The CDC recommended schools close if a student tested positive for the H1N1 flu aka Swine Flu.

Schools closed. Interestingly, I don't know of a single for profit daycare that closed. And I reallly don't think that every infected student had a SAHM.

Not a single US citizen had died from the flu, and it appeared to be a relatively mild strain. The media switched sides and started trumpeting the 36,000 people die from regular flu every year talking point.

The CDC then clarified that the schools and daycares should close for TWO WEEKS.

The schools delayed their re-opening dates until the end of May.

A Texan died from H1N1.

The CDC changed their minds, and decided that schools shouldn't close, after all.

Schools are reopening tomorrow.

Does anyone in Washington (or Atlanta) have their act together?

Labels: health, In The News, Natural Disasters

The government recommends storing 3 days of water, more if you live in a disaster prone area. As I noted before, the official pandemic flu website recommends 2 weeks worth of water or even more. Certainly, being prepared for an emergency (water main breaks, power outages at the plant, etc.) is a good idea.

Practically, though, the idea is a little overwhelming. The experts recommend 1 gallon per person per day as a rule of thumb. My family? That's 126 gallons! Where do you get it, and where do put it?

A 3 day supply of water is more manageable, and a good place to start if you are truly overwhelmed. You can add to your stock little by little.

• You can buy gallon bottles of water, refill from spigots at the markets, and so on, storing in a cool place (coat closet? Pantry floor? ) Any food safe waterproof container can be used to store tap water for an emergency - soda bottles, milk jugs, and so on. Don't leave them where they will get too warm or in direct sun, because the plastic can leach chemicals into the water (although, if your choice is life threatening dehydration or possible ingestion of BPA's, pass the plastic!)

• If you have advance warning that a natural disaster is going to strike, you can fill your bathtubs and washing machine (if you have a top loader!)
  

• A regular size bathtub will hold 40-50 gallons, as will a top loader (I think mine holds about 40 gallons. I vaguely remember measuring it at some point and coming to that conclusion).
  
• A jacuzzi tub can hold up to 100 gallons. (Info shamelessly ripped from the Web of Lies, aka, the Internet, including this IL county government document.)
  
• And, of course, your hot water heater holds water (unless you have a point of use system installed.)
  
• Make sure you boil or disinfect it before drinking - people wash their rear ends in that tub!
  

• If you are planning to use this option, make sure you test it out! Aaron Newton found out that his bathtub plugs leak - emptying overnight - during a test run of off grid living. Also, be aware that if a sudden water emergency happens, like a water main breaks, you won't have enough warning to fill your tub.

• You can also fill other containers, like pitchers, pots, bowls, and coffee pots.

• Disinfect water by adding 8-10 drops of plain chlorine bleach per gallon, and letting it sit for 30 minutes.

You can use natural water sources with the right water purifier, like Berkey Water Purifier They're pricey, but you can pour scummy river water into it and get safe, fresh drinking water. We were actually planning to get one until the transmission on our van used up our extra tax refund.

From the Berkey website:

The Berkey™ Filter element had extensive testing at State & EPA accredited laboratories and far exceed EPA & ANSI/NSF (Std. 53) protocol. The Black Berkey elements have been Tested by the University of Phoenix. Spectrum Labs and the Department of Toxicology and Environmental Science Louisiana University.

Because the versatile Black Berkey^® purification elements fit most other manufacturers gravity filters, off brand gravity filtration systems can be upgraded. This replacement filter vastly improves other brands housings ability to remove unwanted water contaminates.

(Although if you buy from the Amazon link, you'll help Mama's Old Age Fund! wink wink)

We considered the Berkey after Hurricane Ike. We were told not to drink the water. But, the land was flooded! Water, water, every where, but not a drop to drink... Also, the Berkey doesn't use electricity.

Other things to consider:

• If the water isn't running, you won't be able to do laundry. Unless your handy husband can whip up a James washer real quick like! (Uses 8 gallons of water for washing, another 8 gallons for rinsing.) If you use cloth diapers, rags instead of paper towels, etc., you will not be able to do the wash. Plan to use disposables.
  

• When planning your food supply, take water usage into account. Rice uses less water to cook than pasta, for example. Kidney beans use more water to prepare than lentils do. You'll need water to reconstitute powdered milk or drink mixes.

• Alternately, your food supply can provide water. Green beans are canned in juice that can be used to drink or prepare food; pineapple or fruits contain natural juices; or even buy bottles and cans of fruit juices. Stick with 100% fruit juice, if you go that route. The vitamins, especially vitamin C, will boost your immune system. Caffeinated sodas or juice with high fructose corn syrup can make you thirsty and are bad for teeth that may not be getting brushed on a normal schedule. In my experience, it's also best to avoid vegetable juices (tomato, V8) because they are very salty and will increase thirst.

• You will not be able to brush your teeth, wash your hands, or shower with running water. Have a dishpan or basin available for "bird baths"; pour water into a bowl to wash hands the old fashioned way.
  

• You will have to do dishes by hand, but your dishwasher still makes a great drying rack! Use the old fashioned method of filling the sink with just enough hot soapy water, washing, draining the soapy water, filling with rinse water, and then dipping and rinsing.
  

• Have a potty plan! Set aside additional water (doesn't need to be drinkable) to flush the toilet, or consider a compost toilet. Good hygiene is critical if your family becomes ill, and planning ahead will be critical to successfully keeping germs at bay without running water. But, also remember in an emergency that the toilet does not need to be flushed every time someone makes a "number one". You could always use a bucket with a lid as a "chamber pot", but I would imagine that would smell and be hard to clean. (Just between you and me? I think a compost toilet is kind of cool but husband dear would have a heart attack and die if he thought I was actually serious about making one and using it. I guess after 7 kids I'm just used to poop, now. He won't do cloth diapers, either.)
  

• The true survivalist can install a rainwater catch sytem, basically to hold runoff from your houses downspouts. The basics are here, but really, it's not rocket science. Large barrel, waterproof and foodsafe, to hold water. Hole in to for water to enter. Net or filter to keep out debris and mosquitos. Hole and tap in bottom to get water out. Leave enough room under tap to put a container. Some systems have a roof runoff container that will discard the first few gallons of runoff because it's nasty - bird poop and shingle muck. Do NOT drink roof runoff unless it's been purified and filtered! You can water your garden, flush toilets, and so on with it, though.

Random Flu tip: Teach your children NOT to cover their mouth when they cough, but rather, to cough into their elbows. A child who coughs and snots on their hands, and then touches every surface in the house, might as well have just coughed into the air.

Random Disaster tip: Plan ahead for some little treats to "smooth the bumps". Whether it's comforting junk food that you don't usually buy (cookies, pop tarts, lollipops) or little activities (new puzzles, new box of crayons, bottle of bubbles) that you pull out to combat cabin fever, it's the little things that can make things better or tolerable.

What are your tips for storing water?

**Please note: No, I have not lost my ever-lovin' mind. I am not planning to fashion a homemade washing machine out of scrap lumber in order to do laundry during a swine flu meltdown. Although I was tempted to do the wash in the bathtub when the washer broke. I'm simply presenting tips and techniques that I've come across for your information. Take what works for your family, and leave the rest!

*** I do have gallons of bottled water stored, and I really would fill the bathtubs and washer, though. And I ran to the store today and bought some extra bottles of bleach, paper towels, and TP just in case.

Labels: health, Ike, Natural Disasters, Need to Know, preparedness

The first US death from the Swine Flu happened yesterday at a Houston hospital. A family traveled from Mexico through Brownsville to get medical care for their almost 2 year old son, but he didn't make it in time.

It's hard to know what to do about this. On the one hand are commentators and officials who say it's not an epidemic yet, people die from the flu all the time. Don't worry. On the other hand, Japan has fever sensors at the airport and Egypt is slaughtering all of their pigs in an attempt to prevent an outbreak.

Janet Napolitano claims that there is no reason to close the borders, but really, there is no WAY to close the border with Mexico, even if we wanted to. Obama is warning that schools may have to close.

The government has set up a website, www.pandemicflu.gov, which has planning and prep tips. The usuals are there - wash your hands, use waterless sanitzer, and so on. And then they throw in this apocalyptic stunner: Lay in a 2 week supply of food and water.

A friend has told me that Corpus Christi drugstores are already cleaned out of medicines, and the shelves are bare.

If an epidemic occurs, it will devastate the economy. Schools will close, as will daycares. Parents will have to stay home with their children - and stay away from work. In Mexico, restaurants aren't allowed to serve customers, and can sell take-out only.

What do I think? I'm not predicting the end of the world, however, prudence is a virtue. It is better to be overprepared than to be caught short, especially if you have children.

A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge,
but the simple keep going and suffer for it Proverbs 22:3

But don't go nuts and lose your mind over it.

A simple man believes anything,
but a prudent man gives thought to his steps. Proverbs 14:15

Some precautions:
Wash your hands often with soap.

Use waterless hand sanitzer, and keep it handy in your purse. (My dollar store stocks all kinds of scents and varieties.)

Stay home if you feel sick, and keep the kids home if they are sick.

Consider using masks (remember the SARS scare?)

Store 2 weeks of food and water. (At least 1 gal. per person per day; factor in water needed for cooking and extra washing for sick people). (More on this later.)

My tips on planning a 30 day food supply (non-perishables only)

Don't forget several week's worth of TP! If you get diarrhea, you'll need extra. And paper towels are your friend when keeping germs at bay (especially if you are trying to conserve water!) If there is no water available, you will not be able to do laundry. You might want a backup of disposables if you cloth diaper (and remember that diarrhea symptom? Yeah, disposables!)

If an outbreak hits, the grocery stores, transportation industry, and even food manufacturers will probably be short handed or may even have to close. What I missed most during Ike: eggs. They're called for in a lot of recipes and baked goods!

Have a supply of prescription drugs and over the counter flu relief. Don't forget soap and Pedialyte! Vomiting has been reported with this flu, so get the clear pedialyte. Flavor it with lemonade powder if your kids hate the clear stuff. Orange pedialyte is really hard to get out of carpets - ask me how I know!

In the past, Emetrol has been a godsend. Walmart sells a generic for around $2.

If an outbreak happens in your town, these are your new best friends. Stock up accordingly.


Bleach. Buy plain (not the special scented kinds) so you can purify water if needed.

Lysol


Waterless (alcohol based) hand sanitizer

You may want to rethink the disinfecting wipes. Studies have shown they spread more germs than they kill.

Labels: health, In The News, Natural Disasters, preparedness

Some rambling thoughts that have been tumbling around my mind lately...

We have electricity, air conditioning, internet, and cable. In so many ways, our lives are back to normal. My sister is staying with us for a while until she gets electricity back.

And then... you'll be driving down the street and pass a gas station, the canopy twisted and upside down.

You'll be cruising, and slam on your brakes when you realize the light at this intersection is dark.

You'll go to the store, and there are no fresh vegetables, frozen foods, eggs, or bread.

Many gas stations have gas, but not the capacity to pump it. There was a shortage last week - no gas to fill up the tanks in the gas stations that were open; no way to pump gas at the gas stations that had fuel.

We live in the lucky end of the city.

Houston is in store for an economic meltdown. Many, many stores are still shuttered, a week later. Many others are on shortened hours, closing at 6 pm instead of 10 pm. Thousands of hourly workers - the type most likely to live paycheck to paycheck -have missed at least a week of work.

Office Depot is trying to help businesses, offering free copies, free faxes, free internet service in store, and free cell phone charging. Walgreens also is offering cell phone charging. I went down on Saturday to get some copies made - and while Office Depot was opened, Barnes and Noble, PetsMart, Linens N Things, and Subway were all closed. No sales = no pay for workers.

The schools are closed, and my school district won't open until Wednesday, 10 days post Ike. Daycares and preschools are closed. How many parents have a job in a business that is open, but can't leave their children home alone? How many more are used to leaving their preteens and teens, but are wary of leaving them now that there is no power?

How many man-hours have been lost?

Meanwhile, FEMA is not the joke it was during Katrina, but still very much a bureaucracy. In order to get food or ice, one must register. The only way to register is online or by phone. Most people who need assistance have no electricity. Ummm... hello?

Many more have unlivable homes and are given vouchers for hotel rooms. The qualifying hotels are booked. FEMA tells these residents they must relocate to another city - except they have jobs to go to here. They need to work to get back on their feet, but need a place to live. FEMA is unable to provide trailers, RV's, generators, or any other temporary forms of housing.

Between the Wall Street meltdown and the coming city's meltdown... I'm plantin' a garden! A little boot-strapping always makes me feel better.

Oh, and it turns out we do have some water damage - seeping up through the foundation and buckling our baseboards. Thanks goodness we're renters on this one!

Labels: Ike, In The News, Natural Disasters

Today's Works for Me Wednesday comes to mind in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike.

If you have a gas stove, you can still cook when the electricity goes out. Use a match to light the burner, since the automatic ignition won't work.

This came in handy when we heard that everyone needed to boil their tapwater!

For more Works for Me Wednesday tips, check out Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer!

Labels: cooking, Ike, Natural Disasters, Works For Me Wednesday

Hurricane Ike Update!
Hello, mah peeps! Thanks for all of the concern, comments, and emails. We are safe, happy, and healthy.

Well, we survived Ike! The storm rolled in late Friday night. Husband dear had Thursday afternoon and Friday off, which was great because we only have one car. I was able to get to the store and lay in some extra supplies (we had our 3 days' worth, but I'm a worry wart). We also cleaned out the garage so we could park our van inside, and cleaned out the van in case we needed to leave.

I couldn't find any duct tape for the windows, so I went to Dollar Tree and picked up several clear plastic dropcloths. I saw some battery powered fans, and bought several.

The power went out about 3 am Saturday morning. The rain stopped around 2 pm Saturday afternoon. We checked in with the neighbors, and I gave a couple of the fans away to one who is 7 months pregnant.

Fortunately, we didn't lose water pressure at all; our water was safe. I had hot coffee on Saturday morning (boiled in a saucepan, but hey, it was still good! We have a gas stove, so we were able to cook if we used a match to light the burner.)

We decided to leave Saturday evening, and stay with some friends who live north of Waco. The grand plan was to go visit my parents in Denver for the week. 95 degrees in Houston + 99% humidity + no A/C = get out of town if you can.

Sunday morning, I called my neighbor and our neighborhood has power! Our development is very new, and our power lines are buried. We have internets, people! Thus, this post.

My sister and her family are staying with us. They're neighborhood is older, and full of huge trees. She might not have power for a couple of weeks.

We lost some fence in the backyard. Mr P is prepared to use his Jedi skills to defend the homestead from looters.



Our Japanese Maple is leaning a bit.


There's a dent in the roof, but no shingles missing. That's all the damage!

A miracle in my backyard - I can't believe this survived the storm.


Lost some trees in the neighborhood. Lisa A., your house is PERFECT! No damage at all. The neighbors grabbed your patio furniture and basketball hoop.

Since we decided to leave, we drove over to my sister's to check on them and give them some of our bottled water.

As we drove north, we saw some downed trees.



A row of houses lost their fences.



Lots of stoplights were dangling. None were working. Most people remembered how to drive and remembered their manners - we made better time to than usual!


Some businesses lost facades and a couple of roofs caved in.



Utility poles were down at the mall.


My sister's house.



As we left town, there were two blocks near Cypress that had power, including two gas stations. Let's just say it was insane!

Driving north, whole towns were without power as far as 100 miles outside of Houston. I later found out a major transmission line from New Mexico was down.

I was glad I went to bank on Friday and got cash - and made the teller give me small bills! We thank the Lord that this month, we had breathing room (we tend to be a paycheck to paycheck family.) I had money available so I could get plenty of cold hard cash.


Safe and sound.

We passed several FEMA trucks loaded with supplies, and a few backhoes making their way into town last night as we returned. What an amazing country we live in! Sunday morning, I was at my friend's house and went for donuts and a gallon of milk. We decided to leave, got in our car, and went. We didn't ask anybody. We didn't pay $10 a gallon for gas, thanks to price gouging legislation and enforcement. We didn't have to bribe any officials to get through checkpoints. America is a wonderful place!

We lost all of the food in our freezer and fridge. I only had a little drink sized cooler, but we stopped at a grocery store in College Station and I bought a ham and a block of cheese. I also laid in a supply of fresh fruit and 7 loaves of bread, so I'd have some to pass out to the neighbors if they need it.

Husband dear ran to Kroger this morning and they have milk! No poultry or eggs, though, and they have guards standing at the doors letting only a certain amount of people in at a time.

Labels: Family Life, Ike, Natural Disasters

We've decided to stay and ride out the storm, and if the power is out for an extended time after the storm we're going to head up to Denver. This way we can tape over any windows that get broken and so on.

The eye of the storm is 50 miles wide, and should take 4-5 hours to pass. It's not raining yet but it is definitely windy!

Labels: Ike, Natural Disasters

It hasn't started raining yet.

From the Wunderground blog:

I expect hurricane force winds of 74 mph will penetrate about 110 miles inland, near the cities of Huntsville and Livingston to the north of Galveston, and not quite reaching Lufkin. We can expect Ike to cause the largest and longest-lived power outage in Texas history, with power knocked out along a 200-mile wide swath in eastern Texas and extreme western Louisiana extending 300 miles inland to I-20. Dallas will be at the fringe of the region of widespread power outages, and should not suffer major power failures.

We are thinking of leaving. If we do, now is the time! My main worry is being without power for weeks on end. I don't know if I'm being prudent, or making a mountain out of a molehill.

We don't have anywhere to go yet... decisions, decisions.

Labels: Ike, Natural Disasters

We got the garage cleaned out enough to park the van inside - a huge relief!

Ike is a category 2 storm, but it's huge. They are predicting a 25-30 ft. storm surge for ; the previous Texas record was 22 feet during Hurricane Carla in 1961.

Houston should expect 75-80 mph winds for about 8 hours, starting at midnight tonight. It's the duration of the winds that is dangerous.

According to the Dr. Jeff's blog on Wunderground:

Hurricane Ike is closing in on Texas, and stands poised to become one of the most damaging hurricanes of all time. Despite Ike's rated Category 2 strength, the hurricane is much larger and more powerful than Category 5 Katrina or Category 5 Rita. The storm surge from Ike could rival Katrina's, inundating a 200-mile stretch of coast from Galveston to Cameron, Louisiana with waters over 15 feet high. This massive storm surge is due to the exceptional size of Ike.

Last night I made unexpected run up north, but didn't refill the gas tank when getting home. That was a mistake! I had to try 4 gas stations before I found one with fuel to sell, and it's up 30 cents since yesterday -$3.59 a gallon.

People are boarding up windows in our neighborhood, and husband dear thought perhaps we should get some duct tape to keep glass from flying if a window breaks. Being the dutiful wife I am *snort*, I set out.

Home Depot was closed at noon. Lowe's next door was a madhouse. I didn't even try to get in - there were at least 100 people lined up outside waiting for their turn to get in. I headed over to Dollar Tree, which was remarkably calm. I got some plastic dropcloths there, in case our windows break we can at least cover the hole. We have nails and packing tape, so that will have to do!

We are fairly well prepared with food and water. As I said before, the real story will be next week when we find out if there's going to be a disaster with the power coming back on. We'll be filling our bathtubs tonight, and I'm going to fill the washing machine with water so we can flush the toilets. My big endeavor is to get all of the laundry washed and put away, in case we leave next week!

Skies are cloudy and gray, but not raining yet. It's starting to get windy, though.

Labels: Ike, Natural Disasters