First Storm

We've got the first (potential) tropical storm headed for the central Gulf coast, so I've started checking the National Hurricane Center web site each morning to get into that habit again. Edward ran our generator, which is working fine, and he got all the trees properly trimmed this spring. He's also been keeping our tanks full and keeping enough fuel stored to run everything we need should the power go out for days.

For my part I've restocked the bottled water, batteries and nonperishable food supplies we need -- it's not much now that it's just the two of us. I also checked the first-aid kit to make sure that's well-stocked, but I generally keep it that way year-round. We also keep the house prepared for storm trouble all year, so if/when a bad one heads our way all we basically do is move the grill and the porch plants into the garage and rearrange the vehicles to protect them and whatever side of the house is facing the wind.

Some of our neighbors and friends used to think we went a little overboard with our hurricane prep every year, at least until Irma came and wrecked the neighborhood. Back then we were one of the few households with running water, power to our fridge and extra gas for the generator and vehicles, and of course we shared what we could. It's funny how much it means to be able to take a hot shower so you can be clean when you go to work -- one lady who used our guest bathroom after Irma still thanks us for letting her and her son take showers here. :) Anyway, after that storm the same folks started asking us for advice and help with getting things ready, and now they're also much better prepared.