Ian instruction: Expanded advice from a hurricane veteran to help you weather the storm

Marty Merzer
·8 min read

Editor's note: A version of this column by retired Miami Herald senior writer and lead hurricane writer Martin Merzer was originally posted on Facebook and published before Hurricane Hermine in 2016. The path of Hurricane Ian is not yet clear, but we are republishing this now to help with preparation in case it does hit here.

The National Hurricane Center's forecasts are beginning to lock into a possible landfall of Hurricane Ian along the Big Bend or Gulf Coast late Thursday. The Tallahassee area has been near the center of the forecast cone for nearly 24 hours, though forecasters caution that the point of impact still can shift considerably.

The cone represents the possible path of Ian's core. A powerful storm such as Ian is much more than just its core - and its outlying wind, rain and surf can stretch hundreds of miles from the center.

So, even if the storm's powerful core makes landfall to the right or left, it is becoming clear that Tallahassee and the surrounding region could be impacted by a significant weather event later this week.

Latest forecast and track: With a possible Cat 4 Hurricane Ian incoming, model split keeps Florida guessing | WeatherTiger

Do yourself a favor. Take this seriously. Begin your preparations, slowly and calmly, now.

Here we go:

As the storm approaches

  • The biggest, most lingering inconvenience may not be the actual storm - it likely will be the hot, powerless, work-intensive aftermath. Knowing this, knowing that you could be without power or large-scale assistance for a prolonged time, let's get ready for it.

  • Importantly, ignore amateurs who try to analyze raw data from computerized models and then post ill-informed speculation regarding track and intensity. The experts at the National Hurricane Center are among the best in the world. Rely on them and on veteran local and broadcast meteorologists - and emergency managers - who base their local forecasts and guidance on NHC advisories.

  • Also importantly, recognize that no government on Earth can help everyone at the same time right after a large-scale natural disaster.

  • So, your job is to get your family ready for whatever might come. Consequently, here we go:

  • Given the tree-intensive nature of North Florida, utility lines likely will fall and other elements of the power-generating infrastructure might fail. Be prepared for sweeping and lengthy power and communications outages. Even with the best efforts of utility workers and local leaders, your service may not be restored for days or even a week or more.

  • Make as much ice as you can now and store it in your freezer. It will help preserve - or at least extend the usable life of - your food during the outage.

  • Lower the temperatures of your freezer and refrigerator.

  • Plug in all of your rechargeable batteries or devices now and keep them plugged in. Not just cell phones, but also laptops, power tools, everything that uses a rechargeable battery. This is no time to be worried about overcharging those batteries.

  • Be particularly stingy with your cell-phone batteries. Keep your cell phones plugged in and fully charged for as long as possible. After a storm, cell phones often are the only operating communications devices - until their batteries run out.

  • If you have an old-fashioned landline phone, one that only needs to be plugged into a phone jack (and not also into an electrical socket), pull it out and plug it into a jack. Most landline systems provide their own electricity, and that old-fashioned landline might work for you.

  • Get some cash out of your bank account. Cash comes back into style after a storm because credit card machines need electricity.

  • Make sure you have enough bottled water, bread and shelf-stable milk (for the kids), instant coffee, peanut butter, dried fruit and other commodities for a week.

  • Make sure you have enough meds for everyone in your family for two weeks or more.

  • When you go shopping, don't forget toilet paper. (Remember: Everything that goes in generally comes back out.)

  • Don’t forget to have enough food on hand for your pets.

  • Sports drinks also come in handy during the recovery phase as you're working around and outside the house in the heat. Stock up on plenty of them. (It's really better - safer - not to get boozed up during or after a storm. You know that, right?)

  • Shelter in garages as many vehicles as you can – and know how to open your garage door without help from an automatic garage door opener, which of course requires electricity.

  • If you have a portable generator, take it out right now, gas it up and give it a test run. Then, buy as much gasoline as you can safely keep in your garage.

  • If you have a propane grill, buy extra propane.

  • If you have a pool, the pump and filter will not work until power is restored. Super-chlorinate the pool now and buy many jugs of chlorine for use later. If you can get that pool cleaned up and in shape, you can swim (bath) in it until your water heater comes back on line with your electricity. Also lower the water level now, to allow room for copious rainwater.

  • Keep your laundry basket empty. Put another way, wash and dry clothes frequently before the storm arrives. You may not have another chance for some time.

  • If you have any outstanding bills, pay them now – electronically. This would be a really bad time for your cell phone carrier, credit card company or anyone else to cut you off if your payment ends up Gone with The Wind.

  • Do not stack garbage or tree clippings in the street before the storm, and discourage your neighbors from doing so. That debris will morph into destructive flying missiles in hurricane or tropical storm winds.

  • Bring in everything from the front porch, rear deck and patio. Everything.

  • Make sure that your home and vehicle insurance policies and other precious documents are within reach and are in a waterproof safe or in waterproof plastic bags.

  • Back-up your computer hard drives to an external drive, and store that external drive someplace safe and dry. Better yet: Upload everything of value to an online service such as Dropbox or Sugar Sync.

  • Take photos or videos of everything in your house and store them in the Cloud or on an external drive that also is placed in a safe, dry location. Another option: Just email the material to yourself.

  • Gather your flashlights and batteries and place them in convenient locations around the house. Special tip: Those new LED flashlights are terrific and well worth the extra money. Just one medium-sized one, aimed toward the ceiling, illuminated half our house during our three-day Hurricane Hermine blackout six years ago here in Tallahassee.

  • Be sure to have electrolyte-loaded sports drinks (I’m repeating that for emphasis), insect repellent, sunblock, cortisone cream, other first-aid supplies for use after the storm.

  • Take showers and baths as close to the arrival of the storm as you can, while you still have hot water. Even most gas-operated tank-less heaters need electricity to maintain water temperature.

  • Then, fill up your bathtubs. That water can come in handy after that storm, especially if you need it to fill toilet tanks.

  • If you have a battery-operated portable radio, bring it out.

During the storm

  • If you live in a multi-story house that is surrounded by or close to trees, make absolutely certain that no one sleeps there or even is up there during the storm. Hurricanes are nature's weed whackers and numerous trees will fall. (During Hermine’s passage through Tallahassee six years ago, someone said his life and the life of his wife likely were saved by this advice, as a tree crashed through their roof and into their second-floor bedroom as they slept downstairs.)

  • Also, stay away and sleep away from windows and glass-panel doors.

  • If Ian’s eye passes overhead - rain and wind cease amid an eerie silence - do not venture far. The back end of the eyewall and the storm are close behind.

  • Be smart. Just ride it out. Don’t take any chances. Speaking of which, it’s really better - safer - not to get boozed up during or after a storm. You know that, right? (I intentionally repeated that.)

After the storm passes:

  • NEVER drive through a flooded road or step into a puddle near downed trees or power poles. Most lives are lost during these storms due to inland flooding and dunderheaded walking.

  • If utility-provided water stops flowing, get a bucket and make friends with someone who has a pool or lives near a lake. Water from those sources works fine in toilet tanks.

  • Keep those electrolyte-loaded sports drinks close at hand and consume them as you're working around the house in the heat. This would be a really bad time for a kidney stone.

  • As you begin to clean up, be vigilant in all other ways. Emergency rooms fill up with people who hurt themselves with chain saws or have coronaries or have strokes or break their limbs or all of the above.

  • Be especially wary of fire ants, bees, wasps, etc. They will be in moods even worse than yours.

Summary:

  • Taking these and other modest precautions and actions will cost you nothing – everything you buy will be used eventually – and can pay off big-time in coming days.

  • Listen to your forecasters, emergency managers, other experts and local officials. They know how to get you through this.

  • In the end, this, too, shall pass.

  • Be safe. Be kind. Be generous with your neighbors.

Martin Merzer, now of Tallahassee, served for 35 years as a reporter for the Associated Press and the Miami Herald.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Hurricane Ian: expanded practical advice to help you weather the storm