It is Hurricane Season Again

Rebecca Dutton
Home After a Stroke

October 5, 2015

September was beautiful but my thoughts go to 2011 and 2012 when New Jersey was hit by Hurricanes Irene and Sandy.  Here is my consolidated list of bolded To-Do items just in case.

Shop.  Put gas in my car and get cash because gas pumps and ATM machines do not work without electricity.  I have three flashlights and a lantern, but never remember how old the batteries are.  Buy seven D batteries before they all gone.  I cannot walk in the dark so if my flashlight batteries die I have to crawl.  Aiming a flashlight at a task is difficult so I need a lantern.

Buy ice.  I can put food in a cooler when the electricity goes out.  Buy bottled water, peanut butter, bread, cereal, and milk.  Buy canned food.  I can use an Oxo Goodgrips can opener when the electricity goes out.  My sound hand squeezes the two handles to lock them shut on the can, turns the crank, and pushes the grey button to release the can opener.  My hemiplegic hand lightly holds the closed handles to keep the can from sliding around.  The magnet in the can opener lifts the lid.

Prep Home.  Charge my cell phone.  Charge my iPod so I will have a radio to get the news.  Put new batteries in flashlights and lantern.  Fill empty containers with water and place them in my bathtub so I can flush my toilet in case the water is cut off.  Run the dishwasher and do laundry while I still have electricity.  Put garbage cans in the shed so the wind will not blow them away.

If I Need to Evacuate.  Pack a rolling suitcase with medicine, soap, a small towel, clothes, toothpaste, and toothbrush.  Put my flash drive, checkbook, safety deposit box key, and contact information for my home owners insurance in my purse.  Pack stamps, return labels, envelopes, and business addresses so I can pay bills by mail (no Internet).  Bring a blanket to the shelter.  A blanket takes up half my suitcase so pack carefully.  I can carry a pillow under my hemiplegic arm, but a blanket that keeps sliding is too much for this arm to handle.

Put adapted equipment that will be hard to replace in trunk of my car.  Pack the camera I use for this blog which I can operate one-handed, my Saebo splints, an Asus notebook that is small enough for me to handle during Power Point presentations, and rain and winter coats I can zip.  My friends do not have a handicapped bathroom so put my folding shower stool in a garment bag.  Find a better way to transport software CDs (e.g. Word) that I cannot afford to replace if I lose my computer.

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It is Hurricane Season Again

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Home After a Stroke