Is the Big One on the Way?

Is the big one on it's way? You know, the big hurricane that will wipe out at least a major swath of Florida? You'd think so, because the usual media-hyped-up-train wreck has jumped on the hurricane bandwagon for 2007, now that Hurricane Dean has been named. I like the name Dean - it was my Grandpa Burns' name. He was a nice guy.

It may be on the way for Florida, it might not. As we saw with previous hurricanes, like Charley, things change and they can change fast (didn't do that hard right at Tampa - but instead into Port Charlotte).

I like to see what the meteorologists see and I think I have my own abilities to make some minor analysis of situations involving hurricanes. I go to Hurricane City all the time during hurricane season to see what the other weather-philes think, view the model links, and have a real-time ability to assess the changing weather scenarios that could affect us.

For some reason, my own family never seems to think much of getting really prepped for hurricane season. My dad is a retired engineer with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and he was in charge of flood control for south Florida for a long time - even he doesn't get excited about it all - says we live on a bluff and that we don't need to go anywhere (we live very close to the St. Johns River). But he counts on us women to be sure we have enough food and water to live on.

I just hope everyone is always prepared and keeps an eye on what's going on. Don't be vulnerable to the Boy Who Cried Wolf syndrome.

Disaster Planning Time is NOW!

Living in Florida, we are ALWAYS faced with planning for disasters. TODAY there is a large tropical depression brewing in the Atlantic Ocean that might have our name on it. Whether it is hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, terrorism, or a just a big storm, it is crucial to keep our home financial, computer, and business data safe. There are great resources online to help preserve this crucial data.

AxcessPoints is a secure online disaster planning tool full of resources that help individuals and families better organize critical personal, medical and financial information and minimize the impact of a natural disaster. They provide an individualized one-of-a-kind Emergency Toolkit, an interactive calculator that helps families create a comprehensive emergency preparedness kit. The Toolkit calculates the right level of supplies and other necessary items by factoring in age, gender, disabilities and animals, including pets or other animals.

The information is highly secure, and users can choose to share sections from their plan with other family members or trusted advisers. I really like that you have 30 days to try it for free - they don't make you give them a credit card - it is really a free trial. Hurricane season seems like a great time to start with this - so I have signed up to try it - consider doing it for yourself. We have a lot more hurricane season to go!

Hurricane Season - what to do for the kids......

Hey it's that time again, Hurricane Season in dear ole' Florida. As always, with good cause, they say to be prepared, be ready! We can vouch for that as survivors of the messed-up 2004 season of hurricane love.....4 storms criss-crossing the state with two going right over our prior abode in Brooksville, FL. I can't say enough about having proper, non-electronic kid entertainment ideas on the ready. Given our kids' ages at the time, coloring books and other art gear were used daily. Books, the radio and a flashlight ranked high on entertainment value, not to mention "camping out". That is sleeping on the floor or wherever at some relative's house until the electricity was restored at our home (last count: two weeks each outage). Yep, that part is not fun for the adults! I'm sure many of the adults reading would assure me that a good stash of liquor/beer/wine is mandatory for post-electricity outage fun! Your choice!