It is official. Raptor et.al. has relocated from NOLA to a home in S. MS. Why you may ask? Shall we say that NOLA is have more issues than I care to deal with and I see little hope of cures in my life time.

My new homes is nearer my farm (which I intend to keep) than my previous home in NOLA but to ensure the happiness of my wife it is 1.5 miles from the coast. While that sounds more precarious than my home in NOLA it is actually 90 feet higher than my previous home, surrounded by hills and trees on 3 sides and about .5 mile further inland.

Not ideal IMO, but it is safe from any likely storm surge and there is only one side exposed directly to storm winds. That side can be secured. That and if things are looking bad I can drive easily to my farm which is well inland. I would also access this location via back roads which would not be tied up with contra-flow traffic. In addition there is an airport within 5 miles for me & mine to flee if that is desirable.

So that means I have now have steep learning curve and need to revamp the new house for our security and comfort. The good news is that the community, while certainly not Mayberry, has no violent crime issues and very little property crime (like my farm). It is relative self-contained and has emergency response nearby (unlike my farm).

That said while the new home is nice and newish it lacks many of the things I have relied upon for preps. Afterall I spent 25 years tweaking the place to my liking. It will take a few years to "fix up" the new place.

This includes:

1.      No backup generator and no NG for generator fuel. A generator install will require either a diesel or propane generator. I got used to having two generators including a NG generator for routine power outages; fuel for that was controlled by a valve. I would like to eliminate the diesel fuel storage issues. That means a propane tank system.

2.      No NG means total reliance on electricity for heating, water heaters, stove/oven and everything else. I previously had NG heating but also a NG stove and water heater. This greatly reduced the reliance on electrical power. Between LED lighting and multiple HVAC units I could by comfortably on only 15kw by running only two of the three HVAC units. A propane fuel would also address this issue.

3.      No pool or pond for potable/gray water storage. When you have 10,000 gallons + of water in the backyard there is no need to fill up bath tubs for gray water uses. I have always had a pool and or a pond everywhere I lived. That however would be a complex solution to what should be a simple storage issue.

4.      Inadequate hardening for security and wind storms. It has only metal bolt on shutters for windows. The doors and windows are not hardened in any way to prevent improper access by people or wind.

5.      While the interior of the house is larger a lot of space is taken up by a large garage that has no HVAC. Thus climate storage space is limited. Adding HVAC to the garage is possible albeit with an increase in the need for electrical power. This has to be balanced with utilization of storage elsewhere.

6.      The house while well-constructed does not have a room that I would think could survive a significant tornado. There is no impact resistant safe room. There is room for an inside or outside safe room though. My previous house had an interior room that was very well protected on all sides. They house may or may not survive an F5 but occupying that room would certainly be better protection than what is in the new house.

7.      The cats are really pissed off at moving and consider their new greatly upgraded digs inadequate since the flora and fauna taste funny.  The dog on the other hands like the deer that come into the yard. So the dual issue of different landscaping for the cats and proper containment for the dog must be addressed.

So I will be posting updates on some the ways I am dealing with these prep issues. There will be short term measures to address the immediate issues and longer term fixes to hopefully deal with the matters in a more in depth manner.
 
 The first issue is the storm window hardening for the second story windows. I am researching the feasibility of Bahama shutters, replacing the windows with impact resistant hurricane windows and replacing the metal shutters with lexan covers.

Issues aside, the location sounds spectacular. And i like the special landscaping plans for the cats' needs.

Would regular wood shutters work?

Ours fasten with a small wooden plank on the inside. Not sure how much use they would be against a hurricane but they definitely protect against flying objects.

Quote from: tirls on March 27, 2023, 02:18:43 PMIssues aside, the location sounds spectacular. And i like the special landscaping plans for the cats' needs.

Would regular wood shutters work?

Ours fasten with a small wooden plank on the inside. Not sure how much use they would be against a hurricane but they definitely protect against flying objects.

They do make hurricane resistant shutters like that. Those shutters would be fine since they are clearly made of durable wood. The key is the method of attachment to the house and being able to lock the shutters securely shut to withstand the 150 mph wind standard. Those could clearly be screwed shut securely.

Modern hurricane shutters tend to be either aluminum or "composite". Composite shutters can be damn near anything from plastic to fiberglass to hardiplank. 

That design would work on the ground floor, but not on the upper windows due to the large expanse of glass area (the center 4 windows) and the lack of a suitable attachment point. I can easily access the ground floor windows to attach the wind panels.

The house now has panels for the second story but I am NOT standing on a ladder 15 feet above the ground to attach heavy metal panels to windows.

You cannot view this attachment.

I the house wood frame or CBS block?

I have clear Lexan and those are great. they let the sunlight in so you don't feel like your in a cave when the shutters are up. But if I could afford a solution that didn't require 'putting them up and taking them down' I'd rather have that.

My neighbor just installed hurricane resistant windows and sliding glass doors [at great expense] and gave his accordion metal shutters to my other neighbor. Accordians are nice but they turned his house into a cave and that's the main reason he upgraded. But I've been advised that you want to still shutter your hurricane windows because they can still get cracked and are expensive to replace. So shuttering them protects them from getting damaged.

Are you going to look into one of those whole house Generac's? LP is the way to go in my research if you don't have NG. But there is a waiting list for installation of a year or so on those and those are really expensive. A temp solution might be to get an LP or duel fuel that can just run your fridge, some lights/tv and then get a small window a/c unit as a temp solution for one room's climate control.

Those whole house Generac's will still only run for about 7 days +/- depending on the size of your tank and the load. You can manually turn it on and off to only run half the time to extend that.

Add a couple of small solar panels to charge up a battery to keep phones and laptops and HT's etc charged.

We don't have NG in my neighborhood either so I've had to think about this a lot. What is essential for comfort, and what I can live without during an extended power outage. I can't afford a Generac whole house solution. So my solution is to keep the fridge, somelights and Tv, and a small window a/c unit running off the portable duel fuel on LP gas.

I have a pool/lakes/well/ and a canal in my immediate vicinity. So i have a lot of filtration and purification stuff, to go with my 'not alot' of water storage stuff. If you don't have that anymore, then you may need to do a rain storage or cistern of grey water. And stock up on containerized drinking water. What's it like at the farm? If you sink a well, you'd need to make sure you can power it during a power outage. My sprinkler system's pump can run off the generator if I need to use that to pull water up from underground. Not ideal but filter/purifiable if needed.

How much land do you have? 

I'm completely ignorant of anything to do with hurricanes or tornados. Although I did survive a hurricane on Okinawa once. We ran out of anything except rations. So we went around base during the storm with bunkbed pipes and ransacked all the vending machines. 

Do you have any protected space at the farm? Can you dig a root cellar at the new place? Or build some other type of underground storm shelter? 

What about your new place is an advantage over the old one? I mean what do you like about it prepping/safety wise? Besides the better location. 

Quote from: Raptor on March 27, 2023, 02:28:15 PM

Quote from: tirls on March 27, 2023, 02:18:43 PMIssues aside, the location sounds spectacular. And i like the special landscaping plans for the cats' needs.

Would regular wood shutters work?

Ours fasten with a small wooden plank on the inside. Not sure how much use they would be against a hurricane but they definitely protect against flying objects.

They do make hurricane resistant shutters like that. Those shutters would be fine since they are clearly made of durable wood. The key is the method of attachment to the house and being able to lock the shutters securely shut to withstand the 150 mph wind standard. Those could clearly be screwed shut securely.

Looking at those wooden shutters I see one glaring issue... They can easily be lifted up and off, be it by storm force or human force.  If they were mine the two horizontal boards holding the planks together would be relocated so that when the shutters are closed they are against the top and bottom of the window opening, preventing any vertical movement.  The crossbar (which is missing) would prevent them from opening, making the whole setup very secure and easy to deploy.

Quote from: Moab on March 27, 2023, 07:07:16 PMHow much land do you have?

I'm completely ignorant of anything to do with hurricanes or tornados. Although I did survive a hurricane on Okinawa once. We ran out of anything except rations. So we went around base during the storm with bunkbed pipes and ransacked all the vending machines.

Do you have any protected space at the farm? Can you dig a root cellar at the new place? Or build some other type of underground storm shelter?

What about your new place is an advantage over the old one? I mean what do you like about it prepping/safety wise? Besides the better location.

Quote from: MacWa77ace on March 27, 2023, 02:41:54 PMI the house wood frame or CBS block?

I have clear Lexan and those are great. they let the sunlight in so you don't feel like your in a cave when the shutters are up. But if I could afford a solution that didn't require 'putting them up and taking them down' I'd rather have that.

Are you going to look into one of those whole house Generac's? LP is the way to go in my research if you don't have NG. But there is a waiting list for installation of a year or so on those and those are really expensive. A temp solution might be to get an LP or duel fuel that can just run your fridge, some lights/tv and then get a small window a/c unit as a temp solution for one room's climate control.

Those whole house Generac's will still only run for about 7 days +/- depending on the size of your tank and the load. You can manually turn it on and off to only run half the time to extend that.

Add a couple of small solar panels to charge up a battery to keep phones and laptops and HT's etc charged.

 So my solution is to keep the fridge, somelights and Tv, and a small window a/c unit running off the portable duel fuel on LP gas.

The house is stick built with a brick veneer. However, it is well built and was not thrown together as a spec house.

I am researching the options both long and short term and while I have the metal shutters permanently attaching lexan covers to the largest of the largest upper window span is one option that I am seriously considering. 

I do plan to and will install a generator but I have to wrap my head around the LP situation. You are right about LP fuel consumption. A 15kw generator will use about 500 gallons of propane to run for 7 days 24/7. My old diesel generator would burn about 1/2 that quantity of fuel in that time frame producing 15 kw. That said they both have the issue of where do get fuel after a week? 

There is no way I can get a generator installed before hurricane season but I do have an electrician coming out to install a 200 amp manual transfer switch to the 240 volt feed. The intent to provide wiring to hook up a trailer mounted generator that I have available (if needed) or short term use a portable gasoline generator in much the same way you describe. 

My plan A for this year is to rely on the farm since it has a generator and similar extra hook up for a 50 amp 120/240 volt plug in case the generator fails. The farm was originally my BOL but I expanded to be a week end place and used it a lot during covid. That was when my wife decided she liked it but did not want to live there full time. The farm has a pond, both well & county water, fenced acreage and best of all a discrete low profile not visible from the county road that use to access it.   

A grid tied solar array is in the longer term plan. I can at least make a financial case for a grid tied system as long as I do not add thr extra expense of a battery bank. A battery bank may be included later but I need to do some more work. There are a lot trees and hence a lot of shade which reduces
photovoltaic production. A solar array would actually be easier and better at the farm since there is large sunny meadow that is not utilized. However, in the meantime I will focus on the house. 

IDK / If it were me I would secure the house. Rely just on a small gas generator for shorter blackouts . And then sink all the money into the farm  for bug out when things look chancy

Quote from: Moab on March 27, 2023, 07:07:16 PMHow much land do you have?

I'm completely ignorant of anything to do with hurricanes or tornados. Although I did survive a hurricane on Okinawa once. We ran out of anything except rations. So we went around base during the storm with bunkbed pipes and ransacked all the vending machines.

Do you have any protected space at the farm? Can you dig a root cellar at the new place? Or build some other type of underground storm shelter?

What about your new place is an advantage over the old one? I mean what do you like about it prepping/safety wise? Besides the better location.

The house is only on ~ .65  of an acre. Just enough to allow "adequate" distance between homes. My old home was tall, narrow and long with a lot less room between homes.

The farm has climate controlled space in the "pole barn" that includes an above ground safe room obtained from home depot. It is simply bolted to the slab. Not a bunker but a lot better than nothing.  I have never used it but that home is not someplace I would trust in a hurricane. So since it is the BOL I installed this years ago. Something like this could also work for the new house.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Survive-a-Storm-Shelters-ShelterCube-Extreme-4-ft-x-6-ft-Tornado-Shelter-SASAM0406/204999911

As for tornado winds nothing is tornado proof; it is kinda like a bullet proof vs a ballistic vest...the shelters are "wind resistant" not necessarily "tornado proof".

Advantages?:
The key reason for the move was because it was time to renovate the old house and we wanted 2+ bedrooms and bathrooms downstairs. We wanted a home without all of the stairs and step ups in the  old house. I would have had to teardown and rebuild the old house to get this. We compromised by accepting a second story with two master suites down stairs and additional bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs. We will live on the ground floor and I will use the upstairs for some peace and quiet (& work). My wife has issues with stairs.

Strictly speaking from a preparations stand point the location plays a key part.
1. My old house never flooded but access streets may or may not flood. It relied upon a complicated network of pumps and drainage canals that required trained people to operate them.  If this house floods it will not be from any likely storm surge and drainage is simple gravity operated storm water drains. 
2. There is no RR within 12 miles of the new house. There is a RR within 1.5 miles of the old house that carries a huge amount of HAZMAT materials to and from the port of NOLA. There is some really scary shit that runs on that line (think Ohio).   
3. There are two airports within 5 miles that can be accessed without the expectation of a traffic grid lock in a SHTF situation in case I need to GTFO out by private plane. I do on occasions flew private and for a while had a "last plane out" deal with a LA based charter company to get me and mine out of NOLA. That is still usable but the need is a lot less likely. There is also an airport with airline service about 20 miles away. 
4. The community has their own water and sewerage treatment plant for that area only. They also operate their own paid FD, EMS & PD. They are self contained.
5. There are geographic choke points that community could easily control and defend in a really off the wall bad scenario.  Granted this is not highly probable.

The biggest down side to the new house is that it has to upgraded to what I consider adequate. My previous home took 5 years to do that.

Getting into other aspects I am sure some people (not ZS'ers) will say good grief! backward MS?!

MS does have a bad reputation and frequently shows up as #50. That said if you remove the capital city Jackson from the stats (I am not near that city) you see a significant improvement in all aspects of the state. The cost of living is lower than many places. The cost of housing is likewise low. I am amazed at how polite people are in general.

With all of this, do remember I grew up in NOLA. My family has lived there since the 1790's It is not exactly a poster child for sensibility, cleanliness, healthy living and progress. BTW if you remove NOLA from LA stats you would still have Baton Rouge and Shreveport skewing the crime numbers.         

Quote from: Raptor on March 28, 2023, 01:55:19 PM

Quote from: Moab on March 27, 2023, 07:07:16 PMHow much land do you have?

I'm completely ignorant of anything to do with hurricanes or tornados. Although I did survive a hurricane on Okinawa once. We ran out of anything except rations. So we went around base during the storm with bunkbed pipes and ransacked all the vending machines.

Do you have any protected space at the farm? Can you dig a root cellar at the new place? Or build some other type of underground storm shelter?

What about your new place is an advantage over the old one? I mean what do you like about it prepping/safety wise? Besides the better location.

The house is only on ~ .65  of an acre. Just enough to allow "adequate" distance between homes. My old home was tall, narrow and long with a lot less room between homes.

The farm has climate controlled space in the "pole barn" that includes an above ground safe room obtained from home depot. It is simply bolted to the slab. Not a bunker but a lot better than nothing.  I have never used it but that home is not someplace I would trust in a hurricane. So since it is the BOL I installed this years ago. Something like this could also work for the new house.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Survive-a-Storm-Shelters-ShelterCube-Extreme-4-ft-x-6-ft-Tornado-Shelter-SASAM0406/204999911

As for tornado winds nothing is tornado proof; it is kinda like a bullet proof vs a ballistic vest...the shelters are "wind resistant" not necessarily "tornado proof".

Advantages?:
The key reason for the move was because it was time to renovate the old house and we wanted 2+ bedrooms and bathrooms downstairs. We wanted a home without all of the stairs and step ups in the  old house. I would have had to teardown and rebuild the old house to get this. We compromised by accepting a second story with two master suites down stairs and additional bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs. We will live on the ground floor and I will use the upstairs for some peace and quiet (& work). My wife has issues with stairs.

Strictly speaking from a preparations stand point the location plays a key part.
1. My old house never flooded but access streets may or may not flood. It relied upon a complicated network of pumps and drainage canals that required trained people to operate them.  If this house floods it will not be from any likely storm surge and drainage is simple gravity operated storm water drains. 
2. There is no RR within 12 miles of the new house. There is a RR within 1.5 miles of the old house that carries a huge amount of HAZMAT materials to and from the port of NOLA. There is some really scary shit that runs on that line (think Ohio).   
3. There are two airports within 5 miles that can be accessed without the expectation of a traffic grid lock in a SHTF situation in case I need to GTFO out by private plane. I do on occasions flew private and for a while had a "last plane out" deal with a LA based charter company to get me and mine out of NOLA. That is still usable but the need is a lot less likely. There is also an airport with airline service about 20 miles away. 
4. The community has their own water and sewerage treatment plant for that area only. They also operate their own paid FD, EMS & PD. They are self contained.
5. There are geographic choke points that community could easily control and defend in a really off the wall bad scenario.  Granted this is not highly probable.

The biggest down side to the new house is that it has to upgraded to what I consider adequate. My previous home took 5 years to do that.

Getting into other aspects I am sure some people (not ZS'ers) will say good grief! backward MS?!

MS does have a bad reputation and frequently shows up as #50. That said if you remove the capital city Jackson from the stats (I am not near that city) you see a significant improvement in all aspects of the state. The cost of living is lower than many places. The cost of housing is likewise low. I am amazed at how polite people are in general.

With all of this, do remember I grew up in NOLA. My family has lived there since the 1790's It is not exactly a poster child for sensibility, cleanliness, healthy living and progress. BTW if you remove NOLA from LA stats you would still have Baton Rouge and Shreveport skewing the crime numbers.       

I spent some time in MS. And it was a beautiful state. People were really nice. But it was summer time. And no one was out. You got this eery feeling when driving diwn country roads. Like the place was abandoned. But it was beautiful.

So that storm closet is $5000?! Wouldn't it be cheaper and better to just dig out a square hole, build a cinderblock box and put a storm proof door on top and bury the whole thing? Minus the door? For 5 grand it seems like you could build something underground that could even include supplies etc. etc.

Since moving to cali we've only had one house with a second story. Never again. Once you hit your 60s (almost there) you realize the fundamental necessity of not having stairs. My inlaws had a 3 story townhouse in their 70s. Good investment. Bad idea. They moved to a one story eventually.

Sounds like you've stepped up in terms of housing. Are you in at least a more rural area than when in nola?

What are your plans for the farm? What do you use it for now?

I missed your above post about the farm. It sounds nice. Nicer than the house. What does your wife not like about it? Is there a house there?

I actually prefer the farm to the new house (or the old house). It is simple, smaller and very quiet. That said it is 20 minutes away (@ 60mph) to nearest store (gas station & Dollar General) . It is another 10 minutes to a better selection. The nearest ER is about 35 minute drive. 

My wife does not like the seclusion 100% of the time. She likes it as a break but prefers more urban areas. She discovered that when she stayed there for several months during covid.



My old house is located in a suburb of NOLA called Metairie. Which translated means little farm. It is just outside the city limits of New Orleans. I grew up not far from my present house. At one time it was truly rural but now it is true suburbia. Many of the oak trees on my street are well over 75 years old. A live oak in my yard is even older. It is now also called Old Metairie (east) as opposed to the newer subdivision style areas of the area. I am within a 1.5 miles of the intersection of Metairie Road and the rail road track.

A link to a live camera of the RR crossing.
https://g1.ipcamlive.com/player/player.php?alias=62fa4c1fb9f5c&autoplay=1


 

Quote from: Moab on March 28, 2023, 02:41:33 PMSo that storm closet is $5000?! Wouldn't it be cheaper and better to just dig out a square hole, build a cinderblock box and put a storm proof door on top and bury the whole thing? Minus the door? For 5 grand it seems like you could build something underground that could even include supplies etc. etc.

Probably but there would be drainage issues, a better way which is fairly common is to build a cinder block structure above ground and cover it with 3 feet +/- soil. The whole issue is the door and securing the entryway. Most folks just put a regular door on it and call it a day. 

I use the shelter as a locked storage shed which is why I went that route.

 

If the area where Raptor is now is anything like where I lived in SE Texas, you're lucky if you can dig down further than a couple feet before the hole starts flooding.

Which is why very few houses in SE Texas have a basement or underground storm shelters. 

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on March 28, 2023, 04:38:23 PMIf the area where Raptor is now is anything like where I lived in SE Texas, you're lucky if you can dig down further than a couple feet before the hole starts flooding.

Which is why very few houses in SE Texas have a basement or underground storm shelters. 

The water table in NOLA is a no go for cellars. If the water table does not flood you the rain water will. 
That is why we bury people in above ground mausoleums in NOLA. 

The water table on my farm could permit a cellar but there is a clay layer about 1.5 ft down and there is no drainage unless you get through that clay layer at about 6 feet. 

Quote from: flybynight on March 28, 2023, 01:23:02 PMIDK / If it were me I would secure the house. Rely just on a small gas generator for shorter blackouts . And then sink all the money into the farm  for bug out when things look chancy

That is what I will do short term...but remember two is one and one is none.

The farm is already setup and fine but if something happens there I need another plan.

A brief update on the move and a question for the group.

I have ordered a manual transfer switch to allow a trailer mounted generator I own to be plugged into the house to provide power. That will be my short term solution for 2023 for the issue of power.

I have also ordered some lexan shutters for the exposed windows to replace the steel shutters that came with the house. I will leave these up until the replacements are installed. Bahama Shutters and roll down shutters are backlogged for months if the windows are not standard size. Who's windows are not standard sized? Me! Me! Me!  I hate roll down shutters but due to the window size they may be the only alternative. In teh meantime hurricane season starts in a few weeks and I will make a decision on that after the lexan comes in and is installed. I will see how they look after that. I have a great tolerance for function over appearance but Mrs. Raptor is a bit more particular.
 These will have to do for this hurricane season. 

Here is the question though.

I am working on getting a potable water filter at the kitchen sink. We have municipal water so we do not need anything but a decent NSF rated 42/53 filter.  My previous home had a separate water filer spigot at the sink for cooking/coffee and one the refrigerator. I shy away from whole house filters and prefer point of use for potable water since 90%+ of my water use is gray water. It is overkill to filter municipal water for flushing toilets and watering plants.

I have a good in line pre-filter for the refrigerator and icemaker as well the common built in refrigerator mounted filter both of which are NSF 42/53 certified like in my old house.

However, I do not have a separate sink mounted spigot and this is where my question comes in. I see most of the under sink filters use quick connect fittings and do not use the woven SS hoses anymore. These look like I am asking for leakage trouble in the near future. I have always used the woven SS screw on fittings.

Are these quick fit fittings reliable long term?   

Those quick fittings are extremely reliable if connected properly in the first place.  As with the chuck on an air hose, if it's not connected to the tool properly and locked it can and will pop right off the fitting.

I think because there really isn't any vibration or shearing forces* on the spigots the plumbing world has moved away from the metal nuts etc. I noticed this on toilets too. You can always upgrade to the braded hoses. I did that on my washing machine for 'reasons', and have every intention of putting braded hose upgrades my masterbath sinks, but have put it off for 15 years and no leaks.

*my wife broke one off once though, may have been on purpose to get a new faucet she'd been wanting but a 7:30 at night? Barely made it to HomeDepot in time to fix it that night.

When I had my bathroom re-done about 10 years ago, we used Shark-bite fittings for all the plumbing.  Everything is still just fine, with no leaks so far. 

In a rather odd coincidence I have also recently moved. Among the places I considered living was the Venetian Islands in you know where.  However, even with a 20' lift the flood insurance was more than the house payment and while my sanity is challenged on a regular basis my financial sense has always cut the mustard. I had a rather large, well set up place but numerous life events happened, collided and culminated resulting in my needs falling to me, myself and sometimes whomever. Maintaining a large place requires a lot of routine work and I had sudden lack of interest in that with my new found freedoms, hobbies and whatevers. This has also changed my strategy quite a lot. I am as mobile as the winds if things get bad enough.

Shelter- My house is also brick veneer. There is no HOA but there are some annoying covenants here and so essentially I had to build any shelter structure to match the house. I hired a contractor and he poured a foundation and then built a 9X11' cinder block structure and filled the cinder blocks with concrete and rebar. The roof is about 1' of poured concrete and rebar. He then placed brick on the outside. It is essentially one foot of concrete, brick and rebar in all directions, except for the steel door. I didn't want to tie into the interior of the house for various reasons and so I walk out the garage door, take three steps and I am in the shelter. It ties into the house on 1 1/2 sides to blend in. He also water proof coated the roof.

The contractor finished yesterday and tomorrow I plan on filling it with various supplies.  I am also going to use it to store my gardening tools and other assorted things I want out of the garage. I have a small solar charging/ battery station I am going to stick in there to charge phones and other essentials as needed. It should provided complete protection from small arms, tornadoes up to F5, hurricanes and with some as needed increases in materiel in the right spots, possibly some useful fallout protection. I may put up something later on it.

While there is no direct entry to the house there is a filtered air exchange there that runs into the house. The idea here it that if the windows are intact the air in the house will be cleaner than the outside air with less gas and particulate matter. Air will still be filtered though. The railroad to the chemical factories runs nearby.

Two neighbors have already informed that they are coming to my house when the time comes. I gave them one of the contractor's cards and a smile.... haven't had neighbors in many years, delightful darlings they are.

Grey Water - My house is large so I save my empty juice jugs, glass liquor bottles and whatnot. Fill with water and stick in the bottom of the pantry. Cool and dark and no algae. I can even drink that after running it through the Big Berkey. I also have a 60 gallon rain barrel set to one of the down spouts. But with 4 bath rooms that means I can go sit down potty four times before things get bothersome. I can water the bushes with the rest. If the water is out that long things are getting real pear shaped anyway.

It seems kind of pointless to condition the garage. Six months worth of food barely fills my pantry. I have a second fridge and a freezer out there that stay stocked.

Cats - Get those critters some catnip and they will come around.

I went with the shark bite fittings. It was the path of least resistance.

I finally received the lexan shutters yesterday. The company i purchased them from installed them on the upstairs windows. I decided that for the time being I will keep them up until after hurricane season. The days of my getting on the roof to install shutters are over.

Ground floor stuff I can still handle.
I will leave the steel shutters for the lower floor windows off unless a storm is due. To that end I did a test fitting for the windows and only them realized that:

1. There were no nuts and washers to fasten the shutters on the windows.
2. Each shutter will need about 14 fasteners.
3. The existing bit for my electric drill will not fit these fixtures.
4. The metal shutters are very heavy and I will want a cart to carry them around to the windows.

This is exactly why tests like this are important. None of these issues is a deal killer as long as I have time to get the proper 1/4 wing nuts, washers and bolt driver fitting for the wing nuts.

BTW I prefer wing nuts for this type of application because in the event I do not have access to a power tool for whatever reason (no power, damaged tool, etc.)  I can remove these fasteners by hand. 

The electrician I scheduled to install a manual transfer switch has convinced me that if I am going to use a Generac generator I should install an automatic transfer switch that comes with the Generac generator and not install the manual switch. The Generac switch is designed by Generac to interface with the generator and is needed to run properly. If I install the manual switch it will be a throw away install. 

I am in the process of obtaining quotes to install an underground 500 gallon propane tank (at best ~ 5 days of fuel) to run a propane generator. Between the tank and generator the cost is almost  as much as a stand alone 15 kw diesel generator. The problem is that I need at least 15 kw just to run the HVAC units; I really need about 20kw to run HVAC and other household loads.

My previous diesel generator was a PITA to keep an inventory clean diesel fuel. I do like the idea of propane which has an indefinite storage life.

I am still working this issue.