A hurricane is coming
First, I didn’t take a couple of days off of writing. I wrote both days, I just didn’t publish. Today is about something completely different though. Today is about Dorian.
I bought a house in 2003. A small place in a nice neighbourhood. I moved in with my then-girlfriend in August. On September 29th of that year, we got hit by Hurrican Juan. It knocked the city of Halifax on its ass. I was without power for close to a week. The first two days my street was impassable due to fallen trees.
Dorian looks a lot like Juan, at least in terms of the impact it might have on Halifax.
I am fairly confident that I will lose power.
Water should be fine. Halifax is on gravity flow, so our water keeps flowing even if we don’t have power, at least for places like mine (I live in a second-story flat these days, not a giant building). However, my girlfriend does live in a building and they don’t have water if the power dies, so I’m going to make sure she’s set up with water as best I can.
I have a couple of carboys that I can drop at her place, fill up with water. That plus a decent-sized food-grade plastic bucket. I’m talking something that holds thirty litres or so. That should keep her in decent shape for a few days.
I’m moving all of my freezer stuff into a chest freezer. I’ve stocked it with water bottles for heat mass. It should retain below-freezing temperatures for at least a week provided I don’t open it much and I wrap it in blankets (which I am definitely going to do).
All portable electronics will be charged, and I have lots and lots of batteries. I know electronics aren’t exactly the most important thing in the world, but it’s nice to be able to read a book or watch a crappy show (my main device is my laptop, the battery lasts a long time). Not essential, but if the power is out and the roads are blocked there isn’t a lot you can do.
Of course, I use a cell phone exclusively, like everyone else, these days. When Juan hit I felt the loss of my landline quite heavily, the cell phone was useful, but not great.
The gas tank in my car is full and I plan to make sure it stays that way. Worst case, it can be used as a battery charger for most of my devices. I have inverters. Not a cheap generator, but it works.
It’s amazing how much I already have in place. I have some propane, a camp stove, an alcohol stove, everything I could need to maintain a pretty comfortable lifestyle even if the power doesn’t come back on.
Then there’s the thing that is giving me stress. I own a sailboat. It’s sitting in the water at the Armadale yacht club. I love my boat and I don’t want anything to hurt her. She’s sheltered, but not completely. I will be battening down the hatches, removing the jib, putting on a lot more lines and bumpers. That’s all I can really do.
There are other bits of prep, but it’s mostly making sure I can weather the storm in relative safety.