Hurricane Season 2005 is far from over folks, and at least one meteorologist expects that the remaining storms this season will begin working their way from the Gulf States towards the East Coast. Forewarned is forearmed.

WARNING: This is not comprehensive hurricane survival guide. I've only been through a few, and hardly consider myself an expert. Anyone who claims to be able to tell you everything you need to do to survive in every situation is lying. Adjust accordingly to your circumstances, but remember the only way to beat a hurricane is to not be there when it arrives.

Before the Storm: General

• Listen to the radio, watch television news, or read online news sources to keep abreast of developing tropical systems. Keep close track of storms that may head in your general direction. Don't be caught flat-footed.
  
• Know the hurricane evacuation routes for your area. By a state map or better yet, an atlas that can provide you with parallel routes away from an impending storm.
  
• Make sure any vital medical prescriptions are filled in advance of an impending storm.
  
• Make hotel reservations several days in advance "just in case." Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.
  

Before the Storm: Around the House

• Secure any outside objects. Bikes, toys, plants and other outdoor items can be carried away by wind and water, often at unpleasant velocities.
  
• Board up your windows if possible, or tape them with duct tape in an asterisk pattern (*) if that is your only option. This serves to reinforce the glass.
  

Before the Storm: Transportation

• Fill your gas tank several days in advance, and keep it topped off.
  
• Check your vehicle's fluids, and belts, making sure to top off your windshield washer fluid and coolants.
  
• Make sure your tires are in good shape, and make sure your spare tire is inflated.
  
• Make sure your tires have adequate tread. See manufacturers guidelines.
  

Before the Storm: Personal

• Create a "bug-out bag."
  
  This is an emergency evacuation bag of bare essentials you make need in an emergency. In this bag (preferably a backpack) include:
  
  1. a small battery-operated AM/FM radio. fresh batteries for same.
     
  2. two waterproof flashlights and/or battery operated lanterns. fresh batteries for same.
     
  3. cell phone (and charger).
     
  4. disposable lighter and waterproof matches.
     
  5. personal toiletries including toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, hand sanitizer, and other personal hygiene products as applicable.
     
  6. a first aid kit with painkillers, bandages and band aids.
     
  7. duct tape (min. 2 rolls)
     
  8. sturdy pocket knife
     
  9. hammer & prybar
     
  10. box of 8D nails
      
  11. blankets (multiple)
      
  12. clothes
      
  13. socks
      
  14. raingear
      
  15. boots
      
  16. enough non-perishable, ready-to-eat food and water (1 gallon per person per day) for three days.
      
  17. last but not least, all insurance information, property, vehicle, life, and medical.
      
  
  
• create a contacts list. Include a I.C.E. "in case of emergency" number.
  
• put an I.C.E. notification with your ID and store it in your cell phone.
  

Before the Storm: Evacuation

• pack bug-out bag, and supplies including food and water into vehicle.
  
• make one last check to make sure outdoor items are secured.
  
• cut off all electrical switches, appliances, televisions, lights, etc.
  
• before you leave contact your I.C.E. person and let them know where you are going.
  
• make sure all windows are closed tightly and locked.
  
• lock all doors.
  
• leave.
  
• anticipate high winds and driving rain. Stay calm, drive slowly. Allow plenty of time to arrive at your destination. Beware of standing water.
  
• Call your I.C.E. contact when you arrive safely.
  

During the Storm
Moving away from the hurricane will most likely reduce the effects of a hurricane, but it cannot eliminate risks entirely, even hundred of miles inland.

• Duct tape windows in asterisk or "star" pattern (*). stay away from windows. draw blinds and curtains, if possible, to contain glass in the event of a break.
  
• stay inside, away from windows and doors especially during the eye of the storm. winds restart again quickly with extreme velocities as the eyes passes and the wind shifts 180 degrees.
  
• stay near interior walls. If the winds are very strong move into an interior bathroom where the building is likely to be strongest.
  
• do not leave unless flooding is imminent or you are instructed to do so by authorities.
  

After the Storm

• stay off the road and away from affected areas until authorities clear the area for your return.
  
• watch for downed power lines and other debris in roads.
  
• be very careful of standing pools of water and especially flowing water.
  
• watch for displaced wildlife. poisonous snakes, fireants, and abandoned pets. all can present hazards.
  
• watch for dangerous debris (wear boots).
  
• lookout for injured people and animals. Call authorities if possible.
  
• do not become a tourist. go home, and stay home.
  
• secure your property. take stock of any damage. Catalog for insurance purposes.
  

Again, this list is hardly comprehensive, and cannot anticipate special needs or unexpected situations such as those extraordinary circumstances currently facing those that have been hit by Hurricane Katrina. It is however, a start.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 11:45 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit is asking bloggers to contribute to a list of relief organizations he's compiling so that we can help out those affected by Katrina. It is great to see that Glenn and other top-flight bloggers like Michelle Malkin, Little Green Footballs, the Volokh Conspiracy, the Truth Laid Bear, and many, many more are doing their part to help those impacted by this horrific storm and its aftermath.

My humble submission to Glenn's list is Samaritan's Purse. Samaritan's Purse is a Christian relief organization run by Franklin Graham, son of legendary minister Bill Graham.

They already have trucks rolling south, and have two disaster relief teams in Alabama. They will base in Mobile, Alabama and will work their way toward the Mississippi and Louisiana coasts, coordinating thousands of volunteers from local churches to rehabilitate as many homes as possible.

They also accept employer matching funds.

Help them help the victims if you can. Samaritan's Purse not only helps rebuild buildings, they help rebuild faith.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 09:08 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Let's go ahead and nip this one in the bud.

Shepard Smith is on Fox News right now telling us that looters are roaming the streets of New Orleans armed with AK-47s. Let's nip this rumour in the bud right now.

This is an AK-47. An AK-47 is a fully-automatic weapon that has a rate of fire of 600 rounds/minute. It is highly regulated under federal law, and almost impossible to obtain in the United States without extremely restrictive background checks and full registration.

This is a WASR-10. A WASR-10 is a semi-automatic rifle that has a rate of fire restricted by how fast the shooter can pull the trigger, effectively 60-100 rounds/minute. It is one of a thousand AK-47 look-a-likes available in the United States, but it is not a machine gun.

Hey, aren't these the same picture? How can you tell the two apart?

My point exactly. The fact of the matter is that untrained people, and this includes most police officers, and almost all journalists, cannot tell the two apart even, when close enough to touch them.

Don't let the media hysteria make this event any worse than it already is. They've done enough of that already.

Update: Bill O'Reilly is spreading the same ignorance.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 08:11 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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Via WBRZ-TV:

Some 5,300 inmates in Orleans Parish Prison are awaiting evacuation, according to Pam Laborde, spokeswoman for the Louisiana Dept. of Corrections. About 1,200 OPP inmates have been evacuated to Hunt Correctional Center, the staging area to send inmates out to other facilities.

Correctional officers are on the scene in New Orleans and all inmates are being chaperoned. Laborde said no inmates have escaped to their knowledge.

As of 3 a.m., all inmates in Jefferson Parish were evacuated. St. Bernard Parish inmates were evacuated before the storm.

The decision to move the inmates was made after there was no electricity, water, etc. The inmates are afraid and hungry, but were somewhat relieved when told that the situation would approve, according to Laborde.

On the bright side: It looks like yesterday's erroneous ABC News report about prisoners taking hostages reported here was wrong. I don't blame ABC for having bad information, though; it's hard to easily get corroborating information under such circumstances.

On the down side: Authorities have done absolutely nothing to prevent a prisoner riot, and as conditions continue to deteriorate, it may well yet happen.

Church groups are now tasked with transporting starving, frightened, and desperate felons of Orleans Parish Prison. The lambs are leading the wolves.

Update: According to Lisa Carton of Fox News, New Orleans officials are unable to handle prisoners and have let them go to fend for themselves.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 07:17 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Not real sure about the context of this pic I Googled (from somewhere here), but the time has come for New Orleans and other areas overwhelmed by looters.

This New Orleans cop seems to be taking that consideration under advisement. A 12-gauge seems to be about the only law in the Big Easy right now.

I wonder if Remington offers a "Looter Special."

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 07:01 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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Jeff Jarvis asks:

It's an indelicate question but one that needs to be asked: Should New Orleans be rebuilt? Or how much of it should be?

We've done similar work after eerily similar events here in North Carolina, though on a smaller scale. If they do decide to rebuild a city the size of New Orleans, it would take decades, and tens of billions of dollars that could once again be undone in a single storm.

To paraphrase, rebuilding the same city in the same spot and expecting a different result is the definition of what? We got it right with Diamond City 103 years ago. Sounds minds would follow suit.

Goodbye, Big Easy. It was fun while it lasted.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 10:19 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit is organizing a list of links and contact numbers for aid and relief organizations. GO THERE NOW. Do what you can.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 09:59 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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From meteorologist Jeff Master's blog at the Weather Underground:

The track forecast has not changed significantly, and the area from New Orleans to the Mississippi-Louisiana border is going to get a catastrophic blow. I put the odds of New Orleans getting its levees breached and the city submerged at about 70%. This scenario, which has been discussed extensively in literature I have read, could result in a death toll in the thousands, since many people will be unable or unwilling to get out of the city. I recommend that if you are trapped in New Orleans tomorrow, that you wear a life jacket and a helmet if you have them. High rise buildings may offer good refuge, but Katrina has the potential to knock down a high-rise building. A 25 foot storm surge and 30 - 40 foot high battering waves on top of that may be able to bring down a steel-reinforced high rise building. I don't believe a high rise building taller than six stories has ever been brought down by a hurricane, so this may not happen Monday, either. We are definitely in unknown waters with Katrina.

Hurricane force winds are now striking Louisiana. Katrina is 105 miles south southeast of New Orleans, and landfall is expected early Monday morning. Computer models suggest that more than 80 percent of buildings would be badly damaged or destroyed, he said.

God be with all of you within reach of Katrina's grasp, because you are beyond human help now.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 12:06 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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As of 10:50 AM eastern time, Hurricane Katrina has just be upgraded again, with sustained wind speeds of 175 MPH. Of Atlantic hurricanes, only Hurricane Camille (1969) and Hurricane Allen (1980) have higher confirmed wind speeds in the 190 MPH range.

Citizens of New Orleans have been ordered out in a mandatory evacuation, but interestingly enough, a "captive audience" doesn't seem to be factored into evacuation plan, or if they have, the mayor is not talking about them publicly.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin ordered an immediate mandatory evacuation Sunday for all 485,000 citizens, during a press conference just broadcast on CNN, but ignored repeated questions asking whether or not they intend to evacuate prisons in the area.

This is significant: as of 2000, that state of Louisiana:

...locks up more men, women, and children than anybody else in the United States. And in a ranking of U.S. jails by an average daily population, OPP came in at No. 9.

While current data is hard to come by the situtation for Orleans Parish Prison is likely similar to this from five years ago:

...the average daily population at OPP -- 6,381 inmates -- is much lower than its booking rate. Most of his inmates are either going to or coming from a court date at Orleans Parish District Criminal Court, says Foti. He also holds 50 juveniles. The rest are people that OPP is being paid for: a few hundred federal prisoners and 2,700 Louisiana state inmates sleeping in parish prison beds until space becomes available in the state system.

Police and fire assets are dedicated to moving a half million people, including 100,000 that rely on public transportation, There may not be enough law enforcement officers available to move the prison population, and if they can be moved, it remains to be seen where they could be moved.

I sincerely hope that Mayor Nagin is just keeping prisoner transfers quiet. I fear, however, that he has been caught flat-footed, and that hundreds or thousands of prisoners may have to ride out an extremely powerful hurricane from behind bars.

8/30/05 Update: CBS News just reported that Orleans Parish Prison was forced into an emergency evacuation this afternoon as the prison was rapidly filling with water.

KATC has more on the evacuation. Nice job, guys. It only took you 48 hours to get on this. We're damn lucky you're not reporting about 4,000 water-logged corpses.

9/2/05 Update: Prison Riot was bogus, but now it appears the convicts got out before the children, the elderly, and the ill. See here for more.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 11:26 AM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
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