First off, you have my empathy, as a multiple occurence veteran of hurricanes and power-loss issues. Some lessons learned:
* Depending on your deductible, your loss of food may be covered by your homeowners insurance. If so, you have to gather receipts for all the replacement food upon purchase. This doesn't help if you put up fruit and veggies from your own garden.
* After hurricane Frederick in '79 in Mobile, neighborhoods had communal grillouts where folks would contribute the perishables from their freezers before the stuff went bad. Don't know if that's viable today.
* One problem with generators is they require fuel - usually gasoline, sometimes diesel or propane, occassionally solar / batteries. Most poop out after a few hours unless you keep feeding them.
* If you do have limited access to AC power, use extension cords and power strips for easier swapping of what you're powering. After Ivan in '04, the service connection to the outside of our house got wiped out by the the falling chimney. Fortunately, we have an extra service pole and meter in the yard for our well house and an outbuilding (demolished). Within a couple of days, the power co-op had our well running, so we had water and access to one outlet inside. We ran one extension to the kitchen for the fridge. I was able to rotate usage of a coffee pot, crockpot, etc. The other extension went to the bedroom for tv and an oscillating fan. Our water heater is in the attic, which lost 1/5 of the roof. My husband would use our "solar heated" water to get a quick shower in the middle of the day.
* It pays to have an automobile adapter/charger for small electronics and laptops. After Ivan, I ran my business from my truck, sitting in the front yard. Kept the cell phone and laptop charged. We got landline phone after a couple of days, so I did dialup for internet and email. Otherwise I would have travelled to one of the "charity" wifi hotspots.
* Again, if you have the right policy, you can file a loss/interruption of business claim on the home office. I avoided having to do this, but only because all my clients were either in the same boat or sympathetic to the crippled state of affairs. I did get one deadline extension - mostly because the storm was catastrophic to the client and their needs were rearranged accordingly.
* Always keep at least a 72 hour supply of food and water for every member of the household including pets. Even canned goods have an expiration, so rotate them into regular usage as necessary and replenish accordingly.
* If you fill up a bathtub pre-storm, that water can be heated and used for bathing, or boiled / chlorinated in a pinch for cooking or drinking.
* If you have access to a "body of water" (lake, pond, swimming pool, etc) you can tote buckets of water to flush toilets (did this after Frederic - no water pressure for nearly 3 weeks).
I couldn't watch the post-Ike coverage on tv. Too many flashbacks to previous traumas. Also, I grew up in Houston, so I knew a lot of the places being shown.
Again, my sympathy and prayers to all affected.
Regards,
-DG
