*Words of Wisdom From The Elder

I’ve been receiving a lot of phone calls, text messages and emails this evening about what’s going on with the hurricane where I live and how it is going to impact us.  Here is where things stand and our preparations.

Gustav’s Track

I’ve been using the following map to assist in tracking hurricane Gustav.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26295161/

Some of you have asked where I’m at so here is a map of where Gustav is supposed to track along with an arrow pointing where we are located.

As you can tell we are about 60 miles inland.  Right now it is roughly 8:00 PM on Sunday August 31st and we are already seeing outer band rains and winds.  The local stations are doing a great job keep us up to date on what to expect.  We are supposed to have power outages in the area but they will not be as wide spread as when Katrina hit.  Winds are estimated to reach up to 70+ miles / hour so definite damage will happen. 

Anything can happen at any time depending which way the hurricane tracks.  But as long as it stays to the west, I think we’ll be ok. 

Preparations

We’ve prepared pretty heavily for the storm.  Thursday I hit the stores getting supplies.  Mainly non-perishable items (canned foods, etc).  Saturday I got up and started working in the yard.  I went to the gas station down road to get gas for the lawnmower and it was crazy.  People had already started evacuating and there was a line.  While I was there I filled up the two cans I brought with me and then went back to the house.  I filled up the lawn mower and generator then took all five gas cans back to get them filled up.  I got the generator running pretty easily.  Surprisingly it started on the first lick.  I stabilized the gas and changed the oil.  In total we have 25 gallons of gas on hand and we have both vehicles full of gas.  Getting gas early is key because once the evacuations start, gas goes quickly as thousands upon thousands of people hit the highways.  Then of course, if the power goes out, gas can’t be pumped.

In case we have to go days without power we’ve got non-perishable foods, two coolers of ice, three cases of bottled water, 2 cases of Gatorade, a window air conditioner (that I’ll take back to Lowe’s if we don’t wind up using it), an extra chain saw blade to cut limbs and trees, batteries, a bathtub full of water, Sirius Satellite Radio to keep informed, extension cords, meat to cook with on the grill that is currently in the freezer, five bags of charcoal, lantern, 5 propane bottles, a shower bag, and  a propane stove.  Basically, if you want to prepare for a hurricane, just think about going camping and pack all of that.

This evening it was sunny and pretty so I broke out the video camera and filmed the place including the entire outside of the house, shed, yard, surrounding trees, and back of deck.  I mainly did that for insurance purposes and to remind us what things looked like before and after.  I was thinking about putting up a before and after video.  That of course depends on how bad the after is.

Staying in touch

To keep everyone informed I will more than likely be twittering events as things progress (follow me here http://twitter.com/keithelder).  Things aren’t supposed to heat up until early in the morning.  If you have me on instant messenger and see that I’m no longer online, then I’ve lost power and or cable Internet.  If things are like they were when Katrina hit, the power will go before cell phones.  Thus I should be able to get messages out.

Like everyone we are just hoping for the best.  We’ve prepared as well as we can and now it is just a waiting game.