Should I Stay or Should I Go?

[ThePreparedMom]

Hi everyone-
I've got a question for you all. I'm in CT, and Irene is heading our way! My question is....should I stay home, or should I go to stay with my parents overnight tonight. Here's the situation:

Am I prepared to weather a storm at home? Absolutely! I've got water, food, medical supplies, alternative methods of cooking food, flashlights, etc. I've also got a 2yo son and a 5 month old daughter who have all of their comforts at home. However, my husband is a firefighter and has been mandated for a 36 hr shift during the hurricane. So now my problem becomes a bit more complex. Do I stay here where I have all of my supplies, comforts, etc. or do I take the kiddos (and the dog) and go to ride out the storm with my parents? My thinking? Part of me wants to stay home. I know that I've got the preps I need here for at least a month without power and I want to be here in case anything happens to my house while I'm gone. Plus, I know I'm going to have to pack A LOT (remember, two kids and a dog) because I need to make sure I'm prepared if I can't get home for a few days. On the other hand....what am I going to do if something does happen to my house? I really don't want to be scrambling to get the two kids out of the house by myself if something does happen during the middle of the storm. (I should also mention here that my house already has a water problem even when we just get spring storms here with the melting snow.)

So, ladies/mothers? What would you do? Guys? What would you recommend your wife do?

[claymore]

Watch the weather channel, local news, talk with your husband and parents. You are going to have high (sustained and gusting) winds, theres going to be HEAVY rain and a big push of water from from the coast. That's all a given ! Don't know how far you have to drive but if you are going to bug out now is better then later. How's the traffic flow on your route ? Do you have a FULL tank of gas ? Its going to take you awhile to load up car and you're by yourself...........Are your neighbors trusted, is any of them around or have they left ? If something serious were to happen to your home do you have some place else to go (nearby) ? Local fire and police going to respond should you call (after it hits)?

[Lowdown3]

I always try to opt for safety and security over comfort and convenience.

Take what you can with you but EVERYTHING can be replaced except those babies!!

I remember an ex friend of mine who thought himself a hardcore survivalist bragging about how they rode out a hurricane in Florida. What was stupid was that they were in an old stick frame house built on pilons. He had an opportunity to bug out- and should of with a 3 month old baby- but decided to get drunk and watch TV instead. He had a very nice, well stocked, comfortable place to go in a safe area that he and his family where very comfortable at.

I cut off his animated story about how he "made" it with the old trees almost falling on their stick frame house, etc. I told him he needed to grow the flip up, go in and look at that little baby God had blessed them with and apologize to her for leaving her in harm's way when he didn't need to. That when it was just him and his wife, they could have rode out the hurricane holding onto a teatherball pole, but as a parent he had RESPONSIBILITY to protect his child and he had totally screwed the pooch.

Sounds harsh, but he was a close friend and I loved his family. It needed to be said to him to wake him out of his "late 30's still acting like I'm a teenager" idiot behavior.

Get your babies safe, EVERYTHING can be replaced except life itself. That's the fallback golden rule of what we do.

Good luck, the Lord bless your family and keep it safe.
Robert

[claymore]

As a follow-up: Could your home flood ? (think lower ninth ward) You have everything you need right there and you've prepared for it. You might loose power and have a leakey roof but you could handle that. Is there someone that can come stay with you ?

[Rmplstlskn]

It is now a CAT1 and breaking down and it is only at NC, and you are in CT. Are you in an area that could be flooded or influenced by storm surge? If not, I personally would stay at home...

[ThePreparedMom]

I'm not near the coast- although if we get the predicted amount of rain- with the drainage problems we already have I would expect to have anywhere up to 6inches of water in the downstairs of my house. Unfortunately, I don't have anyone who can come stay with me.

My parents also only live about 5-10 minutes away, so I can wait a little bit- watch the weather reports- and maybe leave a little later if I need to.

[claymore]

Put everything thats in the basement up high because it sounds like that if you've had drainage problems b4 you're going to have problems again ! Got rubber boots ?

[ThePreparedMom]

Put everything thats in the basement up high because it sounds like that if you've had drainage problems b4 you're going to have problems again ! Got rubber boots ?

I'm working on getting everything up off of the floor now- and I've got my rubber boots and pool float ready to go :)

[crossbow]

what would you have done 50 yrs ago in the same fix, before the government and media hypted up everything? I'm setting here right now enjoying the hurricane, Power is out

[1Admin]

Folks in those areas check in as you have time/ability. You never know about these things.

[HDM]

Hey Mom, What did you decide? How did everything turn out?

[ThePreparedMom]

Hey HDM- I decided to take the kids and go stay at my parents's house- only because the thought of trying to scramble and get the kids together to leave the house if something happened in the middle of it was something that I didn't want to have to do. Prepping definitely made my leaving much easier though, as I had everything ready to go and felt much less stressed knowing that I didn't have to scramble to get things together.

And, of course, as luck would have it- because I decided to pack up and leave, we didn't get hit with much at all. It's always when you are prepared for something that it doesn't end up being as bad. Gotta keep good old Murphy at bay :)

I thank everyone for their great advice and concerns. It was very helpful for me when I was trying to make my decision.

[Bearman202]

You know you have provided a very important message to the rest of us, don't you? That message is, If you see it coming, and have the option, GET OUT OF THE WAY! You saw a potential problem, you evaluated, and then you acted. That's the way it's supposed to work. Very logical response, and yes, it wasn't bad, THIS TIME, but it could have been. Better to be somewhere else when the bad stuff happens. All the preparedness in the world won't help if your location goes away. You did the smart thing. To me, doing the smart thing is what prepping is about. Congratulations!

[TyrannyUnleashed]

You know you have provided a very important message to the rest of us, don't you? That message is, If you see it coming, and have the option, GET OUT OF THE WAY! You saw a potential problem, you evaluated, and then you acted. That's the way it's supposed to work. Very logical response, and yes, it wasn't bad, THIS TIME, but it could have been. Better to be somewhere else when the bad stuff happens. All the preparedness in the world won't help if your location goes away. You did the smart thing. To me, doing the smart thing is what prepping is about. Congratulations!

Amen to that!
Glad you're all OK, Mom