Plumbers Jacksonville FL - Surviving the Perfect Storm

By Billy Aldridge

With Hurricane Sandy making a beeline for the New Jersey coastline, we Floridians are glad that we managed to duck another bullet.  But you have to remember that major storms hitting the Northeast are not an everyday event.  In sunny Florida, storms are a common occurrence.  With that in mind, the last thing that any homeowner in Florida wants to do is wait until the next major deluge is underway to batten down the hatches.  Below is my take on a storm preparedness checklist.

A stands for Action Plan

While many Floridians have weathered a hurricane or two in their lives, you would be surprised how many people choose to wait until the last minute only to fly by the seat of their pants.  While this may have gotten you through some tight spots in the past, this scenario is not going to be sufficient to protect you and your loved ones if a prolonged power outage accompanies a blow.  While help inevitably comes, after a major disaster, there is no telling how long you are going to be on your own.  One of the things every family needs to do long before hurricane season begins is to have an action plan to know what to do when Mother Nature turns nasty.  While you may choose to ride out the storm in your home, you need to establish a regrouping point should you be forced to flee.  While having a cellphone is a wonderful way to communicate, this is usually one of the first things to go down in a hurricane.  So you will need to have alternative means of communicating such as a walkie talkie or handheld marine radios.

B is for Bathrooms

Bathrooms are not only a necessity, they can also be a life saver.  While most people can go without food for days or even weeks, the human body can fail in three days without water.  If a storm is severe enough, it can compromise sewage treatment plants, which means that water coming out of the taps would be considered unsafe to drink.  While many people stockpile bottled water during an emergency, this is one of the fastest commodities to become depleted should disaster strike.  One of the best things you can do to prepare for an emergency is to fill the bathtub up with water.  Not only will this supply be safe to drink, but you can also ration it out for washing and cooking purposes as well.

C = Camping Gear

If you will recall the four hurricanes that came barreling down I-95 to hit JAX in 2005, then you know that power can be cut off after a major storm for days or even weeks.  If you want to get through the worst of it without having to turn into a refugee, then you need to have a supply of camping gear available.  This should include a tent or two, depending upon how many people you hope to shelter.  You should also have a camp stove and supply of waterproof matches, a saw, an axe and no less than one hundred feet of rope at hand.  Not only will this help you campout in your backyard, which may prove more comfortable than staying in a house without air conditioning.  But it will also allow you to begin the cleanup process and secure your valuables until help arrives.

D means keep your drainage clear

Water, not wind, is the cause of the worst damage during and after a major storm.  If Hurricane Katrina was any indication, the last thing you want to do is have four feet of standing water inside your home once a storm has past.  While many of the poor souls in New Orleans live below sea level, as all too many homeowners in Jacksonville know, there are many low lying areas in town.  So when the rain is coming down in buckets, that’s the worst time to find out that you have either a partial or total blockage in your drains.  If you suspect your drains are becoming blocked, it’s best to contact a plumbing contractor to clear the blockage before a storm can flood your home.

E stands for Electricity

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that big storms cause big damage to the power grid.  When you are sitting inside your boarded up home listening to flying debris bonking off the plywood covering your windows, you know that it probably won’t be long before you are plunged into darkness.  The problem is that once the lights do go out, most people don’t realize that they need to throw the main to the off position so that when the power comes back on, the surge created won’t do damage to major appliances.  If you do have a backup generator, make sure it is well clear of the house before you start it.  There’s nothing more toxic than carbon monoxide.

F is for Food

While a supply of ice in the fridge is usually sufficient to keeping groceries from spoiling for a couple of days, you certainly don’t want to open the fridge until the lights come back on.  This means you need to have at least a two week’s supply of canned goods and packaged food on hand.  You will also need something and somewhere to prepare them.  If you don’t have a camp stove, you can always use the gas grill (outside once the storm breaks) to cook.  Therefore you need to make sure you have a full bottle of LP gas ready before the storm starts. 

G means Gutters

If you have gutters on your house, they are a natural sump for leaves, branches, loose shingles and all forms of wind whipped debris that if not cleared can cause a backup and roof leak as standing water can get under the shingles and into the house.  Therefore you need to make sure that the gutters are clear and that water can flow freely before the start of a downpour.  You should also have a number of tarps handy that you can use to patch any roof leaks that can be caused from fallen limbs and flying debris.

H stands for Hanging on until help arrives

While time seems to slow down and storms seem to last forever when you are hunkered down in the middle of one, the last thing you want to do is to start wandering around in its aftermath.  As bad as things on the home front might seem once the storm is past, there are still imminent dangers from downed power lines, broken branches and receding flood waters that are best to avoid.

Billy Aldridge is one of the Doctors of Plumbology at Aldridge and Sons Plumbing, a family owned and operated residential and commercial plumbing company in Jacksonville Florida.  To review even more helpful tips and how-to videos visit their website at http://plumbers-jacksonville-fl.com