I'm Gonna Need A Little Help........Please

[Texjbird]

  After my most recent run to Wally World this evening I stopped for some ice at a Circle K.  The cashier told me that Hurricane Michael will be a catagory 4 when it hits landfall.  I think that's going to be less than 100 miles S.W. from me, possibly closer to 80 miles.

In the time it took me to drive the appx. 1 mile home from the store it came to me .
  WTF IS WRONG WITH ME!!!!!       { LET'S NOT START A LIST RIGHT NOW  }

I don't have to sit here and wait to be blown away.  Q and I can head north west for about 100 to 150 miles and get out of harms way.  I'll have to unload some stuff out of the van and I need to do it climbing from between the seats in the passenger area.   The first thing needs to be a big box that is about 8in taller than the seat and it's full too!.  I'm thinking I'll just rent a room somewhere and stay a night or two.  I'd stay in a truck stop except I know I can't get the van empty enough to be able to stay in it

Also I've been told that using the side slider door with the window shattered like it is could cause it to fall out with glass going into the door and might mess up the doors locking  and might even keep it from shutting and staying shut properly.

Can someone tell me in toddler talk how to access Wifi where/when it's available?  

My blood sugars were 101 when I started this post.  That is the level when I start getting shakey, panicky and aggresive.  Not the best time for me to make decisions.  I've eaten and will take my meds and lay down for a nap.

All my "Emergency" stuff is scattered about the Aliner, various storage units, and my apartment.  At least I know where my tent, generator, single burner propane stove , & Luci lights are.  At least I know where our food and my insulin is.

So I'm moving Queenie up to the "Big Bed" and hope I can get a few hours sleep.

When I paid my rent today I asked about the next inspection.........It's sometime this month.  I just flat told the manager that my unit would probably not pass and that I'm not going to make myself any sicker than I already am by trying to.  I also told her that I always passed the HUD inspections and that I don't need people in my home several times a year unless they were invited.  I said it nicely, barely.  She is new and seems to be nice so we'll just have to wait and see.

I think I need a Weather Radio since I don't have TV.  Damn when did I become so needy?   I DON'T LIKE IT AT ALL 

JewellAnn

[Scott7022]

You're not being needy your being faced with a challenge and are processing the information. Thinking and asking for help. Sternwake can probably look at weather charts and reports better than talking heads on TV so perhaps he will chime in.

Moving may be the best option and I'll let others chime in as they dwell and I don't.

I plan for contingencies and do risk management all day long. Playing the Devil's advocate might it better to bunker up in place? Is it possible to park the rig safely on some close higher ground and Bug in rather than bug out to someplace you don't know and they don't know you? A cheap weather radio from radio shack than runs on batteries would be a great addition. However many radio stations broadcast on FM and AM in emergency situations. A local university or amateur AM may be used in these cases as well. Depends how hard it is to find a cheap emergency radio. Bunker in the known and with medication and familiar surroundings might be better than the added stress of outrunning a storm that could turn last minute and head right to you. 200 miles for a storm is a little detour.

I don't know your situation or much about your medical stuff but...
Fill cheap water bottles 3/4 full and toss them in the freezer until solid.
Fill the bathtub with water.
If you live ground floor:
fill containers you can easily move with foodstuffs. You don't need a lot of food. With diabetes, you know what emergency quick fix stuff you need and put that with your grab (go) bag along with medication. Leave medication that needs refrigeration in the fridge till the last minute then place with the frozen water bottle if you have to move or if/when the power goes out. Fridges are well-insulated boxes so when the power goes out move bottles from freezer to the fridge if you need the room or move meds to the freezer section if you don't need the room.

Find a higher place to rest: kitchen counter or table and make it comfortable if you need to rest on it. Bring changes of intimates and bunker yourself up in the known structure. Put electronics high up and be prepared to be without internet and coms for a few days. Sleep your cell when not using it or put in airplane mode between checks and calls.

Just my two cents
Be safe and good vibes.

[rvpopeye]

Contingency expert !
Glad you're on our team !

TJB
Maybe the storm takes a bite out of your apt
and the inspection is cancelled ,,,,,,of course that doesn't account for the repair people.

You make the decision to flee or stay , just leave early if you decide to go , the lines SUCK.

[Kaylee]

JewellAnn, your basic premise is awesome.
That's one of the biggest advantages to being mobile: fleeing from danger.

Scott's points & advice are all excellent.
Leaving with short notice and in a high stress & complex state is suboptimal, but only you can make the final decision.

The condition of your van's window adds to the "shelter in place" column.
3 years ago, one of my rear side windows shattered from heat stress (peek of the 2015 heat wave in Chicago).
I duct taped a garbage bag to the edges and drove to an indie repair shop. The flapping was extremely stressful to me, and was particularly bad above 25 mph. Granted, I'm noise sensitive, but I suspect it would be a distraction to anybody, particularly if they had other stressors.
Before making a final decision, I strongly recommend you drive at least a mile locally in the van, to see how you feel about the noise and lessened visibility.

If you Stay:
Follow all of Scott's awesome advice.
If you have any empty 2L soda bottles, use them for freezing water, since they have a higher volume to surface area ratio, so will stay frozen/cold longer. Use smaller bottles too, for maximum space packing.

Put a single ice cube in a small shallow container (anything whose bottom area is larger than the cube) in your freezer compartment. If the cube melts then refreezes, it will be obvious, so you'll know whether the frozen food may have issues. In most disasters, electricity is restored relatively quickly, so the ice cube test just gives you objective proof that things are safe.

If you Go:
Could you sleep on top of stuff in the van? If they're in boxes/totes, you may be able to rearrange them so you could put a sleeping pad on top, and spread out your weight among many objects.
Perhaps skip the generator & tent, to save space & complexity.
Recharge every battery that you can conveniently do.

What device(s) were you planning to use with road Wifi?
I can probably talk you thru using it/them.
Anything made in the last decade will be very easy to connect.

Scott nailed it about local weather coverage.
Some/most/all? of your local TV stations should have live streaming coverage, with weather radar. I've generally found TV emergency weather coverage to be superb, plus there's a certain comfort level in having your favorite weather critter.
If you prefer radio to TV, then you're already good to go, just tune to your favorite station.

Good luck & a Virtual Hug to you!
When you have the time please update us.

[MN C Van]

YIKES!!!!

I'd never thought these words would come out of my mouth, but

Listen to what the government is telling you to do.

If they're telling you to leave, then do so. If not, stay.

If you have to leave and some stuff gets in some mechanism of something, well I guess you deal with that later.

Deal with one thing at a time- After this passes then go to challenge #2. Easy to say, I know ...

[Kaylee]

Deal with one thing at a time- After this passes then go to challenge #2. Easy to say, I know ...

Excellent advice!
Channel Matt Damon in "The Martian".

[TrainChaser]

Deep Breathing Exercise: Simple, you can do them anywhere -- sit down and take a deep, lung-filling breath while counting to 5; release slowly to a count of 5. Repeat, repeat, repeat. It's very good for panic attacks, etc.

Do you happen to have a hitch on your escape vehicle? What about pulling a small trailer? Shift all of the stuff you don't need immediately from the van to the trailer, so you can sleep in it. Try not to get into a place where you'll have to back it up, unless you're used to doing that.

Look at the prospective path of the storm: North & East. So drive North and West from it before you stop for the night.

Take water and food with you, gas up whenevery you can.

Good luck!

[Blacktank]

can you make it to Cammies place?

[Texjbird]

So we are still in AL at home.  It looks like rain and some sudden strong wind guests are the worst of what I need to deal with.

I found a local Dothan AL news chanel that streams live news/weather broadcasts 5 times a day.  Then re-runs them thru the day with interruptions for up dates.  My next door neighbor watches TV from when she wakes up until about 12 midnite.

The High School has opened a shelter for 80, it's B.O.B. = Bring Your Own Bed and no animals allowed.  That let's Q and I out.
  
 So if you put together the BOBs that I'm aware of you get..........Bring your own bed.........Bring your own bottle.......and one more that I ain't a sayin'.  Being the delicate sourthern flower that I am 

Scott the bathtub is Q and my Emergency  Shelter.  That's where we'll pile in for a tornado warning with lots of pillows and covers.  This town was hit really hard by a tornado several years ago on a school day. The High School was damaged really bad and there were some deaths.

I've dressed Q in her Redneck Raingear = Wally World bag tucked in to her harness with a bandana tied around her belly to keep it from flappin'.  Poor little ol' thing...every time she squatted the wind would gust and she'd hop up.  I guess she finally figured to hell with it and TCB.  I have since found her camo quilted raincoat for her next outside excursion.
Qs herd of 4 yellow & orange Tom Cats must be deep in the woods.  The 3 kittens are on the front porch.  I managed with lawn chairs and a cabinet to get them one spot that is only damp and not soaked. They ate like little piglets as usual.

The lights have gone on and off a few times so far.  I'm charging my second LED flash/spotlight.  Trying to stay awake so that if I'm without power tonight I can maybe sleep through most of it.  I have 4 smaller led flash lights and a lot of candles.

I'm currently using a PRO 12 tablet. It has a big touch screen and google voice,  I use them both a lot instead of typing everything.  I also have a Verizon Elipsis that I'm learning about how to change some settings on and manouver around on.  I pretty much need to use a stylus to type on it.

Thank You to everyone for your responses

 I hope not to be caught as unprepared for bad weather or another emergency again as I was this time.  I have told my family and friends for the last year or longer that it is my intention to never again be without a vehicle that I can sleep in and live in in some manner. That doesn't do me a lot of good unless I can get it ready to travel and have everything I need ready and in a designated place in my home. 
I realized today that I can't access the Aliner or my storage unit after office hours if the electric goes out unless they have a back up generator.  Besides the high fence with a barbed wire topping there are camaras and a coded entry to open the gate after hours.

  So I'm shifting around some of my priorties and hope I can get things done quickly.  There is just so much to do.

Jewellann

[TrainChaser]

Maybe it will veer away from you. Are there any other shelters available? Some of them around here (WA) are now beginning to allow pets, but I don't know the conditions. And I think they allow people to camp in the parking lot with their pets (with an absolute clean-up rule). Some of these involve fairground -- any possibility there?

I wish you could just pick up and run. Fingers crossed for you and the Queen.