What Hurricane Irene Taught Me About My Preps So Far

This blog entry was originally posted on August 28, 2011

Although we got very lucky and were not hit by the Category 1 Hurricane that Irene was supposed to be when she came through our state, there was still some significant wind and rain from the Tropical Storm. As we were preparing for this storm to come through, I realized a few things about our preps that made me feel really good and a few good lessons that I will heed from now on.

#1- My working out and fitness program paid off. 

As my husband and I were carrying the large picnic table over the baby gate and down the porch stairs, and then returning up to pick up the grill to bring downstairs as well, I realized that there was absolutely no way I would have been able to do that 3 months ago. My desire to be healthy and fit started before we started “prepping”, but as we started prepping I realized that it was a very important part of preparedness. My thoughts on this were only reinforced as I was left along to  to pick furniture up to put it on wood blocks and rubbermaid totes to keep it from getting wet, and load up my car to go spend the night with my parents. (My husband had been mandated for a shift at work because of the storm.)

#2 Being prepared, even if it wasn’t for the exact situation that played out, eases one’s mind and lowers the stress level associated with dangerous situations.

My husband and I have been preparing to “bug in” and hunker down and stay safe during most situations. In fact, we decided that things would have to be pretty terrible before we left our house. So, we’ve got all of our stock and preps in the house, and only small bags that are really more of what most would call “get home bags” than “bug out bags.” So, when the threat of Hurricane Irene came about, I was very secure knowing that I didn’t have to run around securing food, water, batteries, etc. Then? Hubby gets mandated for a shift at work (something we stupidly did not think about) and I am faced with the decision of whether to stay home with my two babies in a house that floods when there is heavy rain and is surrounded by tall trees, or to leave and go to my parents house (knowing that they are really not “preppers”). Even though I ended up completely changing my plans and leaving, being prepared made it easy to change plans and made my life much less stressful as I got things together to leave. It really does prove that prepping is a state of mind, and not just the acquiring of goods.

#3- Keeping a Clean/Organized House is Part of Prepping

Keeping up with the dishes and the laundry, and making sure that everything is in its place may be difficult for us working, prepper moms, but it sure does make a difference when faced with a dangerous situation. With the threat from the power company that we might be without power for up to or beyond a week, I did not have to run around like a crazy person washing clothes and dishes to make sure that I was ready for there to be no power for an extended period of time. I knew that I had very minimal work to do to ensure that I would be in good shape if we lost power. Being organized also helped greatly because I knew exactly which clothes I wanted to pack for me and my kids when we made the decision to leave, where the suitcase was, where the kids backpacks were, etc. It definitely made my life easier not having to worry about what was clean and what wasn’t, or knowing exactly where the suitcase was and not having to dig it out of a pile of junk in the basement.

#4- Do Not Put Off Tomorrow What Can Be Done Today

We have just finished rebuilding, reorganizing, and stocking our store room and we had a few other things left to do. One of those things being to put 50lbs of rice, 50lbs of beans, 25lbs of oats, and 50lbs of salt into mylar bags and 5-gallon buckets. We had left the big bags of goods in our store room and said that we would get to it ASAP. However, when the threat of Irene was upon us, I realized that if we got water (which we most certainly would) all of our large bags of goods would be ruined. And so I was left filling bags and buckets in the 9th hour when I really should have been spending my time doing other storm preps. I definitely learned my lesson of doing today what I can, and not leaving projects unfinished.

These are just a few of the things that I was reflecting upon throughout the hurricane/tropical storm. While I am very happy to report that we did not get any water (which was a miracle) thanks to a sump pump, nor did we lose power- I also know that I would have been completely ready to deal with any of the problems that would have occured had that not been the case.

I hope that everyone else stayed safe throughout the storm- and I hope that people use this as a wake-up call or time of reflection on prepping.

Happy Prepping!