And will people buy emergency supplies like extra bottled water and plywood and tape when Hurricane Palin splits of and heads off their way next week?
=D

But really.
Does J Mac love the culture war?

I’m in Houston :(..I’m really hoping that Ike is the same as Gustav…

Emergency Supplies:
Bottled Water
Some band-aids
canned peaches

the grocery store nearby is EMPTY…the only stuff left is the perishable stuff and really unhealthy crap that I refuse to eat…it’s also kind of sad that they ran out of beer before they ran out of water and ice…

There is like 6 gas stations in my town, and they were all out of gas until like 30 min ago….

ugh..I’m freaking out

You all should be aware of hurricane preparations, but in case you need a refresher course: We’re about to enter the hurricane season. Any minute now, you’re going to turn on the TV and see a weather person pointing to some radar blob out in the Atlantic Ocean and making two basic meteorological points.

There is no need to panic.
We could all be killed.
Yes, hurricane season is an exciting time to be in Florida. If you’re new to the area, you’re probably wondering what you need to do to prepare for the possibility that we’ll get hit by "the big one."

Based on our insurance industry experiences, we recommend that you follow this simple three-step hurricane preparedness plan:

STEP 1: Buy enough food and bottled water to last your family for at least three days.

STEP 2: Put these supplies into your car.

STEP 3: Drive to Nebraska and remain there until Halloween.

Unfortunately, statistics show that most people will not follow this sensible plan. Most people will foolishly stay here in the coastal states. So, start with step one.

For those living in Florida, it is important to be familiar with and adhere to the basic three step hurricane preparedness plan.

STEP 1. Buy enough food and bottled water to last your family for at least three days.
STEP 2. Put these supplies into your car.
STEP 3. Drive to Nebraska and remain there until Thanksgiving.

Unfortunately, statistics show that most people will not follow this sensible plan. Most people will foolishly stay here in Florida. We’ll start with one of the most important hurricane preparedness items:

HOMEOWNERS’ INSURANCE: If you own a home, you must have hurricane insurance. Fortunately, this insurance is cheap and easy to get, as long as your home meets two basic requirements:

(1) It is reasonably well-built, and…
(2) It is located in Nebraska.

Unfortunately, if your home is located in Florida, or any other area that might actually be hit by a hurricane, most insurance companies would prefer not to sell you hurricane insurance, because then they might be required to pay YOU money, and that is certainly not why they got into the insurance business in the first place.

EVACUATION ROUTE: If you live in a low-lying area, you should have an evacuation route planned out. (To determine whether you live in a low-lying area, look at your driver’s license; if it says "Florida", you live in a low-lying area.)

The purpose of having an evacuation route is to avoid being trapped in your home when a major storm hits. Instead, you will be trapped in a gigantic traffic jam several miles from your home, along with two hundred thousand other evacuees. So, as a bonus, you will not be lonely.

Of course these are just basic precautions. As the hurricane draws near, it is vitally important that you keep abreast of the situation by turning on your television and watching TV reporters in rain slickers stand right next to the ocean and tell you over and over how vitally important it is for everybody to stay away from the ocean.

Good luck, and remember: It’s great living in Paradise!

Or do you wait for the city/county/state to make it mandatory. Have you done any preparation prior to a hurricane becoming imminent? If so, then what have you done such as stock groceries, board up windows or hoard bottled water. Have you included preparation for your pet(s) or livestock and are you planning to take any with you if you leave?

I’m talking about NON-perishable goods like bottled water, canned soups, pasta, peanut butter, and supplies such as flashlights, batteries, candles and (most importantly) generators.

Please see the following article from Thursday’s Houston Chronicle: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/fron…

I don’t like doing this, but I’ve had to re-post this question a second time, because most of the answers I got before were so stupid, and here’s a sampling:

1. "Most people don’t have the credit or money to buy a generator,"
Well, they sure do have the money now, don’t they? There were 60 people lined up at a Home Depot in Houston for four hours on Wednesday. Had they gone to Home Depot a month ago, they could’ve not only avoided the long lines but also gotten a nice generator at a better price than what it’s selling for now.

Idiots.

2. "Part of it is because people live paycheck to paycheck."
Not enough money to buy a generator? What about the 60 people standing in line for four hours at Home Depot to pay 0 for a generator? Did all 60 of those boneheads win the lottery just last week, and that’s why they’re only buying a generator now? Less than 24 hours before a Category 4 hurricane is expected to make landfall? Great planning, people.

3. "Some people don’t have time to buy these things beforehand"
But they DO have time to stand in line for four hours at Home Depot, in the sweltering 90-degree Houston heat.

4. "People are defying the inevitable, and praying that it won’t happen."
I’m 30 years old, and I have life insurance. I certainly pray that I’ll make it through each day alive, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to prepare with the necessary contingencies in case something ever happens to me.

5. "The local media like to scare people"
If you live in Houston and you have even an ounce of common sense, then you should know that every year at around this time, you’re gonna get threatened by hurricanes. And you’re gonna need the usual non-perishable foods and supplies.

So why not go shopping for these items and store them away a month or so before hurricane season? If hurricane season passes without incident and the emergency kit goes unused, then you can use the food items before they spoil and then simply re-stock those items the following summer. What is so hard about this???

I would think that if anybody knew how to prepare for a hurricane, it would be the folks in South Texas. And I would think that Houstonians would have already learned their lesson after T.S. Allison seven years ago.

Please read the following article from the Houston Chronicle:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5996923.html

If you live in Houston and you have even an ounce of common sense, then you should know that every year at around this time, you’re gonna get threatened by hurricanes. And you’re gonna need the usual non-perishable foods (e.g. soups, cereals, peanut butter, granola bars, etc.,) and other vital supplies like bottled water, flashlights, batteries and generators.

So why not go shopping for these items and store them away a month or so before hurricane season? If hurricane season passes without incident and the emergency kit goes unused, then you can use the food items before they spoil and then simply re-stock those items the following summer. What is so hard about this???

Why do people have to act like such boneheads in this situation? I realize that Houston is home to NASA, but it shouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that if you wait until the last minute to buy these things, the shelves might be bare by the time you arrive at the store.

So now, what’s going to invevitably happen is people are going to crowd the local Home Depots and start fighting with other customers over the last generator in stock. Wouldn’t it have been a good idea to have gone to Home Depot two months ago and bought a generator then, knowing that you’d be fighting like a rabid dog come hurricane season??? Duhhhhhhhhhhhhh……

Good grief, you Houstonians.

I’m talking about NON-perishable goods like bottled water, canned soups, pasta, peanut butter, and supplies such as flashlights, batteries, candles and (most importantly) generators.

Please see the following article from Thursday’s Houston Chronicle: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5996923.html

I don’t like doing this, but I’ve had to re-post this question a second time, because most of the answers I got before were so stupid, and here’s a sampling:

1. "Most people don’t have the credit or money to buy a generator,"
Well, they sure do have the money now, don’t they? There were 60 people lined up at a Home Depot in Houston for four hours on Wednesday. Had they gone to Home Depot a month ago, they could’ve not only avoided the long lines but also gotten a nice generator at a better price than what it’s selling for now.

Idiots.

2. "Part of it is because people live paycheck to paycheck."
Not enough money to buy a generator? What about the 60 people standing in line for four hours at Home Depot to pay 0 for a generator? Did all 60 of those boneheads win the lottery just last week, and that’s why they’re only buying a generator now? Less than 24 hours before a Category 4 hurricane is expected to make landfall? Great planning, people.

3. "Some people don’t have time to buy these things beforehand"
But they DO have time to stand in line for four hours at Home Depot, in the sweltering 90-degree Houston heat.

4. "People are defying the inevitable, and praying that it won’t happen."
I’m 30 years old, and I have life insurance. I certainly pray that I’ll make it through each day alive, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to prepare with the necessary contingencies in case something ever happens to me.

5. "The local media like to scare people"
If you live in Houston and you have even an ounce of common sense, then you should know that every year at around this time, you’re gonna get threatened by hurricanes. And you’re gonna need the usual non-perishable foods and supplies.

So why not go shopping for these items and store them away a month or so before hurricane season? If hurricane season passes without incident and the emergency kit goes unused, then you can use the food items before they spoil and then simply re-stock those items the following summer. What is so hard about this???

I would think that if anybody knew how to prepare for a hurricane, it would be the folks in South Texas. And I would think that Houstonians would have already learned their lesson after T.S. Allison seven years ago.

Without having to go to the store for supplies like batteries, bottled water, flashlights, nonperishable foods, medicine, etc? Being prepared is ideal, but really, how many of us are?

Things like batteries, generators, bottled water and plywood which folks in Texas are now having the nerve to complain about stores running out of them?

Wouldn't it be a better idea to maintain a stash of these kinds of things in your attic so you wouldn't have to fight lines of 1a thousand people at Home Depot whenever there's a hurricane bearing down on you?
Fuzzy, batteries have a shelf life of at least five years. Bottled water could last at least a year if not more. When these items expire after a couple of years, you simply buy new ones. What's so hard about that?

Gee, I didn't know generators had shelf lives. Duhhhhh. I'll have to check the expiration date the next time I go to buy one. Don't want a stale generator.

Good grief.

I realize that people have a hard time buying their daily necessities but if they can't afford to maintain and replenish a simple and inexpensive emergency kit like this, then maybe they ought to consider food stamps.