Hurricane Prep

[Kitsune]

The official start of the "six months o' fun" is this coming Thursday and, in previous years, hurricane prep meant finding a six day cooler, propane stove and fuel, etc. This year, the tactic is as simple as "never let the gas guage on the car fall below 1/2". The "scram kit" consists of important documents and other irreplaceables in sealed containers that can be quickly thrown into the car so that a rapid departure can be made. A quick final spin with the digital camera around the apartment to document items for insurance and then it's time to sit in traffic on I-75. All perfectly reasonable and, in 2004, tested. Not bad.

...until someone points out to my manager that a disaster recovery plan is needed that will ensure applications remain live despite a storm. (Because, you know, business must continue despite catastrophes.) Suggestions are carefully weighed and the annouced decision is not unexpected: simply fly someone out of town beforehand with data to the backup site in the event of a threatening hurricane. Of course, guess which single guy with no house to care for is at the top of the list? Suck. No one has yet to realize that flying out of town prior to landfall is practically impossible (Hello? The entire airport is an in evacuation zone because it is on the water.) and few seem to take into account that there is a bit of a "human panic factor" that causes work concerns to be pushed to the back burner when you're staring down the cone of probability of a major hurricane creeping across the gulf that has the potential to throw your roof, possessions, and self into the next county.

So, for anyone that weathered 2004/2005 seasons, any tips on dealing with the consequences of having to stick out minor storms? We only faced minor wind damage and several days without power during the last two seasons, so I fear I have a lot of lessons to learn, especially when I look to the dusty bins marked "Hurricane Kit" that haven't seen much use. Sharing checklists might reveal deficits.