Can't stress it enough...

[TheShrimper]

I learned my lesson Aug. 13. Get all what you deem needed early. Anything you can think of, even the trivialist of things. You cannot imagine the lack of resources unavailable if your area is incapacitated. Locals here at ground zero were running over to the east coast to buy generators after the fact, but supplies didnt last there either. It doesnot hit you till you are deprived of the little luxuries we all take for granted. I had to drive thirty miles to get gas and a can of skoal, and it wasnt a given that i would find a place open at that. Circle K and 7-11 will all be boarded up, you aint going down the street to get a pack of smokes. WHATEVER you think you might need, GET. And if you have a chest freezer, freeze the largest volume of ice you can containerize. Believe me, this is real fresh in my mind. And we were not really hit as hard as we could have been, not to minimize the destruction that took place.

[Deenac813]

Great Post! Everyone should listen to your advice

[charleston_hugo_veteran]

I learned my lesson Aug. 13. Get all what you deem needed early. Anything you can think of, even the trivialist of things. You cannot imagine the lack of resources unavailable if your area is incapacitated. Locals here at ground zero were running over to the east coast to buy generators after the fact, but supplies didnt last there either. It doesnot hit you till you are deprived of the little luxuries we all take for granted. I had to drive thirty miles to get gas and a can of skoal, and it wasnt a given that i would find a place open at that. Circle K and 7-11 will all be boarded up, you aint going down the street to get a pack of smokes. WHATEVER you think you might need, GET. And if you have a chest freezer, freeze the largest volume of ice you can containerize. Believe me, this is real fresh in my mind. And we were not really hit as hard as we could have been, not to minimize the destruction that took place.

I went thru this with Hugo.....drive 35 miles for a loaf of bread and pray they had ice!!

[feederband]

to me gas was one of the worst things after the storm. couldn't find stations that had gas and if the did the had no power. Im going to buy some 5 gal gas tanks and fill them ....Also I ran out of cash and no Atm's had any....

[dhweather]

Always better to plan now (or actually, in June)

[Cookiely]

Thanks for the tip on getting a gas can for extra gas. I hadn't thought beyond filling up the car.

[dhweather]

And if you buy some STA-BIL (wal-mart, autozone, etc) fuel stabilizer, it will "keep" a very very long time. Hint hint.

[TheShrimper]

Hopefully we wont need the gas conditioner.

[Aimless]

For Charley, in the days before the storm hit, I filled every empty milk jug I could locate with water and stuffed them into all the empty spaces in my big freezer... they were essentially, little blocks of ice with handles. It worked well. My power came back on fairly quickly, so I can't say how long it would have lasted, but at least two or three days is a safe bet.

Also... buy extra bread ahead of time and freeze it. (Frozen bread is not a favorite, but beats not having any... If you double wrap it, it is less likely to be "soggy" when you thaw it out.)

Buy extra toilet paper and a few containers of baby wipes. I won't explain...but trust me.