It's that time of year again. There's a tropical storm below us that looks pretty harmless at this point. Check out progress at
Wunderground among other sites.
However, now is the time to start thinking about storm shutters and preparing for hurricanes. If you don't use storm shutters (many don't here in Baja) and you don't have a generator (see last parenthesis) at least do the basic things that will help make a storm a little more bearable. I've been through several and never had wind damage that amounted to anything until JOHN. Nasty storm. Took out 6 sliders and a couple of windows.
Bad things that can happen sometimes as the result of a hurricane:
1. We lose power
2. A bridge or critical arroyo gets washed out
3. A water main breaks
4. Stuff breaks including windows (think about water damage)
5. The gas stations run out of gas
6. The food stations run out of food
7. It gets hotter and more humid afterward than is bearable
Etc etc
On the bright side of this is that in the last few years, Baja California Sur has made big improvements to the infrastructure. We have bridges over all the major arroyos. We have many more gas stations than just a few years ago. The power company is taking a more active role in storm preparation. We have many more grocery stores. More hardware, more everything. More cows on the highway. I just threw that last one in there for free. So recovery from a storm these days is in many ways, easier to handle.
But you could be stuck at your house with no gas, no electricity, no food, no flashlights or candles or A/C and so on. Picture this if you will: It's 8pm. There's no power. You have no lights, no refrigerator, no TV, NO A/C! Waddya gonna do? It's WAY too hot to snuggle. You can't play cards in the dark. So picture clearly all these things and decide the level of protection you need and then the level you want and make some decisions.
Or buy airline tickets at the first sign of trouble.
Where's the fun in that you COWARDS!
Have some stuff ahead of time:
Gasoline: Nothing worse than not being able to drive around after a storm and look at broken stuff. I think we won't run out of gas so quickly any more since the proliferation of gas stations in the area. We even have 2 in Los Barriles now! But remember: just because you're paranoid doesn't mean we WON'T run out of gas.
Food: Same deal. We have enough stores around that if you have a car (and gas) you might be ok.
Propane: If you're using a gas stove or gas water heater, check your gas NOW.
Electricity: Small generators are getting cheaper and cheaper. A generator that costs under $1000 can even run an small A/C unit if you're careful.
Kayaks: Several years ago, a bunch of enthusiastic Buena Vista/Los Barriles fellas lead by Steve Chism took their kayaks down one of the raging arroyos. Sounds like fun.......kinda........in a self-destructive suicidal way. Forget the kayaks.
This is by no means an all-inclusive list but if you go to the
National Hurricane Center site, they have a BUNCH of good stuff for you.
Get ready or not. Here they come.
