It does not work as well as other things. Here's some tips from the EPA: www.epa.gov/mold/should-i-use-bleach-clean-mold
I'm making and using CDS, you can use this for health but also to clean water or mold!
We have lost power many times due to tornadoes and storms living in north Texas. We have purchased and use a propane camp stove along with a propane coffee maker numerous times over the years. We keep it stored and ready to go in our laundry room because of the frequency of use. However when the power went off in 2021 for 3 days with temps dipping to -13 with windshield we found out how NOT ready we were! Like you we made lists of items and things we would do differently. 100% agree with doing all the laundry and taking showers especially due to the frozen pipes. As well as filling up all the bathtubs and water totes full of water. I’ve cooked with cast iron for more than 40 years so it wasn’t much different than stove top cooking. It’s difficult though when the hardest learned lessons comes with the shock of never before seen and unexpected events like what you’ve been through! How do you plan for that? I truly feel sorry for those who take nothing away from the current events and don’t prepare because the power and WiFi are working again!
I hear you. It's hard to prepare for the unthinkable! And yet, it’s so important to listen to others that have gone through the unthinkable so that you have some idea where the gaps are. Living in Texas how would you know to have prepared for cold like that? Just like living in North Carolina how would you know to prepare for a hurricane?
Back up bathroon: 5 gallon bucket, round toilet seat and cover material such as peatmoss, sawdust or coco coir. Have a safe place all ready to empty bucket as needed like a hole in the ground away from water etc, cover with dirt you dug out of the hole.
Thanks for the tip! I have the bucket and seat but wasn't quite sure about disposal.
We don’t like coffee makers cluttering the countertops, so we use French presses, for coffee and tea. Just add boiling water. Also keep a bugout bag with essentials, and a medical bag for off site emergencies. The night before the storm, I filled pots and pans in the kitchen with water. We used baby wipes to clean hands and before we could shower. When we got the generator going, trouble lights came in handy to light large areas.
When I finish a jug of laundry detergent, I add water and label it “wash water” to use for cleaning up. A clothesline and clothespins came in handy too. Cast iron fry pans and Dutch ovens are great for use on grill burners or camp fires. Rocket stoves are easy to make with bricks or cement blocks. RUclips has instructions.
They’re very efficient and just use sticks for fuel.
Definitely need to make a bug out bag. After hearing so many stories of people literally having 2 minutes to leave their house because the flood water was rising so rapidly, I know that there wouldn't have been nearly enough time to get essentials together. I do the same thing with laundry detergent bottles.
In this particular case, would twigs be dry enough within a few hours to use in a rocket stove?
💛🧡💛 Admiring your honesty and willingness to be vulnerable to some extent. Wow! You're helping so many of us to be better prepared and we can troubleshoot more accurately. God bless you!!
Thank you so much!!! 💛
Really thoughtful, much needed awakening! Thank you!
Everyone needs to listen and take these suggestions to heart! Our weather is changing, storms are coming more often, more severe, horrific damage, dams breaking! Have noticed, in just last ten yrs, all over the world, …..flooding, blizzards, tornados etc worsening, All having a mind of their own.
TIP: I keep a huge supply of frozen, pre fried, Salmon patties made with extra can/tin sardine’s in olive oil and some quinoa as filler but, more for the extra protein. I eat on these 2-3 times a week and replace with new batch. Try to keep 80-90 on hand, particularly through hurricane season
BTW I hate sardines!
However, when incorporated with the Salmon, onion, some crushed crackers w eggs…..you’ll never know they re there!!
Good protein source!
Good idea!
I dont like sardines but I try to eat some, good ides for the patties! I will try. I make salmon patties with cooked potatoes, garam masala, ajowan seeds, crush coriander seeds, salt and onions.
Upgraded from technician to General privileges for my Ham radio ( one prep I had neglected - too much work ) .
Then bought a Satellite phone (can call world wide no license required ) . You can program 3 contacts for SOS button .
They can find you anywhere with GPS on your phone and you do not even have to talk ( just push SOS button ) . No cell towers or electricity necessary- could save your life if you use it once .
I love that you have your satellite phone programmed for SOS! That's a great idea. We are DEFINITELY looking into satellite communications and potentially Ham radio license after this experience.
Yes! The hand crank radio, tons of battery candles to access all areas of the house, car radio did work but no gas so had to be careful not to run battery down. Had gone to a pool store got 12 5 gallon chlorine buckets with lids, filled then before no water and that water was a godsend forflushing washing cleaning.
Good job on getting the 5 gallon buckets!
Oh what great information. I’m going to listen again and take notes this time. Thank you❤ I pray your life goes back to a good new normal soon
Thank you so much! 😄
A couple notes that may help. A
1) All household medical items in one place. Everything! It really saves time if you remember to put it things back.
2) Instant coffee or a French press if you have another method to boil water.
3) Shower wipes. They are larger and some of them are rather plush. Mine are from Amazon.
4) Ask the doctor about an extra rx to put aside meds- because of medical issues I have extra meds for travel.
You guys did an amazing job!!!!
Thank you!!! Really appreciate it 😄
A lot of books never underestimate the way our grandparents lived during depression. Im telling you, you will be so happy to have those books. I even bought books from amish on how they do things w/o electricity. It is great to have those books when needed. I am big on organization of materials. Plus our family has emergency plan where to meet up at out farm homestead and a friends place if needed. Items are kept at both locations have plan A B C. Unfortunately I believe it will get worse before it gets better. Then it will get better. I am Christian so all my faith hope and love comes from Christ Jesus. Build community and resource together that helps so very much.
Wow this is the best prepping video I have seen! So sad that this happened to you all down there. I'm going to take your advice about getting plastic totes. And I'll get a couple spray bottles.
Thanks for the suggestions which help us to think about the problems and ideas of how to make it better. I love your attitude of kindness and thoughtfulness. Some postings are so negative that I just move on. You and your family are amazing.
Thank you 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Used to live in hurricane zone and was prep conscious before Katrina and more so after. If something was in the Gulf I did all the laundry,made sure dishes were done, sheets changed,gas tank full,oil changed even as every one else was relaxing. Right about chocolate, always have it in freezer when on sale. Instead of putting water in freezer pack it with flour, cornmeal as emptied. We did pancakes from scratch as bread sub. Oatmeal with canned fruit, eggs when hens started laying again. Used mop, not towels. Put first aid stuff in tool box.
Do not miss that stress!
You know, never thought we'd be experiencing this stress in the mountains! All good suggestions that you have! Yes, from here on I'll definitely do laundry before. Thankfully I did the dishes the night before! Great idea with packing flour instead of water in the freezer! Thanks!
Funny story: before Helene, I did just that: washed all the dishes and laundry so I would at least have that, like my first hurricane experience. Dryer filled with water and went up to the sink. The stuff in the uppers was fine, but when you see the mud and smell, you are going to want to wash it again anyway. Good thing I had disposable
Cast iron cookware you can cook on wood and hot ashes without a lot of trial and error. My biggest mistake has not been practicing cooking outdoors. When supplies are precious learning to cook out with limited supplies is not ideal. In “good” times practice cooking outdoors in wood fires, hot ashes, propane grills, charcoal and smokers. Thank you for your video, we too experienced the never flooded before basement where all our emergency supplies are kept and the plastic tubs saved everything. I’m now putting our “go” backpacks in plastic tubs after this!
Yes it's so important to test things when you have the ability to spend time and resources to refine your skills. Glad you are putting everything in plastic tubs. They were so important, as you know!
Don't know if this is helpful or not, but an adaptation of the following method may work for greasy cook pots (If you have some kind of lid or cover, or cling wrap option for them). Method (was for plastic containers with lids that pretty much seal) - small amount of warm, not hot water; basically about one quarter of a cup, depending on size of container. One or two scrunched up sheets of paper towel. Small drop of dishwashing detergent. Close, and shake (best over the sink or basin) vigorously. Dispose of now saturated paper towel, and left over water. Rinse container with clean water (hot is fine if you have it). But it gets ALL GREASE off plastic containers, and tomato paste staining too. For a large pot, still only use an inch of WARM water in the bottom. Small drop of detergent, couple sheets of paper towel. It will work. Biggest issue is the swishing part if there is no close fitting lid you can keep on. Cling wrap and being careful will work for sure. Even a person's shower cap fitting over the top of the pot, will work, if careful. Better than having them pile up and cause stench. If you've never seen this method, or used it and doubt the effectiveness, try it out on Chinese plastic take-out containers. Just a little warm water, be very moderate. I use it all the time on my more durable plastic containers. It works. The slightly grainy paper towel is the magic ingredient. Cheap is fine. For keeping yourself clean, do NOT underestimate half a bucket of warmish water. Get a washer/flannel, wet it and wipe upper half of the body first, don't over do soap. Do lower body next. Then use the remainder of the water to rinse off everywhere. Last bit, feet in. We don't need showers, except for hair washing convenience. And because they feel good 🙂 We ran out of water once during a terrible drought; had to keep buying water in. So half buckets worked, and it actually felt just great, actually felt cleaner, because the washer was doing all the work, not just the water and soap.
Great ideas, thank you!
What a refreshingly honest portrayal of what could happen to any of us! You were amazing in your presentation and just the best information on what we could do to prepare. Thank you so much for this video and I look forward to more!❤
I appreciate your kind words and glad you found the video helpful! I do have a video on 50 Things We Did Right so be sure to see that!
This is an outstanding video. You will have saved many people a lot of heartache and suffering, heck even discomfort. Thank you so much!
Thank you 😄
@@SingleGirlsDIY LOL, my wife and I were just talking about your video when I heard the notification sound. Your ears must have been burning. But these are so helpful. We had a short local outage and I was hunting around for extension cord that was short to connect my EcoFlow Pro to my Mom in Law's recliner which she sleeps in, didn't want along one. Ordered 2. One thing I did was to attach a 6-foot extension cord to my refrigerator. The power cord is too short to reach around to the front so I had to do gymnastics to get to the plug. Now I have the cord within easy reach and I can plug the fridge into the EcoFlow no problem.
Your comment about organization really hit home for me. When my power went out for a week when the temps were 14 degrees, I had to try to remember all my preps. Totally forgot about the stash of hand warmers. I've since started to make a list of all my preps for the particular need, in this case keeping warm.
Organization is the hidden prep no one wants to talk about! Having stuff doesn't matter if you can't find it. As I found out.
Videos like this are tremendously valuable. Thanks for taking the time to document your experience and sharing that with us.
You are so welcome! I’m glad it could help you.
My comment is off the subject, but she mentioned boxes in the basement, this came to mind.Cardboard boxes promote insects. Consider paper boxes as roach condos. Just as wood shingles are infested with bugs like silverfish. The ample supply of silverfish is a food supply for spiders. This is something I learned as an exterminator.
Thank you for the tip! I'll be sure to avoid cardboard boxes in the future.
Yes i use plastic heavy material totes duct tapped and bungie corded bc we have tornadoes. And plenty of spray and mouse traps set.
Ewww!
Thank you for your rundown & debrief! Well done!
I'm glad you found it helpful!
By far the best lessons learned vid I have seen. Bravo. I will share it
Thank you so much! I really appreciate it.
Hi. Good video. We were in same boat, in Upstate SC and know all you are saying. Felt prepared, prepared far more than most, yet discovered some shortcomings. You obviously did so much RIGHT, and ahead of time though! On subject of coffee for your preps (realizing you personally came up short on cooking appliances), consider a camp style percolator and have instant coffee on hand for emergencies!
Thanks so much! Yes, a percolator is a great idea that will be on my wishlist!
I have a pour over type with a stopper mechanism so you can steep tea or make coffee stronger. also have some empty tea bags that can be used for coffee as well. Once you have a way to heat water!
I have been into emergency preparedness for a long time and I still learned a few things from this video. Took extensive notes. I only have one suggestion, which is to look into getting a GMRS radio license for the family and some GMRS radios for the family and perhaps neighbors. Excellent content though!
Thank you!
Solar shower for camping. It's a big black plastic container with a hose, a hook, and shower head. Set in in the sun for a while and it gets pretty warm even hot on a warm day. Set up a shower with plastic shower curtain around a couple trees.
I'm only 39 seconds into this video and stopped to take notes. THANKS SO VERY MUCH. This collective info from sad experience is so helpful for others! My heart hurts for you and all affected. New subscriber.
Add having bleach and vinegar on hand to clean mold. I don't understand why, by the end of 2 weeks, the mold and rats nest weren't handled.
Maybe the one burner was enough given how much work cleaning up they had on their hands.
Priorities are real and truly needed.
Thank you! Yes, after going through it I don't want people to go through the same things. If I can help others prevent some of the same mistakes it will be great. Thanks for subbing!
Been prepping since the great T P shortage. Because of this video I put a hot plate on my shopping list . I have 1 that I've had for my 18 wheel from 2000 . Long story short . Great video
Thank you for being so vulnerable and honest.
I'm in mid-South Carolina, so went four and a half days without power; nothing like what you experienced. Like you, I was well prepared.
Sitting with reports of possible tornadoes for tomorrow, the potential for a crisis in such cold weather is terrifying.
I'm so glad you made it through.
I hadn't thought about rain gear, so I learned that from your video. All good information.
Thank you.
Yes, every severe storm warning after Helene is worrisome. Glad you are considering rain gear!
Great list! What an ordeal to go through. Glad your your preps helped your family during that.
Thank you so much! It was definitely an experience. We are so thankful to have prepared in advance. Thankfully we could help others with our preps, too.
@@SingleGirlsDIY How about this for another video: You talked about how many good people were reluctant to take help. Are you aware of any bad people that stole or abused the things the volunteers and aid groups were offering? See any examples of stores or gas stations overcharging for ice, food, gasoline? Outright theft or looting?
@@murda2999 I actually was thinking of doing a video on the disaster response and yes, the bad people taking advantage of the situations.
Coleman makes a stove top coffee maker if you can't manage a percolator. They also make a stove top oven. There are griddles, toasters, waffle irons... from many sources.
Sun or Camp showers, one for each person and one for the kitchen hang them outside in the sun, then wrap in a thick towel to keep it hot...hot water for dishes and showers. (Don't forget the value of 3-4 dish pans for kitchen and bath...think Victorian style wash stands [pitcher of water, basin, mirror]). Also a wringer and clothes line are great help.
Lots of easy aides to thriving even when you are in shock from all kinds of disasters happening all at once like with Helene (no power, no water, lost ability to cook , no communications, property damage, no transportation.......)
Thank you for your additional info to have on hand, much appreciated
Great suggestions, thanks for sharing! I do have an off-grid washing machine for emergencies. We knew the power was coming on soon, so didn't bother doing clothes for a few days, but if it had been longer we would have used it.
@@SingleGirlsDIYdo you have a link for the off the grid washing machine?
@@Hope-ot1xy Yes, we have this one: amzn.to/3NZYlcn I also did a video review of it here: ruclips.net/video/wwxcwjux5Lw/видео.htmlsi=EMBVKTnDqHItZKJp
soooooo goooood Practical I watched several of the prepers videos about what they did wrong. Yours has been the best so far.
Thank you so much!! I'm glad I could help!
This is such an honest and humble reflection of your experience. I learned so much. I would have had many of the same issues you talked about. I have to listen again and take notes. Thank you and good luck!
Thank you so much! Hope you learned something new that can help you!
Been through floods, earthquake, and wildfire and I've got to say that I will never store emergency supplies in the basement again. After the Loma Prieta quake, I would not have gone into our basement for any amount of money. Also, organizing your supplies is good, but don't put them all in a location where one downed tree or flood or landslide can ruin them or cut you off from them.
Cell towers always go down, and Internet is fragile. You used to be able to rely on land lines, but they are as fragile as cell now.
A better quality generator could have saved you a lot of grief. We have one that runs our whole house and switches automatically when the power goes out. We run it on a schedule during disasters, but we can do laundry, recharge devices, and take hot showers while it's on.
Neighbors are an important resource. Check in with them daily and work together on mitigation and recovery. When things are bad, they're the only help you can rely on. We meet with our neighbors periodically. It's good to know where the nearest neighbor with medical expertise lives in case someone is injured.
Definitely!!!!
As far as your meals. I just started looking into meals in a bag. You can find them on RUclips and you gather all the shelf stable ingredients for a recipe and put them in a bag. Then the whole meal is all together and you just open cans and dump mix and Cook and eat.
When I lived on the boat I had propane, and when we bought the house I switched the cooktop over to propane. I found a lot of prepping is just going through stuff at regular intervals and making sure it’s clean or full or no unpleasant surprises. We bought the house in between major floods of our local river and the propane tank was empty, the propane heater was broken, the wood stove had been pulled out, we really didn’t expect that second flood and it was miserable. We had a two burner camp chef and a bottle on the kitchen floor. Yes our septic was sketchy too, so when we were on the boat I had to haul water and I’d “wash” my pots and pans with a soapy wet rag, use paper plates, boil 2 quarts of water and use some to cut grease, and the rest to rinse, and just reverted back to that and either “watering” the bushes outside or using kitty litter for our needs. Basically it’s going to be gross in some ways. We are building a house right now and opted NOT to get the fujiclean system that needed power, stuck with a basic gravity system and fewer bedrooms. I agree that doing practice runs is really helpful though you are well past that with the length of time and the damages you received. Thank you for sharing, it helps everyone to be prepared!
Thanks for sharing! Yes, it’s good to test things out!
Thank you very much for this very helpful video . I feel i learned alot from you already . I leave in NWF and in the 16 years i live here i did not experience any hurricane situations. I do stress and prepare every year but you never prepared enough because each of the hurricane strikes and intensity are different a bit . I do buy more stuff every year to my prep kit but i did never tested out still in the boxes 😢Hopefully this hurricane season soon is over and i will make sure for the next season i am more organized , prepared and test out everything . I'm looking for to watch your next video and please make a video the things was very helpful you had prepped and also the tools items needed extra in case of the flooding situation . God Bless You and your family and wishing you a stress free speedy recovery.
Thank you so much, that really means a lot! Yes, we lived in central Florida for a decade and never experienced anything like this with all of the hurricanes we went through. Each storm is different and there is no good way to prepare for everything. Please do organize and test out everything! It was something I kept putting off and it is easy to keep putting it off. But it really does matter. Take care!
Want to add one other thing is that if in the house mostly there is one person with the whole plan what to do in case off. If this person is not available there can be that certain things are missed by the rest. A small booklet with instructions or scenario's can help but also to find the holes in the plan. For older kids to know what to do when power goes out and their parents are not there. Like do not open fridges/freezers. Start saving water in bags. etc etc. Next ofcourse a try out with the kids.
Yes, so important to have guides!
It seems like the smaller propane stove would have worked one you cleaned out the mouse nest. The food is inside a pan or pot so it would separate from anything that might be dirty. Just a thought.
You’re right, it probably would have worked! In the middle of a disaster, you just may not be thinking clearly. I think we were so exhausted and in shock that didn't think through that scenario.
You did an excellent broadcast & helped me to think of some things to consider
Besides you are a fun personality so keep going!
Thank you!!! I appreciate it!!!
Following along with your video, I started comparing if we had sufficient redundancy. 1) Cooking: We have the big generator, of course, but we also have a charcoal grill (that we use weekly) and several bags of charcoal for emergencies, and we have a 2-burner propane burner that's in our bugout trailer (with a LOT of propane bottles). 2) Comms: Generators allowed us to keep phones, etc. charged. We also have GMRS and HAM radios for emergencies with emergency frequencies stored (we're working on our technician licenses). 3) Cookware: While we have plenty of that, you did highlight our weakest point, which is water. We're midway through design and implementation of a catch-system, and we do have a lot of filtering/treatment capability for going out to our local creek and lake, but we definitely need more local storage. 4) Rain Gear: While rain is NOT a thing we normally deal with in southwest Texas, we do have sufficient rain gear. 5) Storage: We have a 12x24 shed with dual lofts, and I have it pretty well organized for easy access to everything. We have a special section for prep items that, depending how much heads-up we get, would end up getting put in the SUV or the bugout trailer if we needed to leave (more propane, water, gas for generators/vehicles, heavier duty tools). It's definitely available for bugging-in. 6) Shower: One of the items on our to-buy list is a Joolca (or similar) instant hot water unit. We want it for our bugout trailer, but is easily usable anywhere. We do have a lot of wipes and dry shampoo. 7) Frozen water: We opted to pack our freezer with food items instead of water, and we just keep adding to our bottled water supply regularly (rotating everything, obviously). 8) Laundry: Being just the two of us, laundry is not a huge issue for us. 9) Insulated Bottles: We have a ridiculous number for 2 people. As for coffee, we have a french press in our bugout trailer and even a little grinder for our beans. They are really easy to use and allow us to enjoy coffee any time. 10) Trying Out Preps: Amen to that. Thankfully, since we take our bugout trailer on trips occasionally, we're able to field test a lot of things and refine things upon our return. 11) Emergency Radios: Refer back to #2, Comms. Both our GMRS and HAM radios have freqs for local emergency info. 12) Satellite: During snowmageddon we still had our satellite TV rig, so our generator allowed us to use that. We've since ditched that, and are considering Starlink (still a bit costly). 13) Emergency Toilet: Composting toilets are the way to go. The Vanlife community is a wealth of info and experience on what works...and you can make your own VERY easily. The only real prep you need is plenty of compost material (coconut coir, peat moss, similar) and a shovel. 14) Plastic Totes: We said goodbye to cardboard and wood containers years ago. Also, if you have wood floors, don't store ANYTHING (even plastic totes) on the floor. If it gets wet, termites LOVE this. 15) Towels: Yes, yes, yes. Again, it's just my wife and I, but we have 4 dogs, so towels are plentiful in our house. 16) Ventilation: Anything you can do to dissipate heat and humidity is helpful, so even a dehumidifier can be worth it if you can spare the electricity from your generator. 17) Comfort food in general: ALWAYS an important thing to consider. Just really think about storage and shelf-life. 18) Neighbors/Community: A disaster is not the right time to be introducing yourself to your neighbors. Build your community NOW. You each may have tools, skills, etc., that help each other when things get bad. Gasoline was running out in our town during snowmageddon, and when we saw some of our neighbors running their vehicles to charge up their phones, we had them bring us their devices as needed since we had a generator. We told them to save their gas in case they needed to leave. 19) Social Media: I'm very prolific across several social media platforms, so these are easy to leverage as needed. I would suggest, though, that people USE them on a regular basis so that you're a known entity and not just some random, once in a blue moon poster/submitter---you can get lost in the chaos otherwise. 20) Have a Bugout Plan: You an have all the preps/redundancies in the world, but sometimes the disaster may be so bad or threatening that the smart answer is to LEAVE. Not having a well-understood, practiced plan to escape (and where to escape TO) is simply tempted tragedy. We have a tiered plan based on how much heads-up we have. Our plan covers 5 minutes, 15 minutes and 1 hour.
Thanks for sharing your really comprehensive prepping plan. It's good to see that you've really considered all the details! Excellent points and some good tips!
I have on of those small coil-type immersion heaters for things like hot water for instant coffee, instant oatmeal, instant mashed potatoes, etc. It draws only 300w and is great with my 1200w power pack. It heats water to a boil quickly on very little power. It would be perfect to heat just enough water to wet a wash cloth for a quick refreshing face and body wash.
It’s on my wishlist!
I don't know how much space you have, but the military trailer diesel generators are an amazing option, plus, you can mount the Starlink on the trailer itself. What makes this so good isn't just the electricity, it's that you can bring it where it is needed, and have communications if setup correctly. They make a great platform for both home and rescue use. There is enough room to mount waterproof boxes for water purification and cooking.
Helene was supposed to go directly over my, but shifted a hundred miles East.
I'm glad you didn't get it. Would have been nice if it had just disapppeared in the ocean!
Good idea, I'll look into that.
Great tips. I already do many/most of the things listed (50 years growing up in Florida and various mini-emergencies). Makes me feel good to know I’ve got most the bases covered! 👍
Well done!
Cleaning up your grills and making them sanitary again may be an unpleasant job, but, it's doable. Easy-Off oven cleaner can be your best friend. Use it beyond generously. Use it in a warm place. Give it plenty of time to work. Protect your eyes, skin, and lungs! Hose off with a powerful stream from a hose nozzle. It may take two, or three applications of Easy-Off. When It looks good, spray with a good sanitizer. Let it dry. Then fire it up to about 400° F. That should kill off anything undesirable that remains.
Good idea! I’d get so sick from smelling the fumes from easy off It wouldn’t be worth it, but it’s a good tip for other people.
Peanut M&M’s in Large quantity! An essential prepper pantry staple.
Truth!!!
With no color dyes right? 🤪
Great video - always good to do a "lessons learned" after each event!
Yes, it is!!!
Our electric kettle doesnt pull to much energy and it only needs to run for 2 minutes. We've used it many times with our generator. Its great for instant coffee, soups, and it works great for oatmeal, mac and cheese, cups of rice and tons of other cup food readily available at dollar stores.
Great idea!
This was a good listen and useful. Thanks
I'm glad you found it helpful!
Thank you for posting this and the blog post. It's probably a positive note that when you prep, and you aren't devastated like others, your prep gear really helps others out that are in need. I loaned lights, medicine, chainsaw, radios, and more to my aunt and uncle that were affected and not prepared.
That’s so great that you were able to help!
I go back country camping. A lot of the time I have no cell reception, or very limited reception. This means no internet.
Being able to keep in Contact with family is important for me when I go camping. I bought a starlink mini a couple months back to fill this gap I had with keeping in touch with family.
This in turn rolls over to emergency preparedness at a drop of a hat. Using it while camping gives me the experience, and knowledge needed, to better use it when disaster strikes.
Thanks for the video
Thank you so much for sharing your experience and lessons learned. I too took lots of notes and will be updating my preps based on the info you shared.
I’m glad you found it helpful! I hope this helps you prepare better!
So sorry you had this experience, but appreciate that you shared your experience. I am making notes!
So glad you are taking notes!
thanks for this post , yours is the best discussion by far of this subject I have heard
Thank you so much!!! That means a lot to me :)
I leave all my backup cookin stoves (gas canisters) in their box to keep crap out of them. I probably hav about 19 backup stove including backpack lightweight screw on stove tops. Also hav several camp cook sets. And foil pans. Plenty of paperware and plastic ware. This last i buy at DT but mostly at least 75% off all holidayware like at walmart!!! So it will be a little more fun in a bad situation!!!! Also plenty of otc medication and bandages. Baby wipes. Lots. If they dry out add water to package. I make mine soppy wet for cleaning self. Also hav some flex solar panels n couple sm generators and couple solar batteries. I also hav one of those little wash machines 15# that will run on solar panel. They work well. Not for heavy duty but will do small liads of clothes. I hav DT solar yard lites worked great one year at Christmas blizzard no elec. Cooked on grille. Other than tube i dont do any other medias. I hav pressure canned or dehydrated almost every in my freezer. I hav done all of this since 2019. Did not happen overnite. None of this is bragging its what my gut started telling me to do starting with C 2020. I watch for sales for everything : amaz days, black fridays ,big sales or markdowns. Hav emergency radio but dont kno how well that will work in my area in mountains. your lighting is good. Also 5 gal bucket water (rainwate,r wash water or melted snow, NOT drinking water) down toilet to flush . also tubers hav ways to block smell inside toilet after flushing.
Hello from Central Colorado, here in our area the emergency situation would be forest fires, flooding, and severe snow storms. We have the Arkansas river thru our valley, if God forbid one or all three reservoirs fail, flooding might happen. We need to know where to escape to higher ground in our valley. Thank you for your suggestions.
@@patriciacooke886 exactly im in south central west of canon city. Off of Hwy 50. Sounds like you might be too. A long ways from the nearest store. Right now ive got 15" of snow and anothet foot today and tomorrow. Most likely a power outage coming. Im pretty much ready!!!!! For me im up on top of hill so hopefully wont hav to worry about flooding unless something freak happens!!! Everything else yes. Big fire went thru here bout 15 yrs ago before i moved here!!!! Im about 17 miles from the Arkansas. For bug out cookin i suggest a lightweight screw on stove top on a propane bottle 4pk 19.00. maybe a propane bottle adapter if stove butane. Butane will not work below freezing. Something to think about. So will hav to keep a butane canister (cold) next to your body!!!! Propane Will last a long time . I do hav both fuels. Thats what i hav ready to go in case. Or go hiking!!!!! I also hav a jetboil knockoff ( Swonder watch for sales under 40.00)that works great with a propane adapter. It will travel with me if needs. I keep everything in 5gal plastic buckets or after holiday markdown totes
Yes, I keep a lot of our backup things in original boxes, but with the flooding that didn't help me out. Totally agree on the Dollar Tree foil pans! We're going to be stocking up. And, yes, I've bought lots of holiday paper goods at Hobby Lobby for 90% off. We have Christmas and Easter paper plates in our prepper boxes. We have lots of 5 gallon buckets, too. Your list is awesome and I agree... gut feeling starting in 2020 (though I've been stocking emergency items since well before then) and definitely do it over time using sales! Thrift stores and garage sales are excellent places!
Yup i used to hit thrift stores alot but here it seems most charge almost the same charge as new. Anyway everything in totes or plastic 5 buckets!!!! Mice or water!!!!! Fill the buckets n totes!!! Mice are attracted to cardboard as are bugs!!!! I hav halloween , summer winter, fall, thanksgiving , day of dead, valentines paper goods also😊. Very festive here!!!! i do hav boxed things on top shelves.
@@coloradopackratprepper Yep, thrift stores are sometimes more expensive! Crazy. Agree with boxed things on top shelves but mostly totes!
This is an amazing first-hand account. So many things I never thought of. I have a suggestion for #7 - as you remove things from the freezer, shove something into the void left by the meat. A blanket, some paper, a couch cushion. That's how I camp with my cooler and it does a pretty good job. I'm sorry this happened. And I'm glad you're here to tell the tale. May you have what you need.
Thanks for the tip! Great idea to stuff the empty space with a blanket or clothing.
great after action report. great feedback on what you learned. I did something like that after my first hurricane.
sorry this happened to you and others but thank you for taking this negative event and turning it into something good by giving good advice and share your experience.
Starlink saved us during an ice storm last year, along with solar generator. It’s expensive, and hard to justify, but they could save your life, and or make your life more comfortable during long term power outage.
Agree! It’s an investment, but worth it!
Having a large roll of plastic is a great prep to have it eliminates the need for putting towels down. You can section off rooms, lot cover windows, lots of uses
Yes, plastic rolls would have worked better!!!
@SingleGirlsDIY I wanted to let you know how much my husband and I appreciate your video. You really made us put our thinking caps on and evaluate plans that we have in place. Im grateful for you sharing and am praying for you and your family.
Wow! What a phenomenal video. Popped up as a recommendation and so glad. So much great info. We are in central gulf coast Florida, and you included so much i will need to rewatch and further absorb. Thank you ! Subscribed.
Thank you! I hope this helps you in your preparations in Florida!
Another great video! I recognize some of my own prepping "fails" on your list - the need to have my preps much better organized, and none stored in cardboard boxes if possible, etc. Very helpful "lessons learned" - Thanks!
So glad I could help!
These are great lessons learned. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks!!!
Lots of good advice, sorry you experienced so much damage and such a long ordeal. I hope you all recover well from this terrible disaster.
Thank you so much!!!
I am so sorry you had to go through that, but thank you for being honest and sharing! You've motivated me more than I could've imagined!
You’re welcome!!!
Thank you for sharing this
You’re welcome!
FYI plastic totes are also good if you have a house fire if your items are in the tote and it doesn’t get hot enough to melt them they will probably be fine, but if it’s in cardboard, the water from the fire department will run everything also
I didn't think about that! That's true that the water would ruin things. I definitely recommend plastic totes for everything!
not only store in plastic, but color code them as well. first aid and medical supplies in red, water filters etc, in blue, cooking in another color and so on. makes things easy to find.
Every disaster is different. No one can be 100% prepped, but every year just get a little bit better.
So true.
My dad (RIP) had the motto: "Thinking is not knowing." His way of saying "assumptions can kill".
I think we need to have generators. Especially if you have a lift station.
You can get set up so you have a “emergency” breaker panel that just serves Some lights, Fridge, heat, cooling, lift station. Whatever you think you have to have in an emergency.
You don’t need a whole house generator. you might really just need fridge, Freezer, Lift station, well pump if you have a well and a couple of outlets for convenience. Something to think about,
I live totally off grid. French press for fresh hot coffee every morning and it always works if stored long term in a cabinet. ☕
Good idea! Thanks for sharing.
Same situation. Basement flooded and most of my camping gear was in the basement. We have a smaller generator & had recently purchased an even smaller one (which we loaned out to our neighbor) but we didn’t have enough gas! Stations were closed immediately afterward & when one opened the crowds were scary! Police had to guard pumps & keep fighting to a minimum. I was surprised by some of the behavior. We’ve all taken stock & hopefully are better prepared. I had packaged items & couldn’t find them either! I think I need a notebook with items & location listed & label better because so many items were being moved so if I thought I knew- I didn’t.
You could buy hard candy- moral booster and does not melt ( have a stash of Hersheys too in glass jars ) .
Yes, I had a lot of peppermint candies but really wanted chocolate! I'm going to add more candy to the stashes. Glad you have a stash of Hersheys!!!
All great information. Didn’t hear anything about a generator with a transfer switch. Would have solved half of this list. Great video.
Stock up many instant beverages, instant foods, canned foods, ready to eat foods, etc. I got types of noodles/pasta that only needs to soak with boiled water only (like vermicelli, angel hair pasta, else) Stock up sterno and refills, parafin etc. In disasters practicallities are the best.
For long time survival like depression rice, wheat berries, beans are way to go. In disasters instant foods or ready to eat is top.
I stock up military mre's. They're good for disasters
I totally agree with you about the instant foods for the first few weeks. And the MREs. I don't think people realize that not all pasta cooks the same, and that some only needs hot water and other needs to boil in water for more than 10 minutes.
@SingleGirlsDIY yes. It's essential to identify things according to their characteristics.
@@SingleGirlsDIYwhat are MRE’s?
@@Hope-ot1xy MREs are Meals Ready to Eat. They are foods packaged in plastic kits that can be heated with a container enclosed in the kits. All you need is water to add to the heater system and it heats up the meals. This is what governments generally supply in disaster relief situations. I unboxed an MRE meal kit in this video: ruclips.net/user/shortsEXgaKAbNwME?si=QxleHXWnqIpz53Qj
@ thank you so much for explaining!😊
Great video. I live in the US Virgin Islands and have been through many hurricanes. No evacuations here, we ride them out and our power was out for 90 days each hurricane I’ve been through. One thing that I feel would be nice for those especially up in the hills is all of our stoves here are gas because we also have power outages on the regular. They are converted to propane and we keep 2 large cylinders of propane all of the time. Just a thought. We also rely on cisterns for our water so we are never without water like many were up by you. Laws are different on that topic in each state, of course. I will watch what you did right next! I enjoyed your video 😊
Epic Wipes . Keep on hand when you can not shower- want to stay clean -feel good .
We're a fan of Dude Wipes, but there are so many brands that definitely do the same job. So important to have any of them on hand! We used three packs.
I just stocked up on Scrubzz...minimal water to get lather and wipe off with towel.
Thank you for the video, I am also a prepper, I have watched a few of the videos from hurricane Helene and I have gotten some great information. One tip from another video was to keep a crock pot full of hot water for cleaning hands dishes etc and crockpots don't use a lot of wattage. The one thing that has been repeated over and over is the Star Link sat. We purchased ours a couple of weeks ago on sale and set was so easy. You have brought up some great points, I need to check my gear and organize. Thanks again 😊
Glad the video was helpful. Thanks for the tip about the crockpot! That is a great idea, especially to have some hot water. Yes, I think every single person in the mountains that lost power has mentioned wanting a star link. I can’t imagine how many thousands of star links were bought in the past month after the hurricane.
Regarding the windows being open or closed, my friend’s land flooded (not her house). The house was closed up & despite the fact that the house didn’t flood they sustained severe mould damage inside the home (had to gut the internal walls/floors). I imagine your grill may have got mould was because it was outside & closed up in high humidity
In my experience (in tropical Australia) during cyclones / rain bombs etc, opening at least one window is wise (preferably a a very sheltered window - I use the one in my bathroom because everything is tiled) & if possible run a fan or better yet the air con on “dry air” function or dehumidifier to help try out internal surfaces. In the absence of those things I have literally wiped down walls & floors with old towels to remove condensation.,
Great video, thank you & hi from Australia 🇦🇺
Hello in Australia! Thanks for the info. Yes, I think the severe mold was because of the hurricane and the humidity.
In Florida after hurricanes, we had to wipe down walls with towels to remove condensation, too.
if you have a source of back-up power a slow cooker with bag liners is an easy way to be able to clean up after cooking. you can also use a slow cooker to heat water for small clean-up tasks.
I do need to add slow cooker liners to my list. My slow cooker did work great during the power outage. Warming water that way is brilliant! Thank you!!!
Things to keep in mind as far as “weather” apparel…. First and foremost… GORETEX!!! It breathes but is water “proof”. Second is SMART WOOL!! My whole family always has Smart Wool socks.. I buy them and put them in their stockings every Christmas!!! They keep you warm even if they are WET!!! Smart Wool always makes clothing. I personally do not own any but it is also a great product!! Another good brand of socks are Darn Tough.. but wool and linen clothing is best when things are wet!!
Thanks for the info. Yes, we need to look into more wool socks. Great recommendations!
Thanks for your common sense tips. It was sweet to see your concern for your neighbors.
❤️❤️❤️
Thank you. Absolutely essential information and several things I not only wouldn’t have thought of but didn’t even know existed. I hope you are able to get back to normal soon.
You're very welcome! I'm glad the video helped.
Thank you. A good look back. Organizing is the best tip. I have a lot but it's scattered. Communication...I don't have a good solution for that. I do keep a pair of 2 way radios so we can communicate with our immediate surroundings but it's not the internet. Once you don't have the internet you don't have immediate answers to your questions. Then you have to figure it out for yourself and that's where costly mistakes could be made.
So true. Organization and communication are two BIG things!
It's important to understand this last hurricane has been a regional disaster in many areas, and not just your normal 30 day prep disaster. Don't be too hard on yourself about it.
These are all great points.
Thank you!