It's a little late to write about hurricane preparedness, but as a resident of Houston with memories of Hurricane Ike still pretty fresh, I'll offer the following pointers for those who will be digging out of the aftermath of Irene shortly.
- If you remembered to "run from water, hide from wind" then you're likely alive to read this. It's going to be a costly hassle, but you'll have great stories and some of you are going to enjoy the post-storm days as an extension of summer vacation.
- Houses with landline telephone service and DSL might suddenly become the communications hubs of the neighborhood.
- If you were one of those who were prepared enough to get a generator before the storm hit, congratulations! Be considerate of when you're using them, though, or else risk having your street sound like a motocross competition all night long.
- You may be cleaning up "street salad" for days.
- If you see a downed cable of any type in the street, flag the area to warn others, but don't attempt to play Crocodile Hunter and attempt to touch it or "move it out of the way." They can have nasty bites.
- If you believed the story that taping your windows had any kind of real protective effect you'll be scraping residue off the windows until the next hurricane shows up.
- Your radio airwaves will feature law firm commercials targeting insurance companies until . . . well, I'm still waiting for Ike-related stuff to stop.
- If you think the real estate "bubble" has taken value off the top of your house, you haven't seen anything yet.
- Consider having a general contractor on retainer now, or be prepared to wait in line for one to fix your house later.
- If you've ever had thoughts of changing careers to construction, you're in luck!
Stay safe, East Coasters. When you're done playing with the storm, would you mind sending what's left to drought-afflicted Texas? Thanks!
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