We originally ran the following post in anticipation of Hurricane Florence. It’s now just as relevant for Hurricane Michael as it bears down on the Florida panhandle and points north.
From weather.com:
Hurricane Michael is forecast to strike the Florida Panhandle at least at Category 3 intensity driving life-threatening storm surge flooding, destructive winds and flooding rainfall. Michael will also spread heavy rain and strong winds to other parts of the southeastern United States after it moves inland.
“Michael could develop into a potentially catastrophic event for the northeastern Gulf Coast,” the National Weather Service office in Tallahassee, Florida, wrote in its area forecast discussion Monday afternoon. Michael could be the strongest hurricane to landfall along the stretch of Florida’s Panhandle Gulf Coast in 13 years.
Read Luis Valdes’s excellent post from yesterday on Florida’s emergency gun laws.
If you live in the southeast, you likely already have a disaster preparedness plan for just these kinds of situations. Let’s hope so. But here are three tips for gun owners to ensure your safety and the security of your firearms.
1) The first and foremost consideration is your personal safety and that of your family. You may be planning to ride out the storm in place, in which case you’ll want to have at least one firearm handy, preferably carried on your person. Open carry in your own home and on your property is legal virtually everywhere, but be sure to know your local laws.
Depending on the intensity of the storm, however, your situation could change. You could be ordered to evacuate by local authorities. If you’re forced to leave your home, be prepared to take your firearms and a supply of ammunition with you. In addition to the gun(s) you may be carrying, that means including holsters and slings with ammo cans, cases and other gear to carry everything securely in your vehicle.
2) Know the laws in surrounding states. If you’re forced to travel over state lines in order to get away from the effects of the storm, be aware that the laws concerning your firearms and how they can be legally carried can vary extensively.
Storm evacuation is stressful enough without encountering legal problems due to the firearms and magazines you may be transporting or how you’re carrying them. Be familiar with the concealed carry reciprocity laws in any states you’re likely to be traveling to and staying in until you can return home.
3) It may not be possible to take all of your firearms with you should you be forced to leave your home. People, pets and clothing and emergency gear will take precedence in your vehicle. If you’re forced to leave firearms behind, do what you can to ensure they’re protected from water damage and potential looters.
Move firearms you can’t take with you to an upper floor to guard against flooding. Store them in a safe or lockable cabinet to keep them as secure as you can while you’re out of your home.
You’ll also want to protect them from water damage as much as possible. If your guns are stored in a safe, you can improve its water resistance by using foam gap filler around the door edges that’s available at any hardware store. If not in a safe, keep your firearms in the most secure containers you have (Pelican type cases work well for this) at the highest level possible in your home, covered by a tarp or plastic sheeting that’s secured with duct tape.
Here’s hoping you and your family stay safe no matter what your plans are for dealing with the storm and its aftermath.
I’m no conspiracy theorist but I believe that sometimes NOAA lies to us for our own good.
Buoy data from an hour and a half ago indicated sea level wind speeds of less than 60 knots less than 60 miles from the eye of Michael.
https://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=42003
Except for a few forays overseas for work I’ve lived on the gulf coast all my life. I’ve seen hurricanes fairly close-up since Camille in 69.
I know that some people need to be driven off the beach but the data just doesn’t support Cat 2. And I do data for a living.
National Data Buoy center.
https://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/
if you leave guns behind you’re taking a big risk….best to have them insured….
It would take a really, really unpleasant hurricane to make me bail from my home.
Klaus Von Schmitto,
The extreme winds of some hurricanes do not extend out far at all. It could well be that Category 3 winds only extend out 15 miles from the eye wall on this hurricane and never crossed any buoys.
Remember, though, it is the flooding (including storm surge) from hurricanes that does the most damage and kills the most people. Thus, even if the extreme winds will only make a 30 mile wide path, flooding could be in a 200 mile wide path.
I understand all that. As I said, I’ve been through many hurricanes and tropical storms. If you look at the link, you’ll see that the buoy in question is in the NE quadrant and almost directly in the path. It does provide real time (nearly) data. And, it’s just not showing cat 3 winds. The wave height always fascinates me. As a boater in the gulf, waves 27 feet tall would be something to see.
When Ivan came ashore a buoy was directly in the path and it was registering 26 METER waves till it broke it’s anchor line. That is a big frigging wave.
Obvious NOAA had stopped flow of data from the reading points. No data after 8 hours ago. Kinda strange.
This one should be interesting if it manages to keep transmitting. They lose their uplink pretty often with a direct hit.
https://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=42039
Well it’s now a Cat 3 and projected to be a Cat 4, so there’s that…
So…care to reevaluate the data:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/10/us/hurricane-michael-wxc/index.html
That’s one nice thing about plastic, it resist swelling up when soaked in water. In 2004 my house was flooded. I did not realize how much silt a river can pack into places. Copper Sulfate will kill black mold. Even though you change the oil out of your motors they don’t last long after a flood. Turn off your electricity at the meter before you leave, I didn’t and my refrigerator and freezer shorted out.
If the wrong people take over in Florida these emergencies will become looters paradise.
Not in my neighborhood I assure you.
A note while sealing a gun safe: My Liberty safe has a small hole in the back to pass a power cord through to hook up a dehumidifier. It didn’t come with a grommet, either. If you do plan to seal up the door to your safe, make sure you seal any other holes – silicone RTV sealant would be a good choice for this.
Another note for those with gun safes –
1-gallon freezer bags can be a lifesaver if your safe floods. Handguns, magazines, boxes of ammo, etc will fit in a 1-gallon freezer bag, keeping them *dry* if your safe floods…
Don’t forget to throw a desiccant pack in each bag to protect from the moisture already in the bag. You can buy a bag of the gel packs from Amazon.
Also know that it is illegal for authorities to disarm you during emergency situations.
not sure you can count on them observing that…..
#4 – Prepare an inventory of any firearms left behind n vulnerable. Its best to have a record of what was lost in that
tragic boating accidentterrible storm. For later. If someone asks where they are.(Irish democracy is a thing.)
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