Febuary 29, 2012......Tornado Night....Lessons learned

[izzyscout21]

Well, here it is. The official AAR of the "night of the 'nadoes".

We began getting sever thunderstorm and tornado watches around 3pm CST.

I was on my home from work when Mrs. Izzy called me to let me know.

I arrived home from work about 45 minutes afer that. Mrs. Izzy had already rounded up essential gear (food, toys, and meds) for our kids.

Around 5pm our first tornado watch came in. Then power went out. Awesome.

So, with that, we headed out back to the bunker. The "bunker" as we call it is fairly austere. It's cold, wet, and damp. It is 21 feet long, 14 feet wide, and 7 feet tall inside (the idiot realtor said it was 900 sq. ft........moron. I dont care. It's big enough). It has been plagued by a water problem, which I have been waiting until summer to fix. ( I need the walls completely dry). Rainwater has a tendency to come down the stairs and overflow up and over the door frame, flooding the floor. There is a drain on the inside of the structure that drains out into the woods, but I'm fairly certain this is clooged. Need a plumber.

In the meantime, until I can get repairs made, I've improvised a bit. I put the kids on top of an old interior door that I have placed on top of concrete blocks. Not the optimal solution, but it kept them dry.

here's a few pics:
http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/2crgrunt/bunker/DSCF4715.jpg
http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/2crgrunt/bunker/DSCF4712.jpg
http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/2crgrunt/bunker/DSCF4714.jpg
http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/2crgrunt/bunker/DSCF4713.jpg

[izzyscout21]

Here's some things I learned:

P.P.P.P.P.P.

My dad had always told me of the 6 P's when I was a kid............. Prior Planning Prevents Piss-Poor Perfomance.
Definitely true.
We had moved most of our emergency preps out to the barn to keep them form becoming mildewed in the bunker. When I got home, my wife had already packed all the things for the kids, so all I had to do was grab a few pre-packed bags from the barn. Took me less than 5 minutes. Would have been faster, had the bunker been in better shape. Oh well. Lesson learned, fix the shelter. Having a few extra seconds to grab some bags made all the difference between comfort and misery.


Kids get scared.

Be prepared for this. Have some snacks, toys, and comfort items. LAst night, Peanut butter crackers and Cyalume Chem lights seemed to do the trick ( I'll get back to those).

Speed is of the essence.
No brainer, right? If you're in the path of a dangerous storm, you may only have seconds to get somewhere safe. Practice getting there. Practice grabbing kids. Well worth it.

Too Many Batteries......Isn't.
Batteries, Batteries, Batteries. Buy them. Now. Bunches. For everything that runs on them.

Candles............you cant have too many.
These were the primary light source in the house last night and this morning..........just be sure to blow them out if you go into the shelter.
http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/2crgrunt/bunker/tornado thread/DSCF4724.jpg

Coms...........will be out.
People flooded the phone carriers last night. I couldn't get a call out to save my life. I had a much higher success rate with text messages. This is something you may want to keep in mind in a SHTF situation.

Kids..........want flashlights too.
I learned last night to involve the kids. Giving them their own chem lights and Flashlights went a long way in keeping things calm and peaceful and letting them think they are helping. I plan on getting them their own flashlights and battery powered lanterns at my first opportunity.

[izzyscout21]

There was realy only one...........

Midland MR-100 NOAA Weather Radio............ epic F-ing fail. It decdied to crap out, leaving us no information until I got my Sabre's out. I'll be upgrading to a better brand and shitcanning this one. Because it failed when I needed it most, Midland brand electronics are now on my NFE list..........Not F-ing Ever.

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/2crgrunt/bunker/tornado%20thread/2.jpg

[izzyscout21]

Motorola Barrage Phone

My phone is a Motorola Barrage mil-spec phone. Rugged, waterproof, and reliable. It was wet. It was dropped in the waer. It was submerged. It was dropped from the edge of the patio into the bunker stairwell ( about 8 feet onto concrete). Other than needing to be charged, It proved it's worth to me.
http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/2crgrunt/bunker/tornado%20thread/DSCF4730.jpg


Streamlight PT-2L Flashlight.

This is my EDC light. It was getting constant use, being on and off throughout the night. This is the most I have ever used the light, and I am very happy with it's perfomance. If you dont have one, get one. Recommended buy
http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/2crgrunt/bunker/tornado%20thread/DSCF4720.jpg
http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/2crgrunt/bunker/tornado%20thread/DSCF4721.jpg
http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/2crgrunt/bunker/tornado%20thread/DSCF4723.jpg
http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/2crgrunt/bunker/tornado%20thread/DSCF4722.jpg

[izzyscout21]

Petzl Tactikka Headlamp

By far, this was the top performer of the night. Runs on 3 AAA batteries. This piece of gear was absolutley crucial last night. It alloowed me to grab kids, gear and other essentials while keeping my hands free. It has 3 brightnes settings and a strobe function. It ran all night. No issues. When it starts getting low on power, it tells you by blinking on and off. This is now going to be standard issue at my house. I'll be ordering a few more more myself and my wife. Recommended Buy.

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/2crgrunt/bunker/tornado%20thread/DSCF4718.jpg

Candle Lantern

It's a lantern. It's a candle. It was great. Hung it from my ceiling fan in the bedroom last night. Works great.

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/2crgrunt/bunker/tornado%20thread/DSCF4717.jpg
http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/2crgrunt/bunker/tornado%20thread/DSCF4716.jpg


Cheapo Wal-mart Kerosene lantern

I picked a couple of these up at Wally world months ago. They were less than 10 bucks at the time. What can I say, it's a lantern. It worked better than I expected. Recommended buy.

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/2crgrunt/bunker/tornado%20thread/DSCF4719.jpg

Pelican Products 2360 LED Flashlight

Bought this light as an experiment a while back. Mainly due to it's aluminum body and compatibility with AA batteries (vs the CR 123 Surefire batteries). MY wife keeps it in her purse. This light is high output, 110 lumens off 2 AA batteries. This light works.........and works well. I recommend you feed it lithium batteries. With an price around $30 , this one is a hard light to pass up. Recommended Buy

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/2crgrunt/bunker/tornado%20thread/unnamed.jpg

[izzyscout21]

Cyalume Chem lights

Boy, I cant sing the praises of these things enough this time. These are a great battery free emergency light, but last night they were more than that. The twins grew tired of their toys 20 minutes into the event. They were scared and restless. I cracked open 2 chem lights. Viola! I'm super dad. They played with these things all night. When darkness fell, my kids clutched them for dear life. They had become comfort Items for the kids. When we finally put them to bed last night, they were still hanging onto those green light sticks. These were a great light source, but even better toys, and worth even more as security blankets for my girls.
Recommended buy........especially if you have kids

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/2crgrunt/bunker/tornado%20thread/DSCF4727.jpg

Motorola Saber Radios

Grabbed two of these on the way out the door. Had them on NOAA weather as sson as the weather radio took a dump. Once again, these things were great.
I have a better review of them here: http://www.shtfready.com/equipment-basic-supplies/izzys-gear-reviews-1265.html

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/2crgrunt/bunker/tornado%20thread/DSCF4725.jpg
http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/2crgrunt/bunker/tornado%20thread/DSCF4726.jpg

[izzyscout21]

Well, folks...........that's all I've got for now. It definitely got me to thinking. Best part is, I get to do it all over again Friday night............

[Taz Baby]

yep heard that it is going to be worst this time. At least you will be ready.

[helomech]

Been through things like that with hurricanes many times. Yall did great. Check out the streamlight rechargable flashlights. I love them, streamlight is the only flashlight I buy now. We have four of them.

Oh and your bunker, I think it is great wish I had one.

[apssbc]

Awesome review and it was a good experience because you learned something from it. At least you guys didnt get hurt, prayers go out top those that did.

[bacpacker]

Good write up Izzy. The lessons learned was well put together. I'm sure glad things weren't any worse than they were.

[Sniper-T]

I knew there was a reason I was wanting to read Izzy's review!

Awesome dude, thanks for sharing!

[ladyhk13]

Great job Izzy! And I have to add that the call and emails checking on us down here was really appreciated. I totally forgot you even had our number. Goes to show how great our network here is and how wonderful it is to know people care - even though we didn't know there were storms going on! But we do know they are soming tomorrow so ya'll be safe out there.

[Katrina]

Glad both of you and little ones are okay. Great reviews on equipment. Am the flashlights, etc to want list.

[The Stig]

Excellent stuff Izzy. This is the kind of practical prepping and discussion the board lives for.

Glad to hear all of you are safe (thanks for the call) and thanks for contributing a great thread.

[Stormfeather]

OK Izzy, you are officially "Too Cool For School"!!!!

YOU GOT A BUNKER!!!!

DUDE!!! Can I come sleep at your bunker this weekend?!?!?!

Please???

I got a extra generator to lend!

I got cookies!

I got an extra banana hammock that hasnt even been used!

I want a bunker now. . . . Hey hun. . . all the cool kids have a bunker. . . can I have one??? (what are the chances?)

Great reviews bro, glad you and the family are all ok. I didnt hear about it til I came home from work and the PSA was already up. If I had known, would have definitely checked up on ya!

On a side note, Im wondering if we should set up a phone tree for cases like this.

[Sniper-T]

^ don't kid yourself SF. with the Tornado thing around here, even prior to Izzy's ordeal, I got my wife on board this winter to build a shelter for us. I'll show her some of the pics from the devestation and then Izzy's thread on prepping, and that should knock it out of the park!

She doesn't know what my plans are though, and that's probably a good thing!

mwahahahaha

[bacpacker]

Good call on the phone tree.

[Taz Baby]

since you have kids. Keep a tacklebox full of chalk, crayons, side walk chalk(you have concrete floors in bunker), puzzles (pieces in ziplock bags glo light sticks, flashlight, just small kids stuff. In your bunker, cars, where ever you might be in. That way it is always there for them.

[mitunnelrat]

Thanks for the thoughts and reviews, izzy. As (almost) irrational as it is for my area, tornadoes are one of my biggest fears. I got some good info and ideas out of this. I'm really glad it wasn't a harder lesson for you too.

[izzyscout21]

Wow folks.....thanks for all the support. Glad everyone liked the thread. I hope it gives a little insight. I tried to take away from the experience as much as I could. I now have plans in place to do some upgrading to the preps and some new SOP's for our household. Mrs. Izzy is on board. Good to go. I'll post a thread with my new ideas and bunker mods as time permits.

@ LHK: No problem about the call. I wanted to try to check on all our local folks here on the board and get the word out about up here.

@ Stormy: COme on down. I'll put you to work. Can you swing a hammer? Cause I can't. I may take you up on the banana hammock. I'll hang it right next to my Borat mankini.

Seriously, I like Stormy's idea about the call tree.

[realist]

Since your floor gets wet an idea for your decor, look for a used white board that is metallic. Then your kids can draw on the walls and you can use magnets to make designs, play checkers,etc..... Also since the floor gets wet what about a movable raised floor to keep your stuff dry. It would allow you to remove it to dry but in wet weather it would keep you stuff out of the water. Just a thought.

Thanks for the review. I will be looking to see how you do tonight. Good luck and prayers to you and your family.

[Stg1swret]

Nice write up Izzy. I'd think about not only having the drain snaked out to fix your water ingress problem, but get a few pallets to keep things off the floor just in case. As you know now , phones are not reliable during emergencies, text usually goes through no matter what. Glad everything worked out for you and the family with little incident. Your plan is obviously pretty solid.

[Sniper-T]

getting the drain snaked would be parimont in my mind, but a cheaper start would be to just dig a sump pit near the bottom of the stairs, and drop in a 12v sump pump with a small solar panel. stop the water before it gets in.

[work in progress]

^^^^^

I lived in a house with the sump pit at the bottom of the stairs to keep water out for years. It was supposed to be a short term fix- but it worked so well, the pit was dug deeper, lined with a pond liner, covered with a metal grate with the electrical cord ran out the grate and under the basement door back into the house, the water hose ran up the stairs out to the yard. all of this was covered by very nice concrete garden pavers with notches chipped out of the corners the hose and cord ran out of. It worked, It was easy to access for repairs, and it stayed. During big a** storms, Dad would wheel the genny around and unplug the sump from the basement to keep her going. Worked every time.

[hank2222]

glad you and the family are safe and doing well in the middle of all that