After the Storm? Things you will do different after going thru Hurricane Ike?

[ticka1]

I have a list of things I will do different - definitely more supplies especially gasoline. We have a 55 gallon drum that we will fill next time.

More food especially bread.

Water and drink mix to add to it - got tired of drinking the plain water - got those crystal lite and other drink flavorings to add to the water and it made it better to drink.

Old-fashion phone - the one I had from walmart was a piece of junk - need to find a better more sturdy old-fashion phone. We lost our cellphone service at the house for about 4-5 days.

Most of my changes involve stuff for surving the aftermath of the storm. We had plenty of flashlights and batteries - just keeping track of them was the hardest thing to do in my family.

More money in the emergency fund - I had $2000 and it went so fast - especially having to buy a new generator. Each time I went to fillup all the gas cans (did this 3-4 times a week for 2 1/2 weeks) cost me $80-100. I will have at $3000-4000 .

Post the changes you are going to make to your hurricane preparations/supplies?

[GalvestonDuck]

I'm taking my car, as well as an E1 car tag (even though I'm not one anymore). If it means being able to get back on the island sooner, I'm gonna use it.

Cash -- I had it. But I couldn't convince everyone else to get it BEFORE the storm hit and the power went out. Some heard me when I said ATM's wouldn't work, but they were still convinced that debit/credit machines would work at gas stations and stores (the few that were open north of Houston after the power went out). Duh! "Cash only" signs are still everywhere.

I don't care how much food goes to waste. Next time, I am not leaving ANYTHING in my fridge. *gag* I've lost at least 15 pounds since Ike (probably more but I haven't found any scales down here on which to weigh) and have started to use a belt again (not as a fashion accessory). I think at least 5 pounds were lost due to constant throwing up while cleaning out my fridge. We had to empty it because the doors had to come off to get it out of the apartment. And we couldn't leave the food unbagged because creatures would get to it. Most. Disgusting. Thing. Ever.

[ticka1]

We lost most of our food in the freezer - we had a three inch thick of icy slush at the bottom of our freezer - it was so disgusting to get out - took us two hours yesterday. I lost 10 lbs Duck from the stress of this damn storm. I can't imagine having to clean up after two plus weeks of stuff rottening - your a strong woman.

Oh yeah on the debit/credit card thing - I told my sister on Friday and see actually went to the bank and got cash - since she forgot about it making preparations. She was so glad because like you said so many folks just took cash for the first two weeks in the aftermath.

When will you be moving back home Duck? Will it be anytime soon?

[GalvestonDuck]

Nope, not moving back for a while. Just got an extension on the motel -- until Oct. 28. LOL! Two more weeks...that's it? Ah well...it's FEMA. We don't expect much there. We're Texans -- we'll get back on our feet.

Our mayor is going to bat for the city and, more importantly, for UTMB. We HAVE to get up and running or this city is going to be in trouble. I mean, we're not only a hospital, but a med school, nursing school, school of allied health (PT's, OT's, PA's). We are a Level 1 trauma center. And we have ONE OF ONLY TWO national biocontainment laboratories in the US with a BSL 4 (biosafety lab) for dealing with highly infectious viruses, toxins, and biological weapons. We employ over 10,000 people and have over 2500 students.

As far as my house goes, I'm still waiting on the city to inspect it and say whether it is more than 50% damaged and needs to be demolished and rebuilt, or isn't and needs to be renovated. They said it could take three months for all the inspections. Until that time, can't do anything more than wait.