Typically, we think of hurricane preparation as boarding up windows and running to the store to stock up on water and bread. While that is incredibly necessary for hurricane preparation, we thought we’d share some hacks to make your lives a little easier.
- Fill sandwich bags ¾ of the way with water and leave them in freezer.
- This will keep the freezer cool if electricity goes out and can double as drinking water. Remember to keep 1 gallon of water per person/animal for at least 3 days.
- Turn your washing machine into a cooler.
- Load it up with bags of ice and voilà. The washing machine is an ideal cooler because it will automatically drain any ice that melts.
- Fill a bathtub up with water and use a silicone pot cover to help seal your drain.
- The water can be used to flush toilets, clean dishes, or be purified and turned into drinking water.
- Pet owners, place pieces of sod in a kiddie pool.
- This makes a natural-looking, indoor bathroom that’s safe for your pet(s).
- Create a makeshift lantern.
- All that you need is tape, a source of light, and a water bottle. If you have a flashlight, you can tape it to the bottom of the bottle. Instead of a flashlight, you can also use a smart phone or headlamp.
- Use aluminum dish pans to keep furniture out of water.
- This only helps if flooding inside the house isn’t that high. Placing the legs of furniture in the pans may temporarily protect against water damage.
- Limit the amount of space food takes up in your refrigerator.
- Download a handy chart on what needs to be refrigerated and what doesn’t. For example, apples, bananas, pears, pineapples, tomatoes, and melons don’t need to be refrigerated.
Of course, it’s best to take additional preparations and learn how to prepare for hurricanes from sources like ready.gov or local news outlets. But we hope that through this article, you found some tips to help keep your household running in tip-top shape when the storm hits.
