This is such an important and genuinely terrifying post. I could completely go off on the rise of anti-science, but for now I’ll just add: it isn’t just boomers that get deceived. This is a warning to all of us.
Pay ATTENTION to what you are being told. If you think you cannot be deceived, you leave yourself open to deception. Question, doubt, research research research. Learn about your personal biases, dig up any subconscious cognitive dissonance. Keep an eye on your mind.
It needs to be stressed that biases, not a lack of intelligence, is very much the issue here. Being aware of the need to fact check yourself is key: Intelligence won’t protect you from bad or unhealthy mental states, or keep you safe from cults of any sort. Intelligence will just make it easier for you to rationalize and attempt to justify the malformed tools you’ve taken/been given to yourself and others. You need to be wise enough to challenge yourself.
Make sure you’ve got shelf-stable food and water for everyone in the house, including pets. The rule of thumb is a gallon per person per day. Freeze water bottles if you want cold water.
Make sure you have enough meds!
Make sure you have batteries, candles, flashlights, and a manual can opener.
Make sure your electronics, including backup batteries, are charged. Unplug things you don’t want fried in case of a power surge.
Don’t tape your windows, it doesn’t help and you’ll just be stuck scrubbing goo off of them later.
Put a mug of frozen water in it in your freezer with a quarter on top of it. If your freezer defrosts, the ice will melt and the quarter will sink and tell you you need to throw things out.
Get everything that’s not nailed to a foundation out of your yard. That dead branch hanging on by a thread? Time to get it down (it was probably time to do that three days ago, but now’s better than never).
Park away from powerlines and trees if you can. Rain makes the ground soft and then trees fall over.
Have an evacuation plan to a shelter. Evacuate if they’re telling you to.
If you start to flood, don’t go in your attic. You’ll get trapped if the water rises too high and you can’t hack through your roof. This happened to a lot of people in Texas and Louisiana. Get ON the roof.
Be safe, be well <3
What the fuck?
???? WHAT???
Ngl, “tropical storm in death valley” was not on my 2023 bingo card.
Drainage on our roads is shitty in SoCal, don’t attempt to drive through water deep enough to touch your bumpers and don’t attempt to walk across moving water, water only as deep as your ankles can knock you down and sweep you away.
Predicted wind speeds are similar to strong Santa Anas, so lock things down like you would for that, though keep in mind that yeah the combination of heavy rain and wind leads to more felled trees than just wind.
Take photos of the inside of your home now; flood insurance fucking sucks here and if you’re in a possible flood zone you want as much documentation of your home and belongings as possible in case you need to make a claim.
Freezing water bottles also means you’ve got a lot of ice in your freezer if power goes out, and safe potable water once it thaws, so freeze bottles of water to have something to keep your fridge and freezer cool and store more water regardless of if you want cold water.
Remember water expands when you freeze it so pour a bit out of each bottle so they don’t explode.
If you can’t get bottled water anymore use sandwich bags full of ice for the same effect
Get a pet carrier or kennel ready in case of evac, shelters usually only allow contained animals
Pet go bags need leash, collars/harness, 3 days of food, and current vaccine records
Animals spook during storms and will slip a collar to flee if given a chance. Don’t give them a chance, and do not chase them if they do
Rule of thumb down here is 3 days worth of food, but a week is probably better in places where hurricanes are not common
Fill your bathtub before the storm, floods often damage the water system and this will give you flushing and bathing water for a few days
Try to stay out of floodwaters all together, they are often full of sewage and can hide powerlines, sinkholes, and all kinds of dangers
Post storm: your fridge will stay cold for roughly 24 hrs if you never open it. Pack perishables in cooler bags before the storm, use some of your frozen water bottles as ice packs. Eat all that stuff first and if you’re very lucky the power will return within 24 hrs
Do Not Cook in your home with an open flame
Do not run generators inside or under your roof. Generators like grills should be at least 20-30ft from the structure when running
my job involves completing graphics requests that get sent by people writing educational materials and sometimes that entails moments like this morning where i just get the opening line of