Hurricanes are coming  - What to Do? 

Yes it’s time not only to be sure everything outside that is loose is either put away or tied down, but to be sure you have what you need on hand. Many of us who have lived here for years know that the worst of the hurricanes is generally the rains and floods. The city water system, pumps many times become overloaded and get shut down before they burn up. The winds also cause power and telephones to go out and then many things like the ATM’s and gas pumps of course don’t work.

So here is a quick reminder to be sure you have:

Foods, Canned and dried, most refrigerators don’t run without electricity

Drinking water, Hard to come by after a storm has hit

Bathing water, be sure your water storage is full up

Cash, ATM’s don’t work without electricity and telephones, Bank are closed for “El Grito” on the 16ht of September

Gas, Pumps don’t run and supplies get low fast in Baja Sur

Cooking Gas, Good idea to check and be full

Medicines, whatever you must have for about a weeks supply to be safe.

Candles, Flashlights and lanterns on hand with batteries

Also See:
• Prepare, Prepare and Prepare...
• Preparing Particular to Baja
• Batten down the Hatches
• NHC's Hurricane Prep Suggestions
 

If you are well prepared and don’t go moving around in the middle of the storm there will be little real danger. Of course stay away from the beaches as the storm surges can come pretty, fast increasing the swell height almost in an instant. Every year a few people die and it’s generally from driving in flooded streets with obstacles like down trees and power poles. If you see power lines down stay away from them even if you think they are dead.

Once the storm has passed realize the water supplies may be contaminated in many ways so boil the water for 5 minutes before using to wash. Try to eliminate all standing water on your properties as soon as possible so they do not become breeding areas for mosquitoes. One real good thing to look forward to after the storm, is that the communities in Baja California really pull together and help clean up the mess left by these storms very quickly.

So enjoy Mother Nature’s show of force in the up coming few days, be prepared, be safe be humbled and stay tuned to www.LosCabosInsider.com for any updates and news.

Also See the NHC's Storm Prep Ideas...

Insider's Notebook: What defines a hurricane?

The terms "hurricane" and "typhoon" are regionally specific names for a strong "tropical cyclone". A tropical cyclone is the generic term for a non-frontal synoptic scale low-pressure system over tropical or sub-tropical waters with organized convection (i.e. thunderstorm activity) and definite cyclonic surface wind circulation (Holland 1993).
Tropical cyclones with maximum sustained surface winds of less than 17 m/s (34 kt, 39 mph) are called "tropical depressions". (This is not to be confused with the condition mid-latitude people get during a long, cold and grey winter wishing they could be closer to the equator ;-)) Once the tropical cyclone reaches winds of at least 17 m/s they are typically called a "tropical storm" and assigned a name. If winds reach 33 m/s (64 kt, 74 mph)), then they are called: a "hurricane" (the North Atlantic Ocean, the Northeast Pacific Ocean east of the dateline, or the South Pacific Ocean east of 160E); a "typhoon" (the Northwest Pacific Ocean west of the dateline); a "severe tropical cyclone" (the Southwest Pacific Ocean west of 160E or Southeast Indian Ocean east of 90E); a "severe cyclonic storm" (the North Indian Ocean); and a "tropical cyclone" (the Southwest Indian Ocean) (Neumann 1993).