Disaster Preparedness - Survival Tools and Lessons Learned From Hurricane Katrina

My family and I moved to Mandeville, Louisiana back in June of 2005, as I was heading into a career change.. Little did I know what we were about to experience just a couple months later. Mandeville sits on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, about 20 miles north east of New Orleans. In late August 2005, Hurricane Katrina was fast approaching the Mississippi/Louisiana coast, and we were totally unprepared for what was about to happen..  It reached a Category 5 level storm offshore, then hit the coast as a strong Category 4.

Neighbors of ours, who go through this every year in Louisiana (obviously, not to the level of Katrina, but have tropical storm and hurricane watches pretty regularly), let us know what they typically do to prepare for potential storms..

• The very first thing they said to do was to get reservations inland at a hotel/motel a couple hours away from the coast. This was challenging with every storm we encountered since Katrina (have to book early, or you're out of luck getting a room, unless you know someone who lives inland, which we didn't). Have a place to evacuate to..
• Next, because we were in a low lying area, we needed to get sand bags to protect our house from potential flooding. So, we sand bagged all of our door entry areas on the outside of the house.
• Next, secure or stow all loose items on your property to reduce the potential for debris damage on your home and your neighbor's home.
• Next, if you had storm shutters on your house, which we did, make sure to close the storm shutters over your windows, to protect the windows from outside penetrating damage.
• Next, if you had an extra car which you weren't using to evacuate, make sure it's protected in the garage, which we had done.

This was basically all the advice we got, before Katrina hit (because everyone was in such a hurry, we got limited information). We didn't think beyond this, and got out of town as soon as possible, a day before the storm hit.

When we got to our hotel, a day before Katrina came ashore, we learned alot more from seasoned evacuees staying at the hotel.. These folks (many of them) had emergency kits, bottled water cases, and limited food supply travelling with them in their cars.. They talked about having gas and propane powered generators for their homes, meals-ready-to-eat (MREs), hand cranked flashlights and lanterns, plenty of available cash, and a host of other ideas. We realized then how unprepared we really were.

Obviously, you'll need to make sure you have plenty of food, water and milk on hand to last you a good week, to weather out the storm and the post storm clean up and repair of roads, power lines and potential store closings.. Having plenty of ice on hand, with reusable cooler packs (the blue plastic and bag encased packs) already frozen and ready to throw in a cooler, are necessities in keeping your perishables cold.. Now, you want to look for coolers that are well insulated, that can keep things cold for about 5 days or so. Coleman has an Xtreme brand of insulated coolers that can do that (listed at right on Amazon.Com).. We bought the 100-Quart size after Katrina, and it has come in handy with other power outtages we've encountered..

Survival emergency kits are essential for surviving several days after a disaster or emergency occurrence.  These kits are loaded with survival gear designed to provide the basic essentials of surviving for several days after an event.  These kits include (vary from kit to kit):  radios, backpacks, ponchos, reflective sleeping bags, multi-tool knifes, whistles, masks, first aid kits, hygiene kits (toothbrushes, toothpaste, comb, washcloths, tissues, wet naps, shampoo, etc.), candles, food bars, body warmers, toilet paper, water pouches, pencils, sewing kits, and emergency guides.  These kits really amazed me with what they have inside them.  

Hand cranked flashlights and lanterns are essential during an extended power outage situation. They provide a continuous source of light, without the need for batteries or electricity. I highly recommend these for folks anywhere to have handy in case of an extended power outage. This came highly recommended by those seasoned evacuees, who've been there, done that. So, we have both a hand cranked flashlight and a hand cranked lantern in our storm supply bin. The hand cranked lantern we have provides a great source of light, which lights up an entire room and lasts for about an hour between cranks. I highly (highly) recommend a hand cranked lantern.

Portable power generators are a common commodity for residents in the Gulf states.  These generators allow you to be able to plug in appliances (such as refrigerators and air conditioning units), during power outages.  This equipment is critical to maintaining a functioning household, like keeping food from spoiling and keeping air cool, during hot summer days and nights..  And believe me, after Hurricane Katrina, we didn't have power for 10 days (and we were lucky compared to other neighborhoods around us) and it was hotter than hell.  

MREs were pretty foreign to us, outside of knowing the military used these during wartime. However, many folks living where we were had MREs stocked up, in case of emergency. So, after Hurricane Katrina, we stocked up on MREs, in case the inexplicable happened again.. These MREs are essential for short term survival, providing quality meals, with a surprising variety of choices, with good caloric value, and a flameless ration heater that heats up the food pack.  Typically, MREs last about 3 years in proper climate storage.  So, don't overbuy given the limited shelf life of these items.