Besides having evacuation plans it is important to have plans for safe
ways to stay put, and at least a general idea of where to go when the
closest places with power are a good distance away and very possibly
already crowded. In our case we stayed put. Everything in our region
was without power with the superstorm, not our neighborhood or our
town but a much larger area. It took us a week to have power back; some
neighborhoods are still waiting and there are enough support services
in place for them now. Our area retained potable water. Heck, even MREs
were distributed by the military in our town for those who ran out of
food. (We still have food left over even after sharing with neighbors:
nuts, crackers, cookies, canned beans that are precooked, fluids, etc.
but we like to keep a pantry because we were both raised that way and
because of personal experiences with hunger.)

Some water heaters require external 110 V power to work their
thermostats and light the flame. Some fortunately do not. With the
second option it is possible to have hot water without having
electricity and that can become very important.

Even with a gas furnace heat can be lost because of the powering of the
thermostat and fan. Alternative options for that appear to be few and
fewer still for adjoined housing, but are certainly worth investigating
as we plan to do. State regs will vary as will the amenability to such
solutions among condo associations.

Know that because of lobbying and a House of Representatives block of
a regulating law that landline phones are NOT required to have backup
batteries so may not work, AND the battery back-up regulation for cell
towers is now less than one day. Better IS possible; years ago AT&T
used to have 30 day cell tower battery back-up.

Part of being able to stay home includes knowing your neighbors and
which of them you can trust if you need someone to help you.

People here found that the different cell phone providers varied
greatly in performance and some people with the smaller and cheaper
providers that piggyback on the infrastructures of other companies
did not get any cell service at all pretty much from the start of the
difficulties and relied on neighbors when possible.

If you have a cell phone and if a tower in your area stays up (We never
got below one bar here on AT&T so had some service.) it pays to have a
cell phone charger that you can use in your car. Remember to not run
down your car battery by driving some with at least part of that time.

Essential items for staying put: fluids, medications, covers for large
carry cages to turn them into snuggly places, plenty of blankets and
clothing that can layered (including pants w sweatpants being able to
be used over regular ones) food, batteries, battery lanterns and radio,
etc. It does not at all hurt to have cloth face masks because you can
wear them to warm the air you breathe. Be sure to have hats and hoods
(including head cover for sleeping). You get the idea. If candles are
used be careful with them, of course.

Never use a propane cook stove or an outdoor grill inside or too close
to your outside walls. Propane and gas grills and gasoline generators
(and in some locations also charcoal grills) are highly illegal in or
next to multiple dwelling structures in many states due to explosion,
fire and asphyxiation hazards, but there are professionally installed
natural gas generator options that will work in some cases but usually
require both association and township approval and are costly. Of
course, if gasoline is carried use one of the proper types of cans and
do not fill a car inside. Roll the car outside the garage and put an
oil pan or other drip pan beneath to catch any spills then put that in
a safe area away from any flame or heat sources like hot catalytic
converters to evaporate, and do not put gasoline soaked rags into
dumpsters.

Finally, when staying put also have your evacuation bags ready in case
it becomes impossible.

Sukie (not a vet) Ferrets make the world a game.

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.miamiferret.org/
http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
all ferret topics:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html

"All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow."
(2010, Steve Crandall)

A nation is as free as the least within it.

[Posted in FML 7608]