by Angela Maxwell

Created on: November 24, 2008   Last Updated: December 09, 2008

2008 Guide To Hurricane Planning

The following is an out of towner's guide to hurricane planning. It has been prepared for every one who does not live in the Gulf coast area or is new to the area. Every effort has been made to make a very chaotic and stressful time easier to deal with.

1. When you hear that a tropical depression has formed begin monitoring the local news daily. You will receive lots of hype and useless information very early on.

2. When a tropical storm has formed create a list of hurricane supplies that you might need. (This will be addressed later.) The recommendation is for 2 week of supplies but it really does not matter because you will not be able to get them anyway.

3. When a Hurricane has formed, monitor news several times a day for more useless information and guess work.

4. Once the storm is in the Gulf of Mexico go to a local Lowe's or Home Depot or Wal-Mart to try to get your hurricane supplies. You will find very little and will wait in line for hours to get it.

5. In the event of a major hurricane (a category 3 or higher) evacuation orders will be issued for just about every one. This means that if you want to leave you will have to wait for hours in traffic to get out of town. Once you are out you will have to travel hundreds of miles to get a room in a motel to stay in.

6. If you do decide to stay, stay tuned to local news for more stupid & useless information. Once the hurricane is about a day or less out the local news stations will go to "wall to wall" coverage. Nothing else will be on local stations so hope you have cable or satellite if you want to watch anything else.

7. If the structure you decide to "ride out" the storm be comes seriously damaged, you can call the local authorities for assistance. If they can get to you be assured that the tree you have used as a lifeline will certainly collapse and you both will need to be rescued with the whole thing being caught on armature home video.

8. As the hurricane comes ashore, if you decide to watch the local news you will see national and local reporters being blown and tossed about like rag dolls. This can be entertaining but most of it is useless coverage designed to sensationalize the storm.

9. After the storm has passed, you will continue to see wall to wall coverage of the "aftermath" of the storm for up to 3 days on the local news. People will be interviewed that are stranding in any kind of line. For some reason networks seem to think this is hard hitting news.

10. During

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