Surviving hurricane hype!

This past weekend we were in the "cone of death". For those of you not familiar with this term, it is what we in Florida call the National Hurricane Center's (NHC) "cone of uncertainty." When you see your area in the "cone of death", especially if the storm is a Cat 3 or higher, your blood pressure rises, your chest tightens and...you want to throw up.
Last Thursday, most of Florida was in this cone of death, with Hurricane Ike locked on South Florida. While preparing, waiting and dreading the thought of no a/c for weeks, I began my own list for surviving Ike and the hurricane hype that was beginning. I came up with a list of necessities that I would need to survive being inside my boarded up, dark house, hiding in a closet, with my husband, children and furry beasts.
First, on my list was a large bottle of Bacardi Light and diet crack (for those of you with no addictions, that is code for diet coke). If I am going to be sitting in a small, cramped cubby-hole closet with my family up my behind, I need something to numb my mind.
Next, was comfort, or hurricane foods, as we in the south like to call 'em. This includes chips, dip, cookies, chocolate and any other munchies you may desire. We need these in case the storm suddenly stalls off the coast, pounding us with rain and wind and we can't leave. Uh...can you say Hurricane Jeanne or Hurricane Frances anyone?
Key to my survival, was the portable DVD player, batteries and all personal video game and ipod/mp3 players to keep my children from whining me to death. This also includes a stop at Blockbuster or a trip to Target to purchase the latest movies so Mike and I don't go insane. Death by cartoons is not much better, but that hurricane cocktail may allow you to nap while the children are watching them. By the way, cable won't last and neither will your Internet so be sure and have one of those chargers you can plug into your car or generator after the storm to recharge those little buggers. If not, you may need to purchase another bottle of Bacardi.
This time around, I added a baby pool to my list. After Hurricane Wilma in 2005, Mini Me would not take a shower because the water was too cold. To solve that problem, I purchased one of those water pouches that double as a shower. It holds about 5 gallons of water so I purchased 2 of them and will have to let my husband figure out a way to rig it once the storm has passed. The sun is supposed to heat the water so hopefully, for Mini Me's sake, there will be sun after or else it's the cold shower again. Not my issue though. I purchased the tools and my part is done.
Avoiding the TV, also tops my list! For three days, every news channel had what you should be doing to prepare for the hurricane and how terrible this storm was gonna be...well duh!!!! By now, we know the drill. For the newcomers, there should be a storm preparedness course to take before relocating to the Sunshine State. I, for one, am tired of every newscaster wish casting it towards us! Once it became evident that Ike would not be visiting, they could still be seen with their pointers, tracing the path directly to South Florida. Please, just put the football game on! Anything is better than watching the talking heads talk the hurricane to death. Thankfully, Mother Nature was in agreement with this (this time) and only tracked Ike to us for a portion of the forecast. When she is especially generous, Mother Nature sends a trough, high or whatever magic she has, to steer the nasty bugger away from us. This happened to be the case for Hurricane Ike's forecast path. Having lived through Hurricane Andrew, Jeanne, Frances, Wilma and a bunch of others, I am in no rush to be without electricity. I was happy to see Ike move on.
Last on my list, were the actual "hurricane" supplies that I needed to replenish. This was not a long list, as I usually have a good supply of stuff on hand to get us through the first week or so. I am a hurricane preparedness fiend so I am usually ready. My husband calls it worrying, I call it being prepared. I have a corner in my dining room that I dub the "disaster relief" corner and all my hurricane stuff hangs out there. Like my shutters, I have given up putting them away, so it has a special spot in my home. During Hurricane Wilma, my parents stopped by for their cup of Joe that they could not make for themselves and family members called for information because they did not have a radio or batteries. Why, you ask? They were not as anal as I AND they were not prepared.
Please don't misunderstand me. The NHC does a phenomenal job forecasting and I have a huge amount of respect for them and the storms they track. It is not an exact science and many factors come into play when forecasting Mother Nature's next move. I can, however, do without all the media hype and the hurry up and wait attitude that is so much a part of the hurricane tracking process. The media's purpose is supposed to be to disseminate information, not hype up the public. I understand that people become complacent and the officials fear that some will not be ready for a potentially dangerous storm, but it gets old. Really quick. People are going to either be prepared or not. I guarantee they will only do that one time though. Preparedness is essential and information, not hype, is key.
Thankfully, now that the cone of death has shifted away from us and Ike is almost past our latitude, I can breathe a sigh of relief, throw away my list and pour me some diet crack and Bacardi to celebrate Ike's change of course. Hopefully, for those in his path, he will fall apart, as is sometimes the case, and not threaten anyone with his wind and rain. Please die Ike!