HOUSTON (SportsRadio 610) -- My first memory surviving the physical and mental strife that a hurricane can bring remains vivid, even though I was only 5 years old at the time.
We were visiting family in Corpus Christi in 1967, when it became obvious Hurricane Beulah was going hit and hit hard.
Meteorology was not as advanced as today, obviously, so there was not a lot of warning.
Most of my detailed memories are vague, but vivid are the tornadoes that surrounded us, as dad drove the station wagon toward San Antonio.
I crouched in my mother’s lap. Mom cried. Dad white-knuckled it all the way home.
My brothers and sisters were in the back seats, uncharacteristically quiet as they watched tornadoes blowing all around in the distance.
In the 53 years since, from Beulah to Celia, Allen to Rita, Ike to Harvey and all those in-between, you pick up things that help you get through it.
Hurricane Laura’s track did no favors to the Greater Houston area Monday night, likely bearing down on us as an ever-dangerous Category Three threat. We’ll get through it. We always do.
But aside from the obvious preparations we all know – filling up vehicles, filling bathtubs with water, making sure you have candles, matches, filling gas cans, checking flashlights, ice, food, checking the generator if you have one, pet food, etc. – there are a few Hurricane hacks to remember as well.
Here are mine:
Make sure you have a 5-gallon bucket or two: The water you save in a bathtub only goes so far. During Rita in 2005, I was without power for 11 days.
Water was out for an extended time as well.
Some in the Houston area were without power for up to 18-days. A five-gallon bucket comes in handy.
If you have a pool, live in a complex with a pool or know someone with a pool, the bucket will help you flush toilets when water in the home becomes scarce.
Take all your trash to a dumpster now: You don’t want the garbage piling up for obvious reasons. You never know when garbage pick-up will be interrupted.
Also, if you have a sealed crate or bin, store garbage bags in it until trash pick-up resumes.
Store important documents and mementos in the dishwasher: Houston floods. Always. Fortunately, my house did not flood during Harvey, but storing important things in the dishwasher will most likely keep them dry, even if your kitchen is engulfed in water.
Put most of the food in your refrigerator in the freezer: If power goes out, open the freezer as little as possible.
Most of your food will last for days in the freezer, even if power is out. Take out what you need, as you need it.
Do ALL your laundry now: No power, no clean clothes. Unless you get it all done now.
Boil eggs and buy cans of tuna and instant coffee: I would boil at least two-dozen eggs. They don’t need to be refrigerated.
The tuna and instant coffee, obviously, last.
Other options: Summer sausage and peanut butter.
A Coleman-type stove can be huge: Most people fill propane tanks and get charcoal for outdoor cooking. That’s big.
But if it’s storming for a prolonged time, there’s not a lot you can cook outside on the grill.
My kids still laugh about me cooking on a Coleman stove on the eve of my backdoor, or on a window sill, for ventilation.
But they sure enjoyed the meals.
Freeze quart bags full of water: When everyone’s out of ice, you’ll have enough to keep food.
Red wine does not need to be refrigerated: Know it. Live it. And we can all transition smoothly from Covid drinking to Hurricane drinking.
Put an old rug, pieces of sod or artificial turf in your garage: Most pets, like my Gibson, are terrified of going outside during storms. But they still have to take care of business.
Donate blood today: During prolonged power outages, most hospitals have auxiliary power, but donations go down significantly because people do not leave their homes.
Stop at a donation site on the way home today. It’s only gonna help save a life.