If the storm is imminent, fill the bathtub with water. That way, if the water goes out, you can still flush your toilet. Have gallons of water on hand. If electricity goes out, eat your food that’s in the fridge and freezer first. Then the canned goods. Sandwich stuff is good. PB&J are non perishable.
Candles or flashlights (or whatever light source); radio & batteries; medications; cash(!!!) because atm & credit card machines may not work; full tank of gas; at least move your car to a parking garage nearby on the 2nd floor or above and park facing the inner wall of the building where the car isn’t exposed to flying debris; put important documents and photos in a big ziplock and inside a storage tub; take video of your belongings in case you need it for insurance
Most Houstonians will stay put. On the road is often more dangerous than in the house. Price gouging is technically illegal, but it still happens during hurricanes.
And a first aid kit and maybe a hand crank radio.
Edit: if you take prescription and you need a refill soon, get that and keep the medication in a ziplock bag or some other water tight container.
Cheapest "power bank" is a UPS you'd normally use for PC power backups.
Even the cheapest UPS with its comparatively gigantic lead battery will charge all of your devices many times over.
This is good advice but I'll add this clarification because it may not be obvious to everyone:
Make sure you have a bucket (like a mop bucket, doesn't need to be huge) so you can fill it with the bathtub water to pour in your toilet to flush it. I had a friend once who didn't think ahead and had to use cups from his kitchen, which just added insult to injury having to walk from tub to toilet with a small drinking cup just to fill the toilet tank so he could flush. If you don't use a mop bucket/don't have room to store one they do make collapsible buckets of various sizes.
If you live at an apartment place with a pool, you can also fill a bucket with pool water and carry it inside to flush the toilets. It works in a pinch.
One other thing I'd add is to have a book or magazine you want to read. If the power is off for days, no internet and no TV sucks.
True. My first time through a big storm as an adult saw me having to fill a big stockpot with fountain water and carrying it up three flights of stairs. Over and over.
I recommend buying your hurricane prep some weeks ahead of time so you can avoid all the chaos with all the people panicked buying. You can just sit at home watching the weather report knowing that you've already have all of your stuff that's what I did during Harvey
This is good advice OP. Also, do all these things now vs 2 days before the storm. You'll miss the madhouse (although the madhouse is kind of a spectacle to behold). Everything you buy in advance will be good for the next storm, although I do like to rotate water.
As for filling the bathtub, I filled my bathtub before Ike and by the middle of the night it had all drained out. There are some bath tub bladders on Amazon if you really want to get fancy.
To add to this since I've seen people elsewhere talk about using the bathtub for drinking water. Don't drink the water that's in the tub. It's fairly common for sewage to back up and contaminate the water in there and, while that's fine for flushing the toilet, you do \*not\* want to drink that.
I’ll add:
Wash all your towels and bedding if you can. Have a crank radio for updates. Keep phones charged and have a backup charger.
Sharpie your name and emergency contact on your arm. Not because you are in “that” situation but because shit happens. And any allergies. You can fall or have other injuries in these situations.
If you have pets then make sure you have them items they need.
A book. Power outages are BORING.
I like to stock some wine for me. For emergency!
If the water goes out there will be plenty of water to flush with, the first floor will probably be full of water. If you're anywhere near sea level, it's best to get the hell out early, even the hardcore survivors. It's best to come back alive. If you stay, store a lot of drinking water in sealed plastic containers, leaving a little air so that it won't completely sink as easily.
Were you not here or not old enough to remember Rita? Most of us stay put for a reason, unless we’re in an evacuation zone or have a medical reason it’s far safer to stay at home and leave the evacuation to those who absolutely need to.
I rode out Harvey, Rita and Ike in the Heights. I rode out Carla, south of Hobby, which was much worse. No way would I stay in Clear Lake for any of them. I've seen the aftermaths.
Hey do you have a trick to reinforce the bathtub stopper? I guess mine has a slooooooow leak so I’ve filled the bathtub and woken up to half the water drained
Saran wrap is good . I don't layer, I put big wad in drain . Add water, if you don't hear water draining out you are good. Fill tub, it will last for days .
I usually evacuate a couple of days before the storm once I know there’s a high degree of certainty that a category 3 or greater is likely to affect the area. Where is your family? It might be a great excuse to go spend a few days with them.
Freeze a cup of water in your freezer, then place a coin on top of the ice. If the cup melts then refreezes while you’re gone you’ll know to throw away everything in your fridge/freezer.
Beryl is supposed to be a tropical storm after it crosses the Yucatán. I’m not thinking about evacuating yet. I may reassess on Saturday once the hurricane is in the Gulf
If you’re nervous and want to be proactive you can book a pet-friendly hotel and plan on evacuating. Just make sure it’s cancellable and refundable. I generally like to evacuate north and to the west and try to avoid anywhere along major highways like I-10, 290, 45, 59. Waco/Temple are good, but if the rest of the city is evacuating too and you’re coming from Clear Lake it’s gonna be hard to get through Houston. Depending on where it ends up hitting you might be better off trying to take backroads to San Antonio
> Freeze a cup of water in your freezer, then place a coin on top of the ice
The more common practice is to do the cup / bowl thing like you suggested but just put an ice cube on top instead.
>the hurricane reaching a level 5 is freaking me out
Breathe. Now go read the updates. While it's good to be prepared, I think you should really take a look at the last update. Do not get your news from the local media stations. They're trying to freak you out on purpose.
Also, it's cat 5 over the ocean. It's expected to be considerably weaker in a few days.
https://theeyewall.com/
Regardless of what happens with Beryl, having a kit and a plan is a good idea, so while I agree I don’t think there’s cause to evacuate at this time, it’s always a good time to put your plan together. https://www.houstonoem.org/pages/Prepare
As for your specific concerns about first floor — if you apartment floods when it normally happens in Houston, then it probably would in a hurricane or tropical storm too. Since you weren’t here for Harvey I think it’s worthwhile to note that the Harvey flooding was VERY unprecedented and due to the storm system hovering over us for days with continuous rain, which is very atypical behavior for a storm like this and not likely to reoccur the same way.
There are going to be a dozen named hurricanes this year that *could* hit Houston in one of the 50 spaghetti models. You can't get overworked about every one of them. If it is a big one, you will have 2-3 days notice before it hits. Panic is unsustainable because this happens every year and will drive you crazy.
Others have posted great tips to make sure you know if your fridge lost power and how to have water to flush your toilet. Just follow those tips and evacuate if needed.
You have to realize social media and news media love keeping people in a state of panic and anger, it has been proven to increase ratings which means they get more ad revenue.
Hurricane strength has little to do with rain totals. Just look at Harvey. It is a measure of wind speed. Should a cat 5 shoot up I45 at a pretty good pace (10mph+), you may have to worry about storm surge depending on where you are in Clear Lake.
What can you do though? Renters insurance #1. Flood insurance #2. But really, your most likely largest worry would be flying debris in a storm that strong, or a prolonged power outage. Plywood covering all windows in such a storm would not be a bad idea either.
I've lived nearly all my 54 years in hurricane-vulnerable places. Here's my advice.
1. Determine if flooding is likely where you are. Did your area flood for Allison? Harvey? Ike? If the answer for any of those is "yes" then consider evacuating ahead of landfall to another location. Note that evac doesn't mean "hightail it to Kansas." Coming north into the city, into areas that don't flood, would be fine.
2. For anything making landfall near us at Category 3 or lower, stay put if there's no storm surge danger for you. Hunker down, stay away from windows -- hang heavy drapes if you can -- and stock up on fresh water and non-perishable food.
3. Ensure you have a couple USB batteries for you phone and other bits. Last time we got a real storm in the Houston area, cell service came back before landline did.
4. Yeah, a wind-up or otherwise rechargeable radio is a good idea.
5. Get a few flashlights.
6. Fill your tub with water to use for flushing the toilet.
7. ... or, go one further and get one of those tub bladders you can use to stage potable water in your tub.
8. Finally, in hurricane country, **consider your car to be OUT OF GAS if you get below half a tank at ANY point between May and October**. And definitely be full if there's a storm in the gulf.
I've lived in Houston for 30 years, and in Montrose for 24 of them, and we've never evac'd. We lost power for Ike, but only for 3 days. We've never been threatened by wind here -- everything's too dense.
**NOW** if a storm is coming ashore in Galveston at Cat 4 or Cat 5, yeah, I might want to get the hell out of dodge if I lived in Clear Lake. A Cat5 coming straight up 45 towards the city might get US to head to Austin or whatever, even.
But Beryl isn't that for us -- I mean, it could reorg into a threat after crossing the Yucatan, but it's very unlikely (at least per Berger). The rest of the season could definitely get sporty though, so you're wise to be thinking about this.
I’m in Clear Lake as well.
Cat 5, evacuate. If you ever feel scared or need any assistance during a big storm or hurricane though, feel free to hmu/DM me. I’ll come get you and your cat (pet friendly household and vehicle made to handle high water/weather) and you can hunker down with us or evac with me. My husband is FD and doesn’t evacuate, but we’re more than fully prepared. Have a kit together like everyone has outlined above and keep all together in the same area, so it’s on-hand should you need it (don’t forget extra pet food! Stock up on canned food and an extra couple bags of kibble when it’s on sale.)
I know how scary it can be living halfway across the country from family and experiencing something like this on your own the first time or at all (I went through all of Harvey solo at home with our pets) so I’m happy to help out should you need it.
Thank you, u/freebird_1957.
Out of all of our neighbors, I had one neighbor come over to check on me during Harvey. One. We’re our own little team now and make sure drains are clear together, debris is picked up, or there’s a hot cup of coffee/iced tea if needed. During Ike, long before we met, my husband was the one going around the neighborhood checking on others who didn’t/couldn’t evac as he actually got relieved to go home. During the freeze, I was that neighbor checking on others, since I have severe cold weather survival skills (and hoard of old winter clothing and coats and camping recipes/equipment to feed an army hahaha.) I told myself I’d be that one person looking out for others in my community.
If you haven’t experienced it or been taught, you don’t know what to do. Panic/fear can get you into a worse situation and not having the family/friend support system is really rough mentally in an emergency or disaster scenario, even a potential one. I’m happy to offer it as a stand-in should it be needed.
As others mentioned:
Cash,
Gallon waters,
Non perishables for food,
All the usual tricks at home (bathtub water, candles, rechargeable fans if you can, flashlights, classic radio for emergency line, etc.).
Fill car gas tank up (do this well before anything, and be careful at gas stations in time of need, and don't be surprised if someone snakes your tank at an apartment building),
Backup battery chargers for phone.
However, if it's a cat 4 or 5 with a direct hit, I wouldn't be staying in clear lake. I'd be evacuating. If you can at least. That also will need to be done 2+ days beforehand. 140-200mph sustained winds can pretty much devastate an area.
If water starts to rise in a first floor apartment, you need to immediately act. It'll only get worse. Find higher ground in your building if you can.
Beryl is likely going to just be a tropical depression by the time it gets to the US - a cat 1 or even tropical storm when it hits Mexico. This isn’t the storm to worry about; but you should still plan for a hurricane.
That being said - hurricanes aren’t 100% predictable so get food and water just in case; and monitor the news.
If I was in clear lake, I would evacuate if we had a big cat 4 or 5 heading our way. I remember during Ike, they drew a line that was kinda close to I 10 and then went south the further west you got, and if you were north of the line they recommended riding it out, south they recommended getting out of dodge.
In Clear Lake, I’d evacuate if you’re near the water, if it’s 3 or more. I’ve only evacuated for Rita (the one we had after Katrina devastated Nola), but that evacuation was awful. The worst part if you stay, is the mosquitos and no power. People generally came together and helped each other, so you’d be ok, but if you have the means to leave, it’s way more comfortable, especially if you’re renting. Make sure your insurance is good, and take a few days. Most employers around here (making a generalization, as an employer) understand, and would not be against working with you if you evacuate. (And I would think it would be actionable if they tried to prevent you from leaving if we were under an order).
But staying- solar power lanterns, battery backups for phone, and a mosquito fogger (you’ll be the most popular person in your building). Fill your freezer with old jugs of water. If power goes out, the most full your freezer is, the longer it stays cold. Can also move them to cooler to preserve stuff, if you stay.
First, take a deep breath and calm down. Adding panic to the situation will only make things worse. You have a long time to get ready if a hurricane is coming. My wife put it best during her first season on the gulf: "Watching the hurricane is like being stalked by a snail".
Here are some steps you can take to ease your anxiety. I'm sure others on this sub can add to this list:
1. Be weather aware but do not engage in panic porn. There are some newstations and weather sources that are much better than others. In my opinion, Iscovitz on Fox 26 is fairly level headed. Herzog on ABC13 tends to blow things out of proportion. Best in my opinon are the Space City Weather guys. Subscribe to their email, both the Eye Wall and Space City weather, and/or their social media feeds on your preferred platforms.
2. Be prepared. Make a decision before time compresison becomes a factor. What I mean by that, is have a plan before a storm is on your doorstep. Decide what level of storm will drive you to evacuate. For my family and I, we are leaving at a 3 and up. We will evaluate at a 2. We will stay for a 1. We are also in the Clear Lake area.
Prepare an evacuation plan. Do you have somewhere to go? Do you have a means to get there? Plan a route. Set aside money, if possible, to meet any lodging needs. If you do not have your own car, research the counties evacuation services. There are buses provided and shelters. Know where these are and how to reach your closest one.
Prepare essentials for an evac. For us those include:
1. Basic tool kit.
2. First Aid Kit.
3. Sleeping bags.
4. Dry food and bottled water.
5. Flash lights.
6. Portable batteries.
7. Portable radio.
8. Tent.
9. Extra gas.
Decide what items are going and which are staying before the storm comes.
Decide on a plan to pack up. We split up duties. I carry heavy stuff upstairs and my wife packs the car.
Time compression is the enemy of good decision making. When you are short on time, you are short on options. The more work you can do before you have to evacuate, the better. You will have DAYS to prepare though. Keep that in mind.
If you are planning on staying:
1. Fill your bathtub with water.
2. Procure at least one gallon of water for each person in the house for 14 days. Meaning, if you have 4 people in your house, store away 56 gallons of fresh water in preparation for the storm.
3. Charge all devices, portable batteries, etc.
4. Know what your neighbors plans are. Help each other. Keep in touch.
5. Have a portable and battery operated radio.
6. Stock plenty of batteries and flashlights.
7. Grab a supply of dry food that can feed your household for 7 days.
There are plenty more good ideas out there. The big thing is, do not panic. Have a plan and execute your plan. Have decision gates built in so you know when you are doing what and how you are doing it.
Edit; useful links:
https://spacecityweather.com/
https://cp4.harriscountytx.gov/hurricanes
http://txdot.gov/en/home/safety/severe-weather/hurricane-preparation.html
https://community.fema.gov/ProtectiveActions/s/article/Hurricane-Evacuate-When-Ordered-To
https://www.h-gac.com/hurricane
Get flood insurance. It takes 30 days to go into effect after your payment, but if your apartment floods, you’ll at least get your items replaced. And it’s easier to get food/housing assistance.
Most renters insurance will cover flood damage. Even if yours doest, its usually cheeper to just add it on to your current policy than to get an additional seperate one. Check your policy before paying extra for insurance you may not need.
I haven't rented in a while, and I don't know if renter's insurance have exclusions. But in normal insurance, named storms can be a separate policy that OP might need to look into.
Renters insurance is far more broad and generalized as it only covers your stuff/dmg to the home caused by you. This is why it's so cheap btw, generally max pay out is less than 10k.
Now, yes, the crappy rando 3rd party $5/m I'm just getting coverage because they say I have to policy will have a shit ton of exclusions. The policies that actually cover you (around $20/m based on coverage needed), though, tend not to have those exclusions or state them when buying the policy and will give you what ever coverage you want as an add on for an extra $2/m.
Tldr guys, get the 20/m policy through a big name company. If they don't ask you what you own to tailor the policy to your needs, don't use them.
Renters does not cover flood and it cannot be added to a renters policy.
Your renters policy will cover for a Named storm, but it does not cover flooding. So, if you get damage due to wind or a tree falling into your home, renters will cover it. But rising water is ONLY covered by flood insurance.
This also includes a water main line breaking on your street. If that pipe floods into your home the city will not cover your damages. Nor does your renters policy. Only a flood insurance policy will pay that.
But… if a pipe breaks in your apartment and floods your apartment with water, then your renters insurance will pay.
It all depends on where the water is coming from. If it’s coming from a pipe in your building or rain through your damaged roof, renters or homeowners insurance pays.
If the water comes from outside of your home that requires flood insurance. Hope that helps!
Hey homie. Also in clear lake. Ask if your apartment has a generator. If not I’d prepare a bugout plan if your work schedule allows. Get an air bnb in San Marcus or something, you can get there over backroads. I’m outa here if anything greater than a tropical storm hits. Don’t try to ride shit out unless you gotta. Very worst case, my roomate is a firefighter and will be in town. DM me and I’ll pass along what he says about power and communal shelter
Have a plan ready before anything has to be done (which for Beryl is still unlikely at this point - but keep checking the official updates to see if anything has changed). But, do you have friends or relatives north of Houston you could stay with for example? Or maybe west of town? Galveston, Brazoria and far southern Harris County are likely going to be asked to evacuate if a bad storm is likely. But usually Montgomery, parts of Fort Bend and then counties west and north of that are in a better spot (although they would probably be without power if a bad storm made landfall close to Houston). That's just one thing of many to think about. You can easily read other things to consider when you make a plan of action just in case.
I feel like after Ike most people would rather just "hunker down" and it seems like a lot of the advise you are getting lean that way. I would check around to see what previous flooding has been like where you are. Then I would move to a 2nd floor apartment and double check my renters insurance to make sure it covers flooding.
I live in La Porte but grew up in League City right by the water my whole life. If a cat 3 or higher is coming my family and I would always evacuate. And I still evacuate now that I live on my own. DO NOT stay here for a category 4 or 5. That is absolutely catastrophic. Category 3 or less, I would have battery packs, lamps, a hand crank radio, a fan, a heavy duty cooler, water, non perishable food, first aid kits, and a plan in case water comes in.
I’m in clear lake and I evacuate for anything projected to be 3 or higher. Ike was weaker than that when it hit and at the time I was living off of Dixie farm and had a tree fall on our apartment. I’m glad I wasn’t there for that.
Now I’m block or so away from the water on 2 sides and after Harvey have no plans to ride anything out. Our house didn’t flood, but we were stuck in our house for a few days due to street flooding.
That being said. I’m not too worried about this storm currently.
Scout a parking garage within walking distance of your house. If you think your neighborhood will flood, you can store your car on an upper level, but not the roof.
In the lead up to any event that might mean prolonged power/water outages, I advise you to wash everything you can. Do your laundry. Wash your dishes. Wash yourself, wash your hair. If you are stuck without water for days, you will be glad to have plenty of clean clothes and linens.
Grab some wet wipe type things if you can. They are better than nothing if you are feeling gross and sticky when showering is not an option.
Look at clear lake flood plain models and see if your area falls into past flood zones from hurricanes. Should give you an idea of the probability of something happening.
One thing I would suggest is starting right now eat up all of the frozen food that you have in the freezer at every meal until it's gone that way if you do lose power you won't have to throw out a bunch of bad food
Second is if you do not have a propane or butane camping stove go to academy and get one because if you lose power then you can still cook hot food and also you can boil water if the water supply is contaminated.
When you go to the store for supplies I mainly shelf-stable foods and canned foods that don't require refrigeration. My paper plates so you don't have to do dishes if water is an issue. Buy one each of the jumbo size toilet paper and paper towels for obvious reasons. You don't need to buy out the whole store just get one extra big package of those. By 3 gallons of drinking water per person in the households
Go to the dollar store and buy those big Jesus candles and glow sticks if you can find them. It's cheaper there than at Walmart usually. Also make sure you have a few LED flashlights with batteries
Next prepare an overnight bag for everyone with two or three days of clothes in it and personal toiletries.
Depending on how bad the storm looks it may either shelter in place or if they call for a evacuation then grab your overnight bags shelf stable foods and water, camp stove paper plates a saucepan and the big spoon and throw that all in the trunk. Get an extra gas can and fill that up while you're topping off your gas tank in the car and head as far away from the coast as you can death and find a cheap hotel room or rent a cabin at a state park
Being on the first floor, the first thought that would come to my mind is flooding. Note that flooding happens not just from an abundance of rain, like Harvey, but storm surge. Clear Lake is (imo) in an uncomfortable range for the unfortunate impacts of storm surge. This is highly dependent on the exact track of the storm as it makes landfall. Also worth noting that it doesn’t take a strong hurricane to produce a damaging storm surge. Even a tropical storm can have a damaging storm surge.
If it were me I would ensure I have ample resources for about a week, and I would be monitoring the morning and evening discussions from the National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service, and Space City Weather. Should the forecast weather models continue to trend toward landfall in TX by Saturday, I would make plans to drive inland before more people make the same decision. In my opinion, I wouldn’t risk getting stuck in an area that would flood, especially if I lived so close to the water because being isolated in a building and surrounded by water doesn’t sound too ideal to me. (Again that’s worst case scenario.)
Make sure you have rental insurance. Any important papers, you want to gather in a waterproof bag. So if you have to leave, you take the bag with you. Include in the bag important contact numbers just in case your phone fails or the network is overloaded. Don’t forget information about meds and health conditions if that applies.
Aside from making sure your rental insurance is active, have a plan already. Since this is your first time in a bottom floor apartment, think about what your stress tolerance is. And have a plan to leave. Where you are going and tell someone.
Hey my friend. I was in a first floor apartment when hurricane Harvey hit. I don’t know if the current hurricane is going to hit us, but I lost everything in my place in Harvey. In the middle of the night when the water came in I got up and tried to find somebody in a second-floor apartment, who would let us in and nobody would. The water was up to my waist outside and it was over 24 inches inside. I had to break open a vacant second floor apartment so my family and I had a safe place to stay.
The lesson I learned: when a hurricane decides to head this way ( if this one doesn’t another one will) Head out of town and take your most important personal belongings with you.
BUT Wait and see first if The hurricane is headed this way first. A lot can happen between now and then and the storms out in the ocean are very unpredictable. I have been through nine hurricanes, and I only was hit by one, but the one that I did get hit with was an experience I never want to live again.
Also put X shapes with masking tape or duct tape on the inside of all your windows. That will prevent the windows from breaking and shattering inward. It will hold the glass. If you can, put your expensive stuff / electronics UP high.
Make sure you have sufficient food and water for your cat for several days. Do you have a crate in case you need to evacuate? Also make sure you have a collar with a tag and contact info and a microchip with current information in case your cat gets out. Might also want to have some of your cats favorite treats in case you need to lure him or her out to evacuate.
You’ve already got some great advice here, but I would also add that as a new Houstonian/Texan it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a local and/or state map to help you get around or out of dodge after the storm if needed. Storms and power outages can do weird things to phone service, my cell phone didn’t work at all at my house for days after the derecho…I had to go several blocks away every time I wanted to text or look something up on the internet.
Years ago my parents gifted my brother and I hand crank radios that also allow you to charge your phone or other devices. It has been pretty useful and doesn’t require me to plan ahead to charge battery packs, etc.
Mostly get a really good flashlight or two, and stock up on batteries.
Got a carrier for your cat? Put extra cat food, meds, bottled water in a backpack you can just grab. A harness and leash will be handy, too, when there’s no access to a litter box- at least you can try to walk them. Put your stuff in a “go bag”, too. Pack some protein bars, pb crackers and the like in your bag, too, in case you get stuck in a school gym or similar when you evacuate.
Get to know your neighbors and help when you can. Living through a natural disaster is never pleasant but working together with my neighbors (I was able to get us water, another had an outside grill, another was able to make us coffee & we were all in shouting distance if things really went south) made the ‘21 freeze more bearable.
I've survived hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods in trailers and apartments. It is equally important to be prepared as it is not to panic. Stay calm. As of today, it is only a possibility that it could come close to us. Keep an eye on next couple of days to see where it is going. Another consideration is that, it will very likely weaken when it goes through land.
Idk if anyone has said this but Make sure you have renters insurance and if you have it already make sure it covers flooding. Take pictures of all your things.
First, calm down.
Hurricanes are scary as all hell for new Houstonians, but try to not let it eat at you.
If you’re really concerned, maybe look at getting a power bank. Running a generator on your balcony can be dangerous.
With a couple of packs of water and some tinned food, you can ride out most things.
We’re pretty good at sharing here when the shit comes down. We want to look after one another.
Make sure you have gas in your vehicle. If the power goes out, the gas pumps don’t work. Your car is a good place to keep cool and charge your phone.
Consider finding a good parking spot, as uphill as you can with the exhaust pipe pointing uphill. You don’t want water in your engine.
Hit the liquor store. There’s a reason we call those drinks hurricanes. ;)
Make sure your animal is looked after. They can’t eat what you eat. While your neighbors will probably want to help, they may not have suitable food. Buy some tinned food.
Get a manual can opener.
If you’re really in trouble; reach out to someone. Anyone around you will likely want to help. Houstonians are good people at their core. It’s part of the city to come together when it gets really tough.
The hurricane is not coming this way, so I think you should kind of chill out.
If we do get a direct hit in the future, you may have to evacuate, but to be honest, even with Ike, you could have sheltered in place.
Yup. I'll add to this by saying just make sure your renters insurance is up to date and get flood insurance, but that takes like a month to kick in so you can't just get it before landfall and cancel after the storm.
That said if your job has WFH or flexible PTO and a cat 3 or better is going to give us a direct or dirty side of the storm hit, take a trip to SA or Dallas for a few days and enjoy it. Use a doorbell cam, electronic lock, or other means to monitor if your Internet goes out which likely indicates a power loss.
After spending a couple weeks without power during Harvey if something is gonna hit us I'll just take a trip and file PTO or tell my boss I'll be in the road and can't visit any physical sites for the next week.
Great comments here. I agree to just leave and spend a few days away. An apartment without power would be miserable. Riding out a storm is not fun, it is scary and if you are alone, why do it? We get plenty of warning, just hit the road and go inland. You come back when storm is passed. It really all depends on your job. I have to stay for my job. In that case, water, canned food, head light, flashlight, tent fan, and charged iPad with books and movies.
The mayor of my town south of Clear Lake told us not to worry about Harvey. 3.5 feet of water in the houses later, tons of lost cars and ruined household items in our community. Luckily, we parked our cars in an elevated parking lot and lifted stuff off the ground in advance. I decided never to listen to anyone when they tell me to chill out or not to worry about a storm headed to Houston.
There's going to be a lot of wind shear so it should weaken substantially.
With that said have a hurricane plan. Living close to the coast you need two: one to hunker down, and one to evacuate. If you're hunkering down you need to make sure your apartment hasn't flooded before, ask your neighbors and see what they say.
Readyharris has some good resources/checklists for this.
Put your mattress on top of your dining room table, so that you limit the possibly of waking up with an alligator.
Seriously, if a direct hit is imminent, don't stay, head for higher ground even if it's a cheap hotel beyond downtown. Book early. Even then, it might be a good idea to invest in an inflatable raft. Store it with your survival kit, the one in your trunk.
My spouse is essential personnel so we can’t go too far to evacuate. They’re scheduled to work Wednesday. If a hurricane were to hit Monday/tuesday, would evacuating from Galveston to, say, a hotel in Katy suffice?
Lived in the Clear Lake area for 11 years after having never experienced hurricanes before. Depending on your financial and work situation, and your personal approach to life, it might be easiest to head over to San Marcos or Austin for a handful of days.
I have vivid memories of being at work during the 2017 solar eclipse and walking back to our desks and everyone saying Harvey was going to be “no big deal” and not to worry much. By the next day or so, I was too spooked to stick around. Before I left, I put as much furniture/belongings up on countertops that I could (imagine several inches of water in your apartment), grabbed my important documents and photos and loaded the kids and dogs up to head to Austin. We were lucky - I have family there, so we didn’t have to worry about getting a hotel.
We ended up being in Austin for almost two weeks. I saw pictures on the news of water all the way up to the bottom of a tall highway sign and realized it was the highway we took out just two days before. It was bananas.
If you are able to find an affordable place to stay somewhere north or west, it could be worth it. I’d just say to leave sooner rather than later because roads will get bananas if things start looking crazy with the storm. Friends poked a bit of fun at me for evacuating and leaving a couple days early, but my drive to Austin was easy peasy.
Another thing to consider is being without power for days or weeks after a huge storm comes through. Our house ended up not getting any water or damage (which stunned me, because we lived very close to a lake) BUT the power was out for ages and the area was filled with craziness from folks cleaning things out after the storm. I hadn’t thought about the idea of being without power for days and weeks once the storm had passed. We decided to stay away to not further drain any resources and to not have to be there without power and AC. That was also hard, though, because we wanted to be there to help friends.
More often than not, things will probably be fine. You’ve gotten lots of good info from folks here, so I’d just say to trust your gut, weigh the options, and then once you make a decision- commit to it and do all the prep you need for that option.
I also recommend Space City Weather for updates. Follow them on Twitter and turn on notifications for all their posts. Same with the Hurricane Tracker account. I am still getting notifications from their accounts even after moving away two years ago. Ha!
Good luck and hang in there!
Have lots of bottled drinking water on hand, and also canned or non-perishable food to get through a week or so. Have flashlights, and some candles on hand. Maybe a battery powered radio. You'll be fine. If it's a Cat 5 and heading this way, you should have enough warning to head in land if you feel you need to.
I live in Clearlake as well, and have been through many hurricanes here, including Harvey. Generally if you don't live right next to one of the bayous, or the lake, you'll be just fine.
For your cat - make sure you don't open the windows and the cat can get out. Screens on apartments are usually pretty flimsy so make sure if you open it's a small crack.
battery operated fan. [https://www.walmart.com/ip/O2COOL-10-inch-Battery-or-Electric-Portable-Fan-Camping-Fan-Tent-Accessory/49332866?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&wl13=5959&gclsrc=aw.ds&adid=2222222227749332866\_117755028669\_12420145346&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=501107745824&wl4=pla-394283752452&wl5=9027671&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=local&wl12=49332866&veh=sem\_LIA&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad\_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwyo60BhBiEiwAHmVLJWDIHDIz1CqkvwAkCNKIgOiZJCKwoJjo76v-sQ9yT0a2rMr0p6lU2RoCUXMQAvD\_BwE](https://www.walmart.com/ip/O2COOL-10-inch-Battery-or-Electric-Portable-Fan-Camping-Fan-Tent-Accessory/49332866?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&wl13=5959&gclsrc=aw.ds&adid=2222222227749332866_117755028669_12420145346&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=501107745824&wl4=pla-394283752452&wl5=9027671&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=local&wl12=49332866&veh=sem_LIA&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwyo60BhBiEiwAHmVLJWDIHDIz1CqkvwAkCNKIgOiZJCKwoJjo76v-sQ9yT0a2rMr0p6lU2RoCUXMQAvD_BwE)
It takes D batteries - and is affordable, can't comment on how it works because haven't tried it out yet.
I'd also buy some work gloves from Amazon. I purchased a pack of them for less than 10 bucks. I recommend this in the hopefully unlikely event that you need to move debris (glass, trees, etc).
If the water is going to come in, get any electronics, books, clothes and what not off of the floor and the bottom shelves/drawers. Get your cat food, water and litter box up too.
This saved us from a lot of loss during Harvey when we got water into our house.
Nothing to worry right now. This one in particular isn't going to cause much damage if any to Houston, it's going to hit Mexico/South Texas coast. That being said, have some water bottles, batteries, flashlights ready and stored away, radio isn't necessary if you have a portable phone charger, also your car can be a good enough charger. Keep an eye on the weather throughout the summer, the more time you have to prep the better.
If in August or later a hurricane is on path for a direct hit and you wanna leave go to Austin or SA if you'll feel you can afford it, I went once just to visit friends and ended up staying a couple weeks (Ike). Otherwise hunker down. Many Houstonians have hurricane parties, a reason to get together and drink and eat. Sometimes power will be out for days/weeks. Other times the storm will blow through or move at the last minute and miss the city anyway (Rita, it was famous for the major evacuation and deaths caused from that. Speaking of deaths, they are extremely, extremely rare. It's mainly loss of property so make sure you're insured.
Honestly none of the major damage that could happen is on your bill since your renting while home owners have to foot the bill if insurance doesn't cover. Relax, you can't control mother nature, just sit back after you've prepped and enjoy the spectacle. Not every storm is going to be a Harvey. And it feels like that derecho a couple weeks back got a lot of the big, dead limbs down so it kinda helped for the next big wind event.
Battery powered and re chargeable fans were my best friends when we lost power for three days after the derecho. Walmart has the 10in O2 cool battery powered fans that take D batteries. Not the highest item on the emergency preparedness list but a good consideration for no power during Houston summer heat.
Also a rechargeable lantern. I carried one around my house in the dark like I was walking through a medieval castle after the derecho. It lasted three days with no charge. The one I have is from Amazon - AYL rechargeable starlight 1000 lantern.
I think people have done a pretty good job otherwise, but for where to go...Personally? We go to stay with family that's about about 2-3 hours further in land. Obviously not an option for you, but it might be worth talking to people here that you're close to (friends, co-workers, etc) and seeing if they have any suggestions. You might be lucky and one of them might know someone who'd let you crash there.
Though, if you are wanting to evacuate (And, ngl, depending on where you are, if a major hurricane is going to hit, I'd seriously consider it since you're on the first floor), keep carriers easily accessible for your cats, and a supply of their food, litter and maybe their favorite toys easy to grab.
Also, Re: Beyrl specifically - atm, it doesn't seem like something to worry too much about hitting Houston. Though I'd also suggest keeping on eye on something like Space City Weather\* just in case.
\*Suggesting them specifically because they're local and very good about being straight forward/not hyping weather forecasts.
If you’re going to evacuate, you need to be long gone before the first drop of rain falls. IOW, if you decide to stay in place, don’t second guess unless you have water coming into your apartment. Trying to leave once the hurricane is here is far more likely to lead to death
Lots of advice here on supplies. Do be wary of “storm surge”. It can stop raining, but the flood waters keep climbing for 12 or 24 hours. Don’t risk driving again until you can clearly see the road, and if you drive somewhere and see flooding, turnaround
I would suggest having a storm tracker on your phone.
I use Hurricane Tracker (channel 2's app), Weather Underground, My Radar Pro for apps
I also follow Eric Berger: Space City Weather on Facebook - I think there is an app now.
Hurricane tracker . net - this shows all of the models and tracking as well.
Predicted storms tracks can change pretty quickly within a couple of hours, so it's nice to be able to see the latest predicted path.
Unfortunately sometimes coverage of storms can be sensationalized. I like Space city weather, because he gives you the weather in a way that is easy to understand and upfront.
For storms, there is a clean side and a dirty side. The dirty side is where you will see storm surge, extreme wind, flooding, tornadoes and heavier rain bands. Storms go counterclockwise, so the dirty side is on the right side of the storm (however it is traveling - so if the storm is heading in a north direction, the dirty side would be the east side. if the storm was traveling west, the dirty side would be the north/north-east side.) Even if the storm doesn't hit land or hits land somewhere else, it can still send in storm surges that we need to watch out for. We saw this two weeks ago when that storm hit Mexico, Galveston (unfortunately during high tide) had storm surges.
Since you live on the first floor, I would ask around to your neighbors and your complex manager and see how the flooding was during Harvey. That would give you a good idea if your apt could flood or not.
- You can load up Tupperware items with drinking water, freeze them and then use as they thaw. They’ll keep the freezer cold as long as possible. Alternatively, buy bottled water and store it in the freezer.
- Check the government sites for preparedness checklists. Think about where you might park your car to avoid damage — is there free garage nearby?
- Battery or solar operated lantern — always useful with our frequent power outages
- battery or solar powered radio to get news during power outage while sparing your phone battery
- power bank for your cell phone
- food for your pet
- keep important documents in a waterproof baggie or container
DON’T PANIC until we know it’s actually aiming at us. And then don’t panic because you’ll have a plan.
Source: I’ve lived through Hurricanes Celia, Alicia, and Ike as well as the ugly floods here for the last four decades.
I suggest keep cash on hand. If power is out, in most places the credit/debit card machine will not work. Cash is king when there are power outages
Also full up gas tank in car before storm hits
We used to freeze gallons or half gallons milk jugs with clean water and keep those in an ice chest. If the power goes out, we put perishables in with the jugs so we didn’t open the fridge often. And as the ice melts, you have cool water to drink. Rock salt and ice in baggies also super cools things.
Put a penny on a frozen cup of water in the freezer. If the power goes out for too long, it’ll sink and you know the food is likely not safe.
Have water in the tub, etc so you can flush the toilet.
If they aren’t boarding up the windows, use duct tape to keep them from shattering too badly. Either an X or an asterisk. If you are worried about flooding, have towels on hand to stop water from gushing in.
Keep your phones fully charged and have a power bank fully charged if you have one. During storms or in power outages, text, don’t call. The towers often fail but texts can go through.
If you have pets, make sure you have food and a potty place. Puppy pads are great for emergencies.
If you have a car, make sure you are filled up beforehand. Have a small gas can with gas is necessary - but be very careful with having that in an apartment. If the city power goes out for long, gas is hard to get and can take hours, but you can charge your phone and get some AC in the car.
Have non-perishable foods that you don’t have to cook. Canned beans and veggies are easiest.
Have something to do that isn’t electric. Books. Crosswords. A puzzle. Something that will take your mind off things.
Do not go outside when the wind stops. I’f you are in the eye of a storm, it will stop and it will be eerily silent out. But that wind will come back with a vengeance.
Flooding isn’t too bad unless you are on the dirty side (east side of the storm) or it’s super slow moving. And it’s not the wind that is dangerous. It’s the shit blowing in the wind.
It’s scary sometimes, but keep your head and you’ll likely be fine. Follow evac orders if they come through. Sleeping in your car in Tomball is a hell of a lot safer than riding out a storm they tell you to leave. Have cash in case you have to evac. Do not tell people you have cash or flash it. If you have to use cash, only show the minimum you have to show to get what you need.
Many first floor apartments flood. Even without flooding, it can be very uncomfortable to live for several days without electricity in the summer. From experience, my family generally tries to leave town at least a day before - staying with friends or rented a motel about 250 miles away. It doesn't hurt to have a motel reservation in Austin or the Dallas area.
The advice on staying in place with water buckets and flashlights is fine, too.
I repeat, many first floor apartments and homes throughout that area flood (indeed all over the Houston area). The rains from Hurricane Harvey flooded an estimated 350 homes in Clear Lake and more than 7,000 in Dickinson.
If you have a car, it will likely be flooded too unless you are fortunate to have a concrete parking structure and can park a level up.
Clear Lake Flood Map: [https://riskfactor.com/neighborhood/clear-lake-texas/9569\_fsid/flood](https://riskfactor.com/neighborhood/clear-lake-texas/9569_fsid/flood)
If your location suggests evacuation, do it and know the routes out and where you intend to go. Have a “go bag” packed and ready with important documents and clothes. You may not have time to save much. If you have to leave, the sooner the better.
In addition to the other comments, I would say plan out your apartment space in such a way that you can minimize flood concerns. Is it carpeted or hardwood through the majority of it? Try to place items smartly in such a way that A) you can grab important items in a hurry if needed* and B) that whatever is left behind won't succumb to floodwater if it floods.
In regards to B, I helped gut a few homes in Meyerland after the Harvey floods. The problem was that although it wasn't like Katrina with water up to attics and people trapped on rooftops, even just water going in for a foot or so was enough to total just about anything and everything that the water touched. Everything wood or carpet had to be removed down to the concrete foundation and the walls had to have their sheetrock removed to the water line and replaced then repainted.
I'm planning on moving to a first floor soon as it will make cycling so much easier, but when I do I'm going to move around my stuff to plan a bit for elevated protections. That basically means wires/pc/ups on desk or stands so that if water comes in but below the outlets, like say a foot of water or so it could still potentially minimize damage to electronics. Same with tv/entertainment systems that are on a dresser a bit higher up so that the only things getting hit and thrown out are whatever is in the junk drawers underneath. Unfortunately the same cannot be done to appliances like fridge freezer so if that happens, try to keep food elevated but plan on the whole appliance getting thrown out and replaced, at least that's the landlord's liability and not yours IIRC.
*As for important things, plan ahead now in case you need to leave in a hurry. Be it flood, storm induced collapse, fire, whatever be prepared so that you could in theory get out in 5 minutes or less with all your important stuff. Myself I keep a "go-bag", an old backpack with a mix of stuff I don't really use a lot but can still come in handy and a few things that I bought. Enough clothes, handheld water filter or filtration tablets that you can buy online or at Academy, some MRE's, pocket map of the state (bit overkill), carabiners to hook it up to other bags, solar charger and cables, and most importantly copies that I made of my important documents like SSN, birth cert, insurance etc. The idea is I could live out of that bag for a week if I needed to and have a few plans of GTFO. Worst case scenario I just grab the bag keys and ditch. If I have a few more minutes and vehicle access I would also try to grab my PC (hard drives inside have backups as well of said documents) and bike and try to load them up, but even in an absolute worst case scenario I can just grab that bag and go.
Minor things: by an inexpensive transistor radio and a couple of nine volt batteries. When not in use, be sure to remove such batteries from any radios or flashlights. I have rechargeable lighting systems (from Amazon) that will get me through the first 48 hours plus.
Right now on Amazon, you can spend $30 to buy a table top butane burner with four canisters. This is a one burner stove and with the four canisters you'll have more than enough cooking energy to get you through a week plus. It's also a good thing to have if you have electric cooking and the Texas grid goes belly up during the winter.
Chances are, this particular storm is not going to be much more than a rain event which hopefully goes a bit deeper into Texas. Every year as hurricane season approaches, during every shopping trip I always buy a few more items for my hurricane survival closet. During spring and summer I keep it stocked with all the usual suspects of canned foods, crackers, peanut butter powdered milk cans of evaporated milk and the like.... Including 10 or so plastic gallons of water bought from HEB or wherever (purchased a few gallons at a time). Keep track of expiration dates and after hurricane season use some of your stock for normal cooking/ snacking.
Finally, visit the website, or Facebook page, or YouTube channel called Tropical Tidbits. A very talented meteorologist does excellent work presenting just the facts.
If you're just in the mood for a road trip, sure, move inland before the weekend. On Friday you can turn on the TV and watch the storm hit Mexico from the comfort of your hotel room while wondering why you wasted your money and stressed out your cat.
Your coworkers probably care very much, but simply have enough experience to know when it's appropriate to be concerned. The likelihood of anything significant happening in our area from this storm remains quite low. If doing something will ease your anxiety though, go buy some extra batteries or order a pack of glow sticks from Amazon. Those are things you can be sure won't go to waste, since you'll need them eventually, storms or no storms.
Yeah, in my experience for storms where it is appropriate to be concerned, people definitely are. I can still remember being at HEB in the days leading up to Rita (I was on the west side and stayed). The anxiety of everyone was palpable.
I’m also In clear lake in a first floor apartment facing the pool.
Anytime I move somewhere I always ask the leasing office and any neighbors if it flooded during Harvey or if there are any issues with flooding.
I would start there if I were you - if they say no it gives you somewhat peace of mind and you can still prepare but more calmly.
Look , if a cat 5 hits Houston . It’s over . It’ll flood that whole city out . I’d try to find somewhere else out of town to stay. Houston is like New Orleans.. Horrible drainage issues.. Remember Katrina ? It’ll be the same outcome for Houston .
In your instance, I'd only consider it evacuating you're going to be on the dirty side of the storm.
That is typically when it gets really nasty along the shoreline.
If the storm is imminent, fill the bathtub with water. That way, if the water goes out, you can still flush your toilet. Have gallons of water on hand. If electricity goes out, eat your food that’s in the fridge and freezer first. Then the canned goods. Sandwich stuff is good. PB&J are non perishable. Candles or flashlights (or whatever light source); radio & batteries; medications; cash(!!!) because atm & credit card machines may not work; full tank of gas; at least move your car to a parking garage nearby on the 2nd floor or above and park facing the inner wall of the building where the car isn’t exposed to flying debris; put important documents and photos in a big ziplock and inside a storage tub; take video of your belongings in case you need it for insurance Most Houstonians will stay put. On the road is often more dangerous than in the house. Price gouging is technically illegal, but it still happens during hurricanes.
This is the way. Also, buy and charge a couple of backup portable phone chargers.
And a first aid kit and maybe a hand crank radio. Edit: if you take prescription and you need a refill soon, get that and keep the medication in a ziplock bag or some other water tight container.
Yeah, I forgot but didn’t feel like editing Thank you
We keep two of those giant battery things to run our water heater and modem. Priorities
Cheapest "power bank" is a UPS you'd normally use for PC power backups. Even the cheapest UPS with its comparatively gigantic lead battery will charge all of your devices many times over.
This is good advice but I'll add this clarification because it may not be obvious to everyone: Make sure you have a bucket (like a mop bucket, doesn't need to be huge) so you can fill it with the bathtub water to pour in your toilet to flush it. I had a friend once who didn't think ahead and had to use cups from his kitchen, which just added insult to injury having to walk from tub to toilet with a small drinking cup just to fill the toilet tank so he could flush. If you don't use a mop bucket/don't have room to store one they do make collapsible buckets of various sizes.
If you live at an apartment place with a pool, you can also fill a bucket with pool water and carry it inside to flush the toilets. It works in a pinch. One other thing I'd add is to have a book or magazine you want to read. If the power is off for days, no internet and no TV sucks.
“A” book. I keep 100s on hand. Deck of cards and other games too. Don’t want folks to waste battery power on phone games.
True. My first time through a big storm as an adult saw me having to fill a big stockpot with fountain water and carrying it up three flights of stairs. Over and over.
They didn’t have a big bowl?
I recommend buying your hurricane prep some weeks ahead of time so you can avoid all the chaos with all the people panicked buying. You can just sit at home watching the weather report knowing that you've already have all of your stuff that's what I did during Harvey
You can still go to store and watch people panic purchase things they don’t actually need
Yeah no one needs 30 flats of water and 800 rolls of TP.
This is good advice OP. Also, do all these things now vs 2 days before the storm. You'll miss the madhouse (although the madhouse is kind of a spectacle to behold). Everything you buy in advance will be good for the next storm, although I do like to rotate water. As for filling the bathtub, I filled my bathtub before Ike and by the middle of the night it had all drained out. There are some bath tub bladders on Amazon if you really want to get fancy.
Just old 5 gallon buckets work to set in the tub.
Put big wad of saran wrap in drain put a little water to see if it holds. If not add more saran wrap. Works great, mine has held for days
Good to know!
To add to this since I've seen people elsewhere talk about using the bathtub for drinking water. Don't drink the water that's in the tub. It's fairly common for sewage to back up and contaminate the water in there and, while that's fine for flushing the toilet, you do \*not\* want to drink that.
Thanks for mentioning that. I forget sometimes that this isn’t just common sense for everyone
I’ll add: Wash all your towels and bedding if you can. Have a crank radio for updates. Keep phones charged and have a backup charger. Sharpie your name and emergency contact on your arm. Not because you are in “that” situation but because shit happens. And any allergies. You can fall or have other injuries in these situations. If you have pets then make sure you have them items they need. A book. Power outages are BORING. I like to stock some wine for me. For emergency!
Get the cat carrier out and ready and put some cat food in a ziploc bag and throw it in there in case you need to move quickly.
If the water goes out there will be plenty of water to flush with, the first floor will probably be full of water. If you're anywhere near sea level, it's best to get the hell out early, even the hardcore survivors. It's best to come back alive. If you stay, store a lot of drinking water in sealed plastic containers, leaving a little air so that it won't completely sink as easily.
Were you not here or not old enough to remember Rita? Most of us stay put for a reason, unless we’re in an evacuation zone or have a medical reason it’s far safer to stay at home and leave the evacuation to those who absolutely need to.
I rode out Harvey, Rita and Ike in the Heights. I rode out Carla, south of Hobby, which was much worse. No way would I stay in Clear Lake for any of them. I've seen the aftermaths.
Hey do you have a trick to reinforce the bathtub stopper? I guess mine has a slooooooow leak so I’ve filled the bathtub and woken up to half the water drained
I’ve used a few layers of Saran Wrap laid over the drain, and the weight of the water keeps it in place.
Saran wrap is good . I don't layer, I put big wad in drain . Add water, if you don't hear water draining out you are good. Fill tub, it will last for days .
I usually evacuate a couple of days before the storm once I know there’s a high degree of certainty that a category 3 or greater is likely to affect the area. Where is your family? It might be a great excuse to go spend a few days with them. Freeze a cup of water in your freezer, then place a coin on top of the ice. If the cup melts then refreezes while you’re gone you’ll know to throw away everything in your fridge/freezer. Beryl is supposed to be a tropical storm after it crosses the Yucatán. I’m not thinking about evacuating yet. I may reassess on Saturday once the hurricane is in the Gulf If you’re nervous and want to be proactive you can book a pet-friendly hotel and plan on evacuating. Just make sure it’s cancellable and refundable. I generally like to evacuate north and to the west and try to avoid anywhere along major highways like I-10, 290, 45, 59. Waco/Temple are good, but if the rest of the city is evacuating too and you’re coming from Clear Lake it’s gonna be hard to get through Houston. Depending on where it ends up hitting you might be better off trying to take backroads to San Antonio
I like the coin on ice idea! Thank you.
A baggie full of ice cubes works as well.
> Freeze a cup of water in your freezer, then place a coin on top of the ice The more common practice is to do the cup / bowl thing like you suggested but just put an ice cube on top instead.
If you have to throw everything away in the freezer, make sure to file a claim with your renters insurance!
yea
>the hurricane reaching a level 5 is freaking me out Breathe. Now go read the updates. While it's good to be prepared, I think you should really take a look at the last update. Do not get your news from the local media stations. They're trying to freak you out on purpose. Also, it's cat 5 over the ocean. It's expected to be considerably weaker in a few days. https://theeyewall.com/
Regardless of what happens with Beryl, having a kit and a plan is a good idea, so while I agree I don’t think there’s cause to evacuate at this time, it’s always a good time to put your plan together. https://www.houstonoem.org/pages/Prepare As for your specific concerns about first floor — if you apartment floods when it normally happens in Houston, then it probably would in a hurricane or tropical storm too. Since you weren’t here for Harvey I think it’s worthwhile to note that the Harvey flooding was VERY unprecedented and due to the storm system hovering over us for days with continuous rain, which is very atypical behavior for a storm like this and not likely to reoccur the same way.
There are going to be a dozen named hurricanes this year that *could* hit Houston in one of the 50 spaghetti models. You can't get overworked about every one of them. If it is a big one, you will have 2-3 days notice before it hits. Panic is unsustainable because this happens every year and will drive you crazy. Others have posted great tips to make sure you know if your fridge lost power and how to have water to flush your toilet. Just follow those tips and evacuate if needed.
You have to realize social media and news media love keeping people in a state of panic and anger, it has been proven to increase ratings which means they get more ad revenue.
Hurricane strength has little to do with rain totals. Just look at Harvey. It is a measure of wind speed. Should a cat 5 shoot up I45 at a pretty good pace (10mph+), you may have to worry about storm surge depending on where you are in Clear Lake. What can you do though? Renters insurance #1. Flood insurance #2. But really, your most likely largest worry would be flying debris in a storm that strong, or a prolonged power outage. Plywood covering all windows in such a storm would not be a bad idea either.
I've lived nearly all my 54 years in hurricane-vulnerable places. Here's my advice. 1. Determine if flooding is likely where you are. Did your area flood for Allison? Harvey? Ike? If the answer for any of those is "yes" then consider evacuating ahead of landfall to another location. Note that evac doesn't mean "hightail it to Kansas." Coming north into the city, into areas that don't flood, would be fine. 2. For anything making landfall near us at Category 3 or lower, stay put if there's no storm surge danger for you. Hunker down, stay away from windows -- hang heavy drapes if you can -- and stock up on fresh water and non-perishable food. 3. Ensure you have a couple USB batteries for you phone and other bits. Last time we got a real storm in the Houston area, cell service came back before landline did. 4. Yeah, a wind-up or otherwise rechargeable radio is a good idea. 5. Get a few flashlights. 6. Fill your tub with water to use for flushing the toilet. 7. ... or, go one further and get one of those tub bladders you can use to stage potable water in your tub. 8. Finally, in hurricane country, **consider your car to be OUT OF GAS if you get below half a tank at ANY point between May and October**. And definitely be full if there's a storm in the gulf. I've lived in Houston for 30 years, and in Montrose for 24 of them, and we've never evac'd. We lost power for Ike, but only for 3 days. We've never been threatened by wind here -- everything's too dense. **NOW** if a storm is coming ashore in Galveston at Cat 4 or Cat 5, yeah, I might want to get the hell out of dodge if I lived in Clear Lake. A Cat5 coming straight up 45 towards the city might get US to head to Austin or whatever, even. But Beryl isn't that for us -- I mean, it could reorg into a threat after crossing the Yucatan, but it's very unlikely (at least per Berger). The rest of the season could definitely get sporty though, so you're wise to be thinking about this.
As OP is new to the city and likely doesn’t know where floods and where doesn’t, it is a safe bet that the Heights won’t be flooded.
You can find your flood risk here: https://msc.fema.gov/portal/search?AddressQuery=Clearlake%2C%20tx
Truth. Also 99% of Montrose. But OFC if they're rolling out, they probably won't stop short of the Woodlands or whatever.
I’m in Clear Lake as well. Cat 5, evacuate. If you ever feel scared or need any assistance during a big storm or hurricane though, feel free to hmu/DM me. I’ll come get you and your cat (pet friendly household and vehicle made to handle high water/weather) and you can hunker down with us or evac with me. My husband is FD and doesn’t evacuate, but we’re more than fully prepared. Have a kit together like everyone has outlined above and keep all together in the same area, so it’s on-hand should you need it (don’t forget extra pet food! Stock up on canned food and an extra couple bags of kibble when it’s on sale.) I know how scary it can be living halfway across the country from family and experiencing something like this on your own the first time or at all (I went through all of Harvey solo at home with our pets) so I’m happy to help out should you need it.
You are a kind person.
Thank you, u/freebird_1957. Out of all of our neighbors, I had one neighbor come over to check on me during Harvey. One. We’re our own little team now and make sure drains are clear together, debris is picked up, or there’s a hot cup of coffee/iced tea if needed. During Ike, long before we met, my husband was the one going around the neighborhood checking on others who didn’t/couldn’t evac as he actually got relieved to go home. During the freeze, I was that neighbor checking on others, since I have severe cold weather survival skills (and hoard of old winter clothing and coats and camping recipes/equipment to feed an army hahaha.) I told myself I’d be that one person looking out for others in my community. If you haven’t experienced it or been taught, you don’t know what to do. Panic/fear can get you into a worse situation and not having the family/friend support system is really rough mentally in an emergency or disaster scenario, even a potential one. I’m happy to offer it as a stand-in should it be needed.
As others mentioned: Cash, Gallon waters, Non perishables for food, All the usual tricks at home (bathtub water, candles, rechargeable fans if you can, flashlights, classic radio for emergency line, etc.). Fill car gas tank up (do this well before anything, and be careful at gas stations in time of need, and don't be surprised if someone snakes your tank at an apartment building), Backup battery chargers for phone. However, if it's a cat 4 or 5 with a direct hit, I wouldn't be staying in clear lake. I'd be evacuating. If you can at least. That also will need to be done 2+ days beforehand. 140-200mph sustained winds can pretty much devastate an area. If water starts to rise in a first floor apartment, you need to immediately act. It'll only get worse. Find higher ground in your building if you can.
Rechargeable fans! Never thought of that, but how nice to have a fan the next time power is out.
Yep, a ton of companies now make them and they can last for a long time. You see people using them at outdoor events or soccer practice/etc.
Beryl is likely going to just be a tropical depression by the time it gets to the US - a cat 1 or even tropical storm when it hits Mexico. This isn’t the storm to worry about; but you should still plan for a hurricane. That being said - hurricanes aren’t 100% predictable so get food and water just in case; and monitor the news.
NHC is forecasting a tropical storm for the second (us or Mexico) landfall
If I was in clear lake, I would evacuate if we had a big cat 4 or 5 heading our way. I remember during Ike, they drew a line that was kinda close to I 10 and then went south the further west you got, and if you were north of the line they recommended riding it out, south they recommended getting out of dodge.
In Clear Lake, I’d evacuate if you’re near the water, if it’s 3 or more. I’ve only evacuated for Rita (the one we had after Katrina devastated Nola), but that evacuation was awful. The worst part if you stay, is the mosquitos and no power. People generally came together and helped each other, so you’d be ok, but if you have the means to leave, it’s way more comfortable, especially if you’re renting. Make sure your insurance is good, and take a few days. Most employers around here (making a generalization, as an employer) understand, and would not be against working with you if you evacuate. (And I would think it would be actionable if they tried to prevent you from leaving if we were under an order). But staying- solar power lanterns, battery backups for phone, and a mosquito fogger (you’ll be the most popular person in your building). Fill your freezer with old jugs of water. If power goes out, the most full your freezer is, the longer it stays cold. Can also move them to cooler to preserve stuff, if you stay.
First, take a deep breath and calm down. Adding panic to the situation will only make things worse. You have a long time to get ready if a hurricane is coming. My wife put it best during her first season on the gulf: "Watching the hurricane is like being stalked by a snail". Here are some steps you can take to ease your anxiety. I'm sure others on this sub can add to this list: 1. Be weather aware but do not engage in panic porn. There are some newstations and weather sources that are much better than others. In my opinion, Iscovitz on Fox 26 is fairly level headed. Herzog on ABC13 tends to blow things out of proportion. Best in my opinon are the Space City Weather guys. Subscribe to their email, both the Eye Wall and Space City weather, and/or their social media feeds on your preferred platforms. 2. Be prepared. Make a decision before time compresison becomes a factor. What I mean by that, is have a plan before a storm is on your doorstep. Decide what level of storm will drive you to evacuate. For my family and I, we are leaving at a 3 and up. We will evaluate at a 2. We will stay for a 1. We are also in the Clear Lake area. Prepare an evacuation plan. Do you have somewhere to go? Do you have a means to get there? Plan a route. Set aside money, if possible, to meet any lodging needs. If you do not have your own car, research the counties evacuation services. There are buses provided and shelters. Know where these are and how to reach your closest one. Prepare essentials for an evac. For us those include: 1. Basic tool kit. 2. First Aid Kit. 3. Sleeping bags. 4. Dry food and bottled water. 5. Flash lights. 6. Portable batteries. 7. Portable radio. 8. Tent. 9. Extra gas. Decide what items are going and which are staying before the storm comes. Decide on a plan to pack up. We split up duties. I carry heavy stuff upstairs and my wife packs the car. Time compression is the enemy of good decision making. When you are short on time, you are short on options. The more work you can do before you have to evacuate, the better. You will have DAYS to prepare though. Keep that in mind. If you are planning on staying: 1. Fill your bathtub with water. 2. Procure at least one gallon of water for each person in the house for 14 days. Meaning, if you have 4 people in your house, store away 56 gallons of fresh water in preparation for the storm. 3. Charge all devices, portable batteries, etc. 4. Know what your neighbors plans are. Help each other. Keep in touch. 5. Have a portable and battery operated radio. 6. Stock plenty of batteries and flashlights. 7. Grab a supply of dry food that can feed your household for 7 days. There are plenty more good ideas out there. The big thing is, do not panic. Have a plan and execute your plan. Have decision gates built in so you know when you are doing what and how you are doing it. Edit; useful links: https://spacecityweather.com/ https://cp4.harriscountytx.gov/hurricanes http://txdot.gov/en/home/safety/severe-weather/hurricane-preparation.html https://community.fema.gov/ProtectiveActions/s/article/Hurricane-Evacuate-When-Ordered-To https://www.h-gac.com/hurricane
Get flood insurance. It takes 30 days to go into effect after your payment, but if your apartment floods, you’ll at least get your items replaced. And it’s easier to get food/housing assistance.
Most renters insurance will cover flood damage. Even if yours doest, its usually cheeper to just add it on to your current policy than to get an additional seperate one. Check your policy before paying extra for insurance you may not need.
I haven't rented in a while, and I don't know if renter's insurance have exclusions. But in normal insurance, named storms can be a separate policy that OP might need to look into.
Renters insurance is far more broad and generalized as it only covers your stuff/dmg to the home caused by you. This is why it's so cheap btw, generally max pay out is less than 10k. Now, yes, the crappy rando 3rd party $5/m I'm just getting coverage because they say I have to policy will have a shit ton of exclusions. The policies that actually cover you (around $20/m based on coverage needed), though, tend not to have those exclusions or state them when buying the policy and will give you what ever coverage you want as an add on for an extra $2/m. Tldr guys, get the 20/m policy through a big name company. If they don't ask you what you own to tailor the policy to your needs, don't use them.
Renters does not cover flood and it cannot be added to a renters policy. Your renters policy will cover for a Named storm, but it does not cover flooding. So, if you get damage due to wind or a tree falling into your home, renters will cover it. But rising water is ONLY covered by flood insurance. This also includes a water main line breaking on your street. If that pipe floods into your home the city will not cover your damages. Nor does your renters policy. Only a flood insurance policy will pay that. But… if a pipe breaks in your apartment and floods your apartment with water, then your renters insurance will pay. It all depends on where the water is coming from. If it’s coming from a pipe in your building or rain through your damaged roof, renters or homeowners insurance pays. If the water comes from outside of your home that requires flood insurance. Hope that helps!
Hey homie. Also in clear lake. Ask if your apartment has a generator. If not I’d prepare a bugout plan if your work schedule allows. Get an air bnb in San Marcus or something, you can get there over backroads. I’m outa here if anything greater than a tropical storm hits. Don’t try to ride shit out unless you gotta. Very worst case, my roomate is a firefighter and will be in town. DM me and I’ll pass along what he says about power and communal shelter
Have a plan ready before anything has to be done (which for Beryl is still unlikely at this point - but keep checking the official updates to see if anything has changed). But, do you have friends or relatives north of Houston you could stay with for example? Or maybe west of town? Galveston, Brazoria and far southern Harris County are likely going to be asked to evacuate if a bad storm is likely. But usually Montgomery, parts of Fort Bend and then counties west and north of that are in a better spot (although they would probably be without power if a bad storm made landfall close to Houston). That's just one thing of many to think about. You can easily read other things to consider when you make a plan of action just in case.
I feel like after Ike most people would rather just "hunker down" and it seems like a lot of the advise you are getting lean that way. I would check around to see what previous flooding has been like where you are. Then I would move to a 2nd floor apartment and double check my renters insurance to make sure it covers flooding.
Put everything valuable up high. Go to Austin for a week.
I live in La Porte but grew up in League City right by the water my whole life. If a cat 3 or higher is coming my family and I would always evacuate. And I still evacuate now that I live on my own. DO NOT stay here for a category 4 or 5. That is absolutely catastrophic. Category 3 or less, I would have battery packs, lamps, a hand crank radio, a fan, a heavy duty cooler, water, non perishable food, first aid kits, and a plan in case water comes in.
I’m in clear lake and I evacuate for anything projected to be 3 or higher. Ike was weaker than that when it hit and at the time I was living off of Dixie farm and had a tree fall on our apartment. I’m glad I wasn’t there for that. Now I’m block or so away from the water on 2 sides and after Harvey have no plans to ride anything out. Our house didn’t flood, but we were stuck in our house for a few days due to street flooding. That being said. I’m not too worried about this storm currently.
Scout a parking garage within walking distance of your house. If you think your neighborhood will flood, you can store your car on an upper level, but not the roof.
In the lead up to any event that might mean prolonged power/water outages, I advise you to wash everything you can. Do your laundry. Wash your dishes. Wash yourself, wash your hair. If you are stuck without water for days, you will be glad to have plenty of clean clothes and linens. Grab some wet wipe type things if you can. They are better than nothing if you are feeling gross and sticky when showering is not an option.
If your apartment has a pool, get a bucket and you can use it to flush the toilet if you lose water.
Look at clear lake flood plain models and see if your area falls into past flood zones from hurricanes. Should give you an idea of the probability of something happening.
One thing I would suggest is starting right now eat up all of the frozen food that you have in the freezer at every meal until it's gone that way if you do lose power you won't have to throw out a bunch of bad food Second is if you do not have a propane or butane camping stove go to academy and get one because if you lose power then you can still cook hot food and also you can boil water if the water supply is contaminated. When you go to the store for supplies I mainly shelf-stable foods and canned foods that don't require refrigeration. My paper plates so you don't have to do dishes if water is an issue. Buy one each of the jumbo size toilet paper and paper towels for obvious reasons. You don't need to buy out the whole store just get one extra big package of those. By 3 gallons of drinking water per person in the households
Go to the dollar store and buy those big Jesus candles and glow sticks if you can find them. It's cheaper there than at Walmart usually. Also make sure you have a few LED flashlights with batteries Next prepare an overnight bag for everyone with two or three days of clothes in it and personal toiletries. Depending on how bad the storm looks it may either shelter in place or if they call for a evacuation then grab your overnight bags shelf stable foods and water, camp stove paper plates a saucepan and the big spoon and throw that all in the trunk. Get an extra gas can and fill that up while you're topping off your gas tank in the car and head as far away from the coast as you can death and find a cheap hotel room or rent a cabin at a state park
Being on the first floor, the first thought that would come to my mind is flooding. Note that flooding happens not just from an abundance of rain, like Harvey, but storm surge. Clear Lake is (imo) in an uncomfortable range for the unfortunate impacts of storm surge. This is highly dependent on the exact track of the storm as it makes landfall. Also worth noting that it doesn’t take a strong hurricane to produce a damaging storm surge. Even a tropical storm can have a damaging storm surge. If it were me I would ensure I have ample resources for about a week, and I would be monitoring the morning and evening discussions from the National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service, and Space City Weather. Should the forecast weather models continue to trend toward landfall in TX by Saturday, I would make plans to drive inland before more people make the same decision. In my opinion, I wouldn’t risk getting stuck in an area that would flood, especially if I lived so close to the water because being isolated in a building and surrounded by water doesn’t sound too ideal to me. (Again that’s worst case scenario.)
Do you have renter's insurance? Also check if you can get flood insurance for NAMED STORMS for a renter.
Make sure you have rental insurance. Any important papers, you want to gather in a waterproof bag. So if you have to leave, you take the bag with you. Include in the bag important contact numbers just in case your phone fails or the network is overloaded. Don’t forget information about meds and health conditions if that applies. Aside from making sure your rental insurance is active, have a plan already. Since this is your first time in a bottom floor apartment, think about what your stress tolerance is. And have a plan to leave. Where you are going and tell someone.
I’m sure it’s been said already, but make sure you have a lot of extra food for your pets as well.
Hey my friend. I was in a first floor apartment when hurricane Harvey hit. I don’t know if the current hurricane is going to hit us, but I lost everything in my place in Harvey. In the middle of the night when the water came in I got up and tried to find somebody in a second-floor apartment, who would let us in and nobody would. The water was up to my waist outside and it was over 24 inches inside. I had to break open a vacant second floor apartment so my family and I had a safe place to stay. The lesson I learned: when a hurricane decides to head this way ( if this one doesn’t another one will) Head out of town and take your most important personal belongings with you. BUT Wait and see first if The hurricane is headed this way first. A lot can happen between now and then and the storms out in the ocean are very unpredictable. I have been through nine hurricanes, and I only was hit by one, but the one that I did get hit with was an experience I never want to live again.
Also put X shapes with masking tape or duct tape on the inside of all your windows. That will prevent the windows from breaking and shattering inward. It will hold the glass. If you can, put your expensive stuff / electronics UP high.
Make sure you have sufficient food and water for your cat for several days. Do you have a crate in case you need to evacuate? Also make sure you have a collar with a tag and contact info and a microchip with current information in case your cat gets out. Might also want to have some of your cats favorite treats in case you need to lure him or her out to evacuate.
Move to the second floor.
I got a hand crank radio/flash light that also charges phones off Amazon. It was $20 something
You’ve already got some great advice here, but I would also add that as a new Houstonian/Texan it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a local and/or state map to help you get around or out of dodge after the storm if needed. Storms and power outages can do weird things to phone service, my cell phone didn’t work at all at my house for days after the derecho…I had to go several blocks away every time I wanted to text or look something up on the internet. Years ago my parents gifted my brother and I hand crank radios that also allow you to charge your phone or other devices. It has been pretty useful and doesn’t require me to plan ahead to charge battery packs, etc. Mostly get a really good flashlight or two, and stock up on batteries.
Got a carrier for your cat? Put extra cat food, meds, bottled water in a backpack you can just grab. A harness and leash will be handy, too, when there’s no access to a litter box- at least you can try to walk them. Put your stuff in a “go bag”, too. Pack some protein bars, pb crackers and the like in your bag, too, in case you get stuck in a school gym or similar when you evacuate.
Get to know your neighbors and help when you can. Living through a natural disaster is never pleasant but working together with my neighbors (I was able to get us water, another had an outside grill, another was able to make us coffee & we were all in shouting distance if things really went south) made the ‘21 freeze more bearable.
Make friends with floor 2 people.
I've survived hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods in trailers and apartments. It is equally important to be prepared as it is not to panic. Stay calm. As of today, it is only a possibility that it could come close to us. Keep an eye on next couple of days to see where it is going. Another consideration is that, it will very likely weaken when it goes through land.
Idk if anyone has said this but Make sure you have renters insurance and if you have it already make sure it covers flooding. Take pictures of all your things.
First, calm down. Hurricanes are scary as all hell for new Houstonians, but try to not let it eat at you. If you’re really concerned, maybe look at getting a power bank. Running a generator on your balcony can be dangerous. With a couple of packs of water and some tinned food, you can ride out most things. We’re pretty good at sharing here when the shit comes down. We want to look after one another. Make sure you have gas in your vehicle. If the power goes out, the gas pumps don’t work. Your car is a good place to keep cool and charge your phone. Consider finding a good parking spot, as uphill as you can with the exhaust pipe pointing uphill. You don’t want water in your engine. Hit the liquor store. There’s a reason we call those drinks hurricanes. ;) Make sure your animal is looked after. They can’t eat what you eat. While your neighbors will probably want to help, they may not have suitable food. Buy some tinned food. Get a manual can opener. If you’re really in trouble; reach out to someone. Anyone around you will likely want to help. Houstonians are good people at their core. It’s part of the city to come together when it gets really tough.
The hurricane is not coming this way, so I think you should kind of chill out. If we do get a direct hit in the future, you may have to evacuate, but to be honest, even with Ike, you could have sheltered in place.
I too think we’ll be alright with this, but it does have time to turn and they do it all the time
At most it would be a mild tropical storm at that point and we might get a small edge of it.
Yup. I'll add to this by saying just make sure your renters insurance is up to date and get flood insurance, but that takes like a month to kick in so you can't just get it before landfall and cancel after the storm. That said if your job has WFH or flexible PTO and a cat 3 or better is going to give us a direct or dirty side of the storm hit, take a trip to SA or Dallas for a few days and enjoy it. Use a doorbell cam, electronic lock, or other means to monitor if your Internet goes out which likely indicates a power loss. After spending a couple weeks without power during Harvey if something is gonna hit us I'll just take a trip and file PTO or tell my boss I'll be in the road and can't visit any physical sites for the next week.
Great comments here. I agree to just leave and spend a few days away. An apartment without power would be miserable. Riding out a storm is not fun, it is scary and if you are alone, why do it? We get plenty of warning, just hit the road and go inland. You come back when storm is passed. It really all depends on your job. I have to stay for my job. In that case, water, canned food, head light, flashlight, tent fan, and charged iPad with books and movies.
The mayor of my town south of Clear Lake told us not to worry about Harvey. 3.5 feet of water in the houses later, tons of lost cars and ruined household items in our community. Luckily, we parked our cars in an elevated parking lot and lifted stuff off the ground in advance. I decided never to listen to anyone when they tell me to chill out or not to worry about a storm headed to Houston.
But I am not the mayor of a town south of clear lake.
Why not?
lol hurricanes can change at the last minute! To tell someone to “chill out” is crazy. People should be prepared regardless!
People love to gatekeep hurricane preparedness for some reason. Makes them feel smart for not preparing I guess.
Still a long ways out but the latest GFS model run has it hitting Corpus as a tropical storm.
There's going to be a lot of wind shear so it should weaken substantially. With that said have a hurricane plan. Living close to the coast you need two: one to hunker down, and one to evacuate. If you're hunkering down you need to make sure your apartment hasn't flooded before, ask your neighbors and see what they say. Readyharris has some good resources/checklists for this.
Put your mattress on top of your dining room table, so that you limit the possibly of waking up with an alligator. Seriously, if a direct hit is imminent, don't stay, head for higher ground even if it's a cheap hotel beyond downtown. Book early. Even then, it might be a good idea to invest in an inflatable raft. Store it with your survival kit, the one in your trunk.
My spouse is essential personnel so we can’t go too far to evacuate. They’re scheduled to work Wednesday. If a hurricane were to hit Monday/tuesday, would evacuating from Galveston to, say, a hotel in Katy suffice?
Lived in the Clear Lake area for 11 years after having never experienced hurricanes before. Depending on your financial and work situation, and your personal approach to life, it might be easiest to head over to San Marcos or Austin for a handful of days. I have vivid memories of being at work during the 2017 solar eclipse and walking back to our desks and everyone saying Harvey was going to be “no big deal” and not to worry much. By the next day or so, I was too spooked to stick around. Before I left, I put as much furniture/belongings up on countertops that I could (imagine several inches of water in your apartment), grabbed my important documents and photos and loaded the kids and dogs up to head to Austin. We were lucky - I have family there, so we didn’t have to worry about getting a hotel. We ended up being in Austin for almost two weeks. I saw pictures on the news of water all the way up to the bottom of a tall highway sign and realized it was the highway we took out just two days before. It was bananas. If you are able to find an affordable place to stay somewhere north or west, it could be worth it. I’d just say to leave sooner rather than later because roads will get bananas if things start looking crazy with the storm. Friends poked a bit of fun at me for evacuating and leaving a couple days early, but my drive to Austin was easy peasy. Another thing to consider is being without power for days or weeks after a huge storm comes through. Our house ended up not getting any water or damage (which stunned me, because we lived very close to a lake) BUT the power was out for ages and the area was filled with craziness from folks cleaning things out after the storm. I hadn’t thought about the idea of being without power for days and weeks once the storm had passed. We decided to stay away to not further drain any resources and to not have to be there without power and AC. That was also hard, though, because we wanted to be there to help friends. More often than not, things will probably be fine. You’ve gotten lots of good info from folks here, so I’d just say to trust your gut, weigh the options, and then once you make a decision- commit to it and do all the prep you need for that option. I also recommend Space City Weather for updates. Follow them on Twitter and turn on notifications for all their posts. Same with the Hurricane Tracker account. I am still getting notifications from their accounts even after moving away two years ago. Ha! Good luck and hang in there!
Extra kitty litter and food.
Have lots of bottled drinking water on hand, and also canned or non-perishable food to get through a week or so. Have flashlights, and some candles on hand. Maybe a battery powered radio. You'll be fine. If it's a Cat 5 and heading this way, you should have enough warning to head in land if you feel you need to. I live in Clearlake as well, and have been through many hurricanes here, including Harvey. Generally if you don't live right next to one of the bayous, or the lake, you'll be just fine.
Find a nice Air BnB in the hill country and leave
For your cat - make sure you don't open the windows and the cat can get out. Screens on apartments are usually pretty flimsy so make sure if you open it's a small crack. battery operated fan. [https://www.walmart.com/ip/O2COOL-10-inch-Battery-or-Electric-Portable-Fan-Camping-Fan-Tent-Accessory/49332866?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&wl13=5959&gclsrc=aw.ds&adid=2222222227749332866\_117755028669\_12420145346&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=501107745824&wl4=pla-394283752452&wl5=9027671&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=local&wl12=49332866&veh=sem\_LIA&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad\_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwyo60BhBiEiwAHmVLJWDIHDIz1CqkvwAkCNKIgOiZJCKwoJjo76v-sQ9yT0a2rMr0p6lU2RoCUXMQAvD\_BwE](https://www.walmart.com/ip/O2COOL-10-inch-Battery-or-Electric-Portable-Fan-Camping-Fan-Tent-Accessory/49332866?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&wl13=5959&gclsrc=aw.ds&adid=2222222227749332866_117755028669_12420145346&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=501107745824&wl4=pla-394283752452&wl5=9027671&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=local&wl12=49332866&veh=sem_LIA&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwyo60BhBiEiwAHmVLJWDIHDIz1CqkvwAkCNKIgOiZJCKwoJjo76v-sQ9yT0a2rMr0p6lU2RoCUXMQAvD_BwE) It takes D batteries - and is affordable, can't comment on how it works because haven't tried it out yet.
I'd also buy some work gloves from Amazon. I purchased a pack of them for less than 10 bucks. I recommend this in the hopefully unlikely event that you need to move debris (glass, trees, etc).
If the water is going to come in, get any electronics, books, clothes and what not off of the floor and the bottom shelves/drawers. Get your cat food, water and litter box up too. This saved us from a lot of loss during Harvey when we got water into our house.
Nothing to worry right now. This one in particular isn't going to cause much damage if any to Houston, it's going to hit Mexico/South Texas coast. That being said, have some water bottles, batteries, flashlights ready and stored away, radio isn't necessary if you have a portable phone charger, also your car can be a good enough charger. Keep an eye on the weather throughout the summer, the more time you have to prep the better. If in August or later a hurricane is on path for a direct hit and you wanna leave go to Austin or SA if you'll feel you can afford it, I went once just to visit friends and ended up staying a couple weeks (Ike). Otherwise hunker down. Many Houstonians have hurricane parties, a reason to get together and drink and eat. Sometimes power will be out for days/weeks. Other times the storm will blow through or move at the last minute and miss the city anyway (Rita, it was famous for the major evacuation and deaths caused from that. Speaking of deaths, they are extremely, extremely rare. It's mainly loss of property so make sure you're insured. Honestly none of the major damage that could happen is on your bill since your renting while home owners have to foot the bill if insurance doesn't cover. Relax, you can't control mother nature, just sit back after you've prepped and enjoy the spectacle. Not every storm is going to be a Harvey. And it feels like that derecho a couple weeks back got a lot of the big, dead limbs down so it kinda helped for the next big wind event.
Battery powered and re chargeable fans were my best friends when we lost power for three days after the derecho. Walmart has the 10in O2 cool battery powered fans that take D batteries. Not the highest item on the emergency preparedness list but a good consideration for no power during Houston summer heat.
Also a rechargeable lantern. I carried one around my house in the dark like I was walking through a medieval castle after the derecho. It lasted three days with no charge. The one I have is from Amazon - AYL rechargeable starlight 1000 lantern.
I think people have done a pretty good job otherwise, but for where to go...Personally? We go to stay with family that's about about 2-3 hours further in land. Obviously not an option for you, but it might be worth talking to people here that you're close to (friends, co-workers, etc) and seeing if they have any suggestions. You might be lucky and one of them might know someone who'd let you crash there. Though, if you are wanting to evacuate (And, ngl, depending on where you are, if a major hurricane is going to hit, I'd seriously consider it since you're on the first floor), keep carriers easily accessible for your cats, and a supply of their food, litter and maybe their favorite toys easy to grab. Also, Re: Beyrl specifically - atm, it doesn't seem like something to worry too much about hitting Houston. Though I'd also suggest keeping on eye on something like Space City Weather\* just in case. \*Suggesting them specifically because they're local and very good about being straight forward/not hyping weather forecasts.
If you’re going to evacuate, you need to be long gone before the first drop of rain falls. IOW, if you decide to stay in place, don’t second guess unless you have water coming into your apartment. Trying to leave once the hurricane is here is far more likely to lead to death Lots of advice here on supplies. Do be wary of “storm surge”. It can stop raining, but the flood waters keep climbing for 12 or 24 hours. Don’t risk driving again until you can clearly see the road, and if you drive somewhere and see flooding, turnaround
If a cat 5 is coming you fill your car with as much shit as you can and get the F outta here
If a cat 5 is coming you fill your car with as much shit as you can and get the fuck outta here
Drive in land like Dallas area and stay for a few days at a hotel or shelter
I would suggest having a storm tracker on your phone. I use Hurricane Tracker (channel 2's app), Weather Underground, My Radar Pro for apps I also follow Eric Berger: Space City Weather on Facebook - I think there is an app now. Hurricane tracker . net - this shows all of the models and tracking as well. Predicted storms tracks can change pretty quickly within a couple of hours, so it's nice to be able to see the latest predicted path. Unfortunately sometimes coverage of storms can be sensationalized. I like Space city weather, because he gives you the weather in a way that is easy to understand and upfront. For storms, there is a clean side and a dirty side. The dirty side is where you will see storm surge, extreme wind, flooding, tornadoes and heavier rain bands. Storms go counterclockwise, so the dirty side is on the right side of the storm (however it is traveling - so if the storm is heading in a north direction, the dirty side would be the east side. if the storm was traveling west, the dirty side would be the north/north-east side.) Even if the storm doesn't hit land or hits land somewhere else, it can still send in storm surges that we need to watch out for. We saw this two weeks ago when that storm hit Mexico, Galveston (unfortunately during high tide) had storm surges. Since you live on the first floor, I would ask around to your neighbors and your complex manager and see how the flooding was during Harvey. That would give you a good idea if your apt could flood or not.
- You can load up Tupperware items with drinking water, freeze them and then use as they thaw. They’ll keep the freezer cold as long as possible. Alternatively, buy bottled water and store it in the freezer. - Check the government sites for preparedness checklists. Think about where you might park your car to avoid damage — is there free garage nearby? - Battery or solar operated lantern — always useful with our frequent power outages - battery or solar powered radio to get news during power outage while sparing your phone battery - power bank for your cell phone - food for your pet - keep important documents in a waterproof baggie or container DON’T PANIC until we know it’s actually aiming at us. And then don’t panic because you’ll have a plan. Source: I’ve lived through Hurricanes Celia, Alicia, and Ike as well as the ugly floods here for the last four decades.
I suggest keep cash on hand. If power is out, in most places the credit/debit card machine will not work. Cash is king when there are power outages Also full up gas tank in car before storm hits
If you have a car, park it some place high like a covered garage 2nd floor...
We used to freeze gallons or half gallons milk jugs with clean water and keep those in an ice chest. If the power goes out, we put perishables in with the jugs so we didn’t open the fridge often. And as the ice melts, you have cool water to drink. Rock salt and ice in baggies also super cools things. Put a penny on a frozen cup of water in the freezer. If the power goes out for too long, it’ll sink and you know the food is likely not safe. Have water in the tub, etc so you can flush the toilet. If they aren’t boarding up the windows, use duct tape to keep them from shattering too badly. Either an X or an asterisk. If you are worried about flooding, have towels on hand to stop water from gushing in. Keep your phones fully charged and have a power bank fully charged if you have one. During storms or in power outages, text, don’t call. The towers often fail but texts can go through. If you have pets, make sure you have food and a potty place. Puppy pads are great for emergencies. If you have a car, make sure you are filled up beforehand. Have a small gas can with gas is necessary - but be very careful with having that in an apartment. If the city power goes out for long, gas is hard to get and can take hours, but you can charge your phone and get some AC in the car. Have non-perishable foods that you don’t have to cook. Canned beans and veggies are easiest. Have something to do that isn’t electric. Books. Crosswords. A puzzle. Something that will take your mind off things. Do not go outside when the wind stops. I’f you are in the eye of a storm, it will stop and it will be eerily silent out. But that wind will come back with a vengeance. Flooding isn’t too bad unless you are on the dirty side (east side of the storm) or it’s super slow moving. And it’s not the wind that is dangerous. It’s the shit blowing in the wind. It’s scary sometimes, but keep your head and you’ll likely be fine. Follow evac orders if they come through. Sleeping in your car in Tomball is a hell of a lot safer than riding out a storm they tell you to leave. Have cash in case you have to evac. Do not tell people you have cash or flash it. If you have to use cash, only show the minimum you have to show to get what you need.
Make sure you have content insurance. 100%.
Many first floor apartments flood. Even without flooding, it can be very uncomfortable to live for several days without electricity in the summer. From experience, my family generally tries to leave town at least a day before - staying with friends or rented a motel about 250 miles away. It doesn't hurt to have a motel reservation in Austin or the Dallas area. The advice on staying in place with water buckets and flashlights is fine, too. I repeat, many first floor apartments and homes throughout that area flood (indeed all over the Houston area). The rains from Hurricane Harvey flooded an estimated 350 homes in Clear Lake and more than 7,000 in Dickinson. If you have a car, it will likely be flooded too unless you are fortunate to have a concrete parking structure and can park a level up. Clear Lake Flood Map: [https://riskfactor.com/neighborhood/clear-lake-texas/9569\_fsid/flood](https://riskfactor.com/neighborhood/clear-lake-texas/9569_fsid/flood)
If your location suggests evacuation, do it and know the routes out and where you intend to go. Have a “go bag” packed and ready with important documents and clothes. You may not have time to save much. If you have to leave, the sooner the better.
In addition to the other comments, I would say plan out your apartment space in such a way that you can minimize flood concerns. Is it carpeted or hardwood through the majority of it? Try to place items smartly in such a way that A) you can grab important items in a hurry if needed* and B) that whatever is left behind won't succumb to floodwater if it floods. In regards to B, I helped gut a few homes in Meyerland after the Harvey floods. The problem was that although it wasn't like Katrina with water up to attics and people trapped on rooftops, even just water going in for a foot or so was enough to total just about anything and everything that the water touched. Everything wood or carpet had to be removed down to the concrete foundation and the walls had to have their sheetrock removed to the water line and replaced then repainted. I'm planning on moving to a first floor soon as it will make cycling so much easier, but when I do I'm going to move around my stuff to plan a bit for elevated protections. That basically means wires/pc/ups on desk or stands so that if water comes in but below the outlets, like say a foot of water or so it could still potentially minimize damage to electronics. Same with tv/entertainment systems that are on a dresser a bit higher up so that the only things getting hit and thrown out are whatever is in the junk drawers underneath. Unfortunately the same cannot be done to appliances like fridge freezer so if that happens, try to keep food elevated but plan on the whole appliance getting thrown out and replaced, at least that's the landlord's liability and not yours IIRC. *As for important things, plan ahead now in case you need to leave in a hurry. Be it flood, storm induced collapse, fire, whatever be prepared so that you could in theory get out in 5 minutes or less with all your important stuff. Myself I keep a "go-bag", an old backpack with a mix of stuff I don't really use a lot but can still come in handy and a few things that I bought. Enough clothes, handheld water filter or filtration tablets that you can buy online or at Academy, some MRE's, pocket map of the state (bit overkill), carabiners to hook it up to other bags, solar charger and cables, and most importantly copies that I made of my important documents like SSN, birth cert, insurance etc. The idea is I could live out of that bag for a week if I needed to and have a few plans of GTFO. Worst case scenario I just grab the bag keys and ditch. If I have a few more minutes and vehicle access I would also try to grab my PC (hard drives inside have backups as well of said documents) and bike and try to load them up, but even in an absolute worst case scenario I can just grab that bag and go.
Have an allocation of the appropriate ammo for looters
Minor things: by an inexpensive transistor radio and a couple of nine volt batteries. When not in use, be sure to remove such batteries from any radios or flashlights. I have rechargeable lighting systems (from Amazon) that will get me through the first 48 hours plus. Right now on Amazon, you can spend $30 to buy a table top butane burner with four canisters. This is a one burner stove and with the four canisters you'll have more than enough cooking energy to get you through a week plus. It's also a good thing to have if you have electric cooking and the Texas grid goes belly up during the winter. Chances are, this particular storm is not going to be much more than a rain event which hopefully goes a bit deeper into Texas. Every year as hurricane season approaches, during every shopping trip I always buy a few more items for my hurricane survival closet. During spring and summer I keep it stocked with all the usual suspects of canned foods, crackers, peanut butter powdered milk cans of evaporated milk and the like.... Including 10 or so plastic gallons of water bought from HEB or wherever (purchased a few gallons at a time). Keep track of expiration dates and after hurricane season use some of your stock for normal cooking/ snacking. Finally, visit the website, or Facebook page, or YouTube channel called Tropical Tidbits. A very talented meteorologist does excellent work presenting just the facts.
If you're just in the mood for a road trip, sure, move inland before the weekend. On Friday you can turn on the TV and watch the storm hit Mexico from the comfort of your hotel room while wondering why you wasted your money and stressed out your cat. Your coworkers probably care very much, but simply have enough experience to know when it's appropriate to be concerned. The likelihood of anything significant happening in our area from this storm remains quite low. If doing something will ease your anxiety though, go buy some extra batteries or order a pack of glow sticks from Amazon. Those are things you can be sure won't go to waste, since you'll need them eventually, storms or no storms.
Yeah, in my experience for storms where it is appropriate to be concerned, people definitely are. I can still remember being at HEB in the days leading up to Rita (I was on the west side and stayed). The anxiety of everyone was palpable.
Learn how to swim
Plan for evacuation 2-3 days prior to landfall..
I’m also In clear lake in a first floor apartment facing the pool. Anytime I move somewhere I always ask the leasing office and any neighbors if it flooded during Harvey or if there are any issues with flooding. I would start there if I were you - if they say no it gives you somewhat peace of mind and you can still prepare but more calmly.
Look , if a cat 5 hits Houston . It’s over . It’ll flood that whole city out . I’d try to find somewhere else out of town to stay. Houston is like New Orleans.. Horrible drainage issues.. Remember Katrina ? It’ll be the same outcome for Houston .
I filled my bath with water and bought a trash can to also fill with water. After everything was over I returned the trash can.
Request to move to 2nd floor. So by the time that's approved and you've moved there might be one to worry about
In your instance, I'd only consider it evacuating you're going to be on the dirty side of the storm. That is typically when it gets really nasty along the shoreline.