Are You Prepared to Protect Your Home?

Filed under: Hurricane Preparedness Tips, Updates

While you’re thinking about that next storm out there churning around in the Atlantic, have you thought about what you need to do to protect your home in the event that the storm becomes a hurricane?

Do you know what the wind rating is on the windows and doors?  And, if that storm becomes a category 3 or 5 hurricane, are you prepared to protect your home from the damage that such a storm can cause?

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Probably the most important part of any home to protect when a hurricane threatens are the windows and doors…left unprotected, windows often shatter and literally implode, allowing the full force of the storm to blow through your home. 

That’s why you need to be thinking NOW, before that storm or the next one sets a course for your area, how you’ll protect the windows and doors of your home or business.  And, we’ve added a new page to our site, Should You Board Up Your Home?, to help you decide how to best handle protecting your home and/or your livelihood.

Read the full post here…

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Tropical Storm Bret

Filed under: Hurricane Preparedness Tips, Updates

For those of you that are normally impacted by the Atlantic hurricane season, there’s a little tropical storm, Bret, churning off the coast of Florida this morning.  It’s actually the second one of the season…the first one stayed well south and only impacted Mexico. 

While Bret  is expected to stay offshore and possibly impact only Bermuda, there is something that I have learned in my years of living on the Gulf Coast…Tropical Storms and Hurricanes do not always do what is expected!  If you don’t believe me, ask those who survived Hurricane Opal in Destin in the 90′s, or Hurricanes Ivan, Katrina, Rita…etc., in the 2000′s.  All of those storms had a forecast track that, in the very beginning, differed greatly from the ultimate area where the storm made landfall. 

So, if you’re looking at Bret, thinking that you’re safe, and the storm is going to follow that path that you see on television, on the internet, etc….maybe you need to think again.  Because if it doesn’t do what it is expected to do…you really won’t have much time to prepare. 

Get your Hurricane survival plan ready now.  Don’t wait until the threat is upon you, because then it is literally too late to prepare.

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Backup Generators

Filed under: Hurricane Preparedness Tips

Best Backup GeneratorIf you’ve ever been through a major hurricane, you know that you can lose power for hours, days, and in some cases, even weeks… if you’re new to an area frequently threatened by hurricanes, that might not seem like a possibility, but if you’re not, you already know the consequences of being without power for any length of time….

The HEAT – it’s typically oppressively hot after a hurricane, and no electricity means no power to cool your home.  No air conditioner and no fan. 

Water Damage – if you’ve had any water intrusion at all during a storm, without electricity, you literally have no way to clean up the water, and with no air conditioning, your home could quickly develop mold issues. 

Mold – Even without water intrusion, in tropical climates, the lack of air conditioning, combined with oppressive heat and humidity, can create mold problems within your home…places like your carpeting, wood flooring, and even within the walls themselves. 

Spoiled Food – within hours after the loss of power in your home, your food will begin to spoil.  Within 24 hours, all perishable food will not only be spoiled, but will begin to smell.  Within a couple of days, with no way to power your refrigerator or freezer, the spoiled food will reek…

No Lights – Emergency candles are just that.  They last a few hours and they’re gone.  With no electricity, your home becomes a darkened cave at night…and you’re easy prey to looters who think the house is unoccupied. 

The inconvenience alone is enough to make most people search for a solution, however, when you factor in the cost of water extraction, mold remediation, replacing carpeting, flooring, etc., and even replacing a freezer full of steaks…it’s easy to see that it would be much more cost effective to invest in a backup generator BEFORE you need it.   (And, just in case you’re wondering, waiting until you need it is impossible…there are literally no generators available for days, weeks, and even months after a storm…and that is usually within a 250 mile radius of where the storm hits.)

For this reason, we recommend visiting Best Backup Generator as a part of your normal hurricane preparedness…at Best Backup Generator you’ll find information on the different types, models, and price ranges of generators available to help you decide which generator is the best backup generator for your home.

 

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Water Storage in a Hurricane

Filed under: Hurricane Preparedness Tips

How Do You Store Water for Emergencies?

If you’re facing the likelihood of a landfalling hurricane, one of the most common tips given is to fill your bathtub with water for drinking, cooking, etc., after the hurricane passes. 

Personally, I found this tip rather disgusting…even though the bathtubs in my house are clean, they’re not clean enough to drink out of!   Even then, the thought of the clean water sitting in my bathtub (which coincidentally is beside the toilet!)for days while we used it to drink, cook, etc., was too much for me.

The Aquapod Kit for Emergency Water Storage

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Then, I found the Aquapod Kit.  The Aquapod Kit has actually saved the day more than once for me and my family.   We ordered three of them before the last hurricane, and when the warnings came, out they came. 

The Aquapod Kits were easy to install in the tubs, just like the advertisements said they were, and since each one held up to 65 gallons of water, we ended up using two instead of all three, and each one comes with a pump that you use to take the water out of the sealed water pod.  So, the water in them stays clean, clear, and uncontaminated.  All told, each Aquapod provides a basic supply of clean water for 14 days for a family of four…and frankly, with the price far less than bottled water, you’ll be so glad that you have them. 

So, when the next hurricane threatens, make sure that you have a simple solution for fresh water on hand and ready.  Skip that mad rush to the grocery or big box store, searching in vain for the last case or two of bottled water on the shelf. 

Order at least one for every bathtub in your home, and an extra one or two just in case.  Even with only enough notice to fill up your Aquapod, you can rest assured of the supply you’ll need.

The Aquapod Kit is not reuseable, however, considering the cost and weight of 65 gallons of bottled water, the kit is an excellent and practical solution for emergency water storage needs, and the Aquapod Kit keeps your drinking water supply in a closed system. 

Order the Aquapod Kit today and be prepared!

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