pray for the Vojaceks

[vojacek]

hello friends....we are bracing for Rita. hopefully things will be okay here. if not, we will rebuild. we are very nervous and plan to head inland on thursday. i will try to keep posting from where ever we end up. things don't look good. although we are not in a flood plan, if we get a cat. 5  we will lose everything. we have been busy trying to secure what we can. Hopefully, my next post will be of good news...till then, pray for us, we're gonna need it.
Monica

[glenn-k]

Take care, Monica and family.

[Amanda_931]

Have fun.

We'll be thinking of you.

[bil2054]

Best of luck.

[Amanda_931]

I forgot to get off the internet before I ran adaware, and this snuck in.  Looks like it might be useful for people who are leaving as well as those who can--my mother did this--fill the bathtub with water when there was going to be a storm.

This is from Steven Harris, the guy who promotes home brew hydrogen, sent a message around about the vehicles that can run on 85% alcohol--he likes home brew for that too. (never met him, bought a book from him once)  He really loves black plastic trash bags!

You can download his radio spots here:

http://www.beforethestormhits.com/

but some is in print in his email, which I've copied below.


We sent this email out last year during the Florida hurricanes and so many people
said it REALLY HELPED them we are sending it out again.  People told me they were
laughing at their neighbors who had no water when they hand plenty, for f-ree and
in about 10 minutes.

Those of you who know us know that we have a life long dedication to Home Land
Security and the protection of the American public from disaster of both natural
and man made.

Get some clean-new-unscented trashbags and put them in a plastic tote, drawer or
box or trash can and fill it with tap water.   You'll have an instant 100 gallons
of water.  Want drinking water in your bathtub?  Fill the trash bags and put them
in the bath tub.  ONLY use water that is in the tub itself for washing or
flushing water.  Light, illumination.  Go get a 1 hour rayovac, or the 15minute
AA NiMH battery charger or ' Digital' brand at walmart.  Its in the photo area.
Get some batteries, 4 for $6 each for the 2200mah "Digital" brand NiMH batteries.
Make sure you charger has a 12 volt cable for the car.  Congratulations; you now
have an unlimted supply of AA batteries for around the house flashlights and
small radios and such.  Make sure its AA, its NiMH an it has a 12 volt cig
lighter plug and you'll be ok.  Only have the 120volt AC charger with your AA
charger?  Get a VECTOR brand inverter at walmart.  The 90 watt one costs $17.  
Want a ton of light all night?  Get a 5 WATT compact florescent bulb at walmart,
they are about $3.35 each or 3 for $9.95.  Remember, the 5 WATT COMPACT
FLORESCENT BULBS, they will probably say LIGHTS OF AMERICA BRAND on them.  You
can run ONE OR TWO of these bulbs ( 10 watts total) on the small inverter from
the power outlet of your car ALL NIGHT ( a good 8+ hours) without running the
engine.  If you drive someplace the next morning, the battery will charge.
Otherwise idle the car OUTSIDE for about 30 minutes to put back the energy you
used all night.  NO MORE than 10 watts all night, or you'l get a dead battery in
the morning, well.. you could get one, depends on your vehicle battery size and
how old it is.  Want more light inside without the car?  Get an LED head lamp,
rayoac, energizer, etc... at Walmart, about $12. This will run on 3 batteries for
about 100 hours, but these are AAA batteries, not AA,  so get a few AAA NiMH
batteries when you are there.  The AA charger will charge the AAA's as well.  
All of this, and much more, is in the audio class on our website and  its free
and I want nothing for it except for you to be safer and better informed.  Other
places with good info are ready.gov and redcross.org, but they won't teach you
this stuff...heck they don't even trust you with a candle.  They'll tell you what
good documents to have and keep and phone numbers and such, but they stink on
their food and water and power.  Make sure, you have a GOOD 2 D cell flashlight
with ALKALINE (Duracell brand, not the funny bunny)  batteries in it as your
main, life must depend on it, flashlight.  Nothing else, ONLY D cell Alkaline.
Got it?  for your main light.  Little AA lights or AAA lights are fine for around
the house AFTER the storm.  I don' care if its a $1 plastic light that has 2 D
Cell alkalines in it, its better than any $50 AA light.  

As always, on our website, we have a F-REE family preparedness class.  Its all
audio, mp3, you just download it and listen to it.  No cost, no sales, no
nothing.  Just go sign up for it and download it.  This is our contribution to
everyone.  This will help you with hurricane preparedness SO MUCH.   It'll make
knowing what to get and not get at the grocery store and wal-mart so much easier.
Tells you how to make a delicious tortilla from flour, water, salt, oil in 30
seconds, all the bread you want on a skillet, and kids love it, put peanut butter
and jelly on it.  How to store water NOW.  Don't waste your time and money trying
to fight or buy it.

[Daddymem]

Good luck.  I hope all your hardwork is still there when you come back, it was coming along so well.

[Jimmy_Cason]

Good luck, we are praying for you!

From my many years living in Biloxi I have learned a few things about hurricane survival.

#1 Leave

#2 take anything with you  that cannot be replaced, Pictures,pets,ect.

#3 Take all of your insurance info with you..

#4 Let relatives know what your plan is and where you are going.

#5 there will be no cell phone service,water,electricity. (Every hurricane I evacuated for,  I was without these things for at least two weeks)

#6 stock up on drinking water, and water to flush toilets, gasoline,motor oil, batteries,canned food.

#7 buy a generator from home depot they are about 600 dollars and worth every penny.
My dad bought one from home depot in Biloxi before katrina and it has been used about 10 hours per day for 2 weeks now with no problems.

The biggest problems I saw after going help after Katrina were,
 No phone service Cell phone or land line.

No gas available to people trying to get back home.

Not enough Food and water

And people that would do anything to take these items from you if had them.

[Mommymem]

Best of luck to you. Our thoughts are with you.

[Amanda_931]

Insurance information sounds like a really really good idea.

Might even email policy numbers to a trusted person well away from the projected path.

Somebody pointed out in a blog that with the amount of advance notice for Katrina, and the speed of cars driving away, a slow person on a bicycle could have weaved through traffic and gone faster.   He did't add--if they had a bicycle, if they could ride, if they were fit enough for even a slow 30 mile ride, if they weren't trying to take two pre-schoolers with them et cetera.

A nice--used but with good tires--mountain bike might be a good addition, but it might not calm you down to go searching for one or two, or three.

And while there are panicked people runing around trying to get anything they can, and casual people trying to pick up anything not nailed down, the stories out of the neighborhoods has mostly been that people came together and acted as a neighborhood.

[peg_688]

 Prayers your way , you got it :)HTBH ;)PEG

[jonseyhay]

You bet guys, stay safe. To you and all others facing that storm, our best wishes.
jonesy

[Okie_Bob]

My good friend and coworker left Freeport yesterday afternoon heading for my lake house to ride out the hurricane. I reached him by cell phone some three hours after they hit the road, he had managed only 25 miles on I-45!!! Last night, after about 6 hours on the road, they still had not made Houston! Haven't heard yet this morning but suspect they are still on the road and they only had a 200 mile drive to get here. So, Amanda's story about riding a bike is very appropriate.
Okie Bob

[Laura21]

Best wishes for all who are riding out the storm. I'll keep you in my thoughts.



Laura

[Bouncer]

Head for the hills and stay safe.
Kevin

[vojacek]

everyone's prayers  must have worked. Thanks!! we have learned alot the past few days. thanks to some of your advice, we were prepared. we waited to leave and missed all the traffic. we also filled everything we owned with gas and that helped because there is no gas to be found in this area. we have 2 generators, so power wasn't the issue for us, we were mostly concerned about the storm surge. what good are generators if you're sitting in the rafters? we packed are most precious cargo and went north west to my aunt's house in houston. her neighborhood is new and surrounded by a 12ft. brick wall. we waited and then checked the skycams in the city to decide which route to take. there was NO ONE on the raod when we left, but yet they were telling people it was to late to leave, and to shelter in place 24 HOURS  before the storm was supposed to hit.we were very upset with local goverment for closing major routes (BACKROADS) out of the city and forcing people on the congested highways, but you won't hear about that on tv.  hopefully, local goverment will be better prepared next time.  i think some good came of all this mess, and next time people will be more willing to follow the evacuation zones more carefully.  

[glenn-k]

Great to hear everything is OK with you, Monica and family.   We were thinking of you.

[peg_688]

  Thanks for the update , tough end of summer for the Gulf area , to say the least

[vojacek]

i have lived along the texas gulf for 27 years, almost my whole life, and to see a cat 5 in the gulf is one of the most hopeless feelings i've ever had. i'm soooo glad it's gone. my brother-in-law lives in Beaumont and said the pressure broke the seal around the windows, and ripped up every tree on his 10 acre ranch. and next week, it could all happen again. my friends always laugh when i call insurance "legal mafia". But i am now a believer. we didn't purchase flood insurance because we don't live in a flood zone. this week we found out we do live in a storm surge zone ..... we will now be flood insurane policy holders!!!

[Daddymem]

Good to hear you are all ok.