Hurricane Season advice

[Karen]

It turns out an old friend of mine was recently on the news discussing flood insurance, particularly for anyone living in a coastal area during hurricane season.

Here's the article from their website, which is pretty comprehensive, and in light of the storms in recent years including Sandy, I thought it would be interesting to all coastal Pet Talkers - and as you know, storms can reach many miles inland, so it is worth reading!

4 Tips for Hurricane Season (http://www.iii.org/press_releases/be-prepared-four-tips-to-protect-coastal-residents-this-hurricane-season.html)

I have been fortunate enough in life to have always lived on a hill where floods were unlikeliest, but it was interesting anyway, especially as I know lots of folks in low-lying areas ...

Okay, Kansans can maybe skip this one, but ...

[pomtzu]

I've lived thru numerous hurricanes both in RI and here in DE, but have been fortunate enough to never sustain any major wind damage, and no flooding since we were always high enough and just enough inland from the coast, and not near any rivers or streams either.

Last year during Sandy, my granddaughter felt the brunt of it - she and 3 college roommates lived in an oceanfront condo (2nd floor luckily) and got battered. They were evacuated right before the storm hit, and were displaced for over 2 weeks before they could go back. She and her boyfriend went inland to one of his relatives, but they still had a lot of damage there with roads washed out or washed over with many feet of beach sand, and no power for many days. This year (her senior year), she and 4 of her friends have rented a 5 bedroom house much further inland, and should be alright - at least from the water and sand!

As for me - I darn well better be in western NC by then!!!! :)

So all of you coast and hurricane area dwellers - be on the lookout and don't be foolish enough to try to ride out any storm that may strike in your vicinity. It might be fascinating to watch (or I think it is), but it's nothing to mess around with. Watch it on t.v. :p

[Karen]

They also have good info on pet insurance - and emergency preparedness for people with pets - Disaster preparedness (http://www.iii.org/press_releases/if-you-have-a-pet-advanced-evacuation-planning-is-key-when-preparing-for-a-hurricane-or-other-disaster.html) which is good info no matter where you live. People who are not close to the coasts may not worry much about hurricanes, but tornados hit them, and of course rain, fires ...

And if you have any questions, I can always contact my friend who works for the III!

[Alysser]

Buy a generator before they go out of stock:D