Day 9 after Hurricane Charley

Avatar for happyscrapper40
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Day 9 after Hurricane Charley
9
Sat, 08-21-2004 - 11:00pm
I am finally online b/c dh is tired of watching me climb the walls with boredom. He hooked the computer up to a generator for me tonight. Charley's eye passed near/over our house a week ago Friday night around 5 pm. Here we are over a week later w/o electricity. Lucky for us my employer released our paychecks a day early on the 12th. so I could get my diabetic strips, meds. refilled etc. But since I have had time to think, I wonder how many of you have made a disaster plan for your diabetic management? I have only been diabetic for a couple years, but have been dodging hurricanes for over 20 years and finally one hit the bullseye. Hurricanes are NOT the only kind of natural disasters- there are earthquakes, fires, snowstorms, ice storms, floods...etc. Our home is mostly okay, a little scarred up, but sound and dry. But it is very difficult to manage a diabetic diet right now. In the almost 100 degree heat, fruits and veggies rot quickly- but it was almost a week before they began to be available in our county. Our food in both fridges had to be tossed on day three, most was reaching a dangerous level and we refused to take any chances. I am lucky that my last Ha1c was about 5.2, and my bs had been about 115 the last three months or so, morning and night, no higher than 140. This hasn't always been the case in the past. Since Charley, I have had readings as high as 150 in the mornings- heat, lack of proper diet, not eating meals on a regular basis etc. is not helping either. I have been thinking though I could of benefited from having a plan and more of the right non-refridgerated foods on hand. We have a generator only b/c my dh's employer sent one in to us- so that is number 1 for us to prepare our next kit. We also needed to have more gas cans and coolers. Ice was hard to get for the first four days- what about those of you who have insulin to protect? Maybe it would be good if we can assemble a list of supplies that should be on hand for these unexpected events- my stomach knots up everytime they show an elderly person on tv who says they only have 2 or 3 important pills left- and their pharmacy and doctors offices were destroyed. Luckily for my family, my two dd's and I have been able to get out of town every other day since Sunday and have a hot meal and gather supplies. But next time we might not be so lucky. Michele
Avatar for coldfingers
Community Leader
Registered: 04-30-2000
Sun, 08-22-2004 - 12:26am

OMGOSH Michele!!!!

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Avatar for cl_d_minnick
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Sun, 08-22-2004 - 4:05am

Oh Michelle it is so great to hear that

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Avatar for happyscrapper40
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Sun, 08-22-2004 - 8:24pm
Thanks for all the good wishes. It was harder today when we found out that many in our county had their electricity up and running, and we are part of 7,000 homes still being told Tuesday or Wednesday at the earliest. It got better later though- dh's boss brought us the window A/C the business bought last week and now that they have electricity they aren't using it. He also brought us another generator to run it. dd's boyfriend was so excited to get their electricity back this afternoon about 1 pm - but unfortunately everyone immediately overloaded the system and it went back down within the hour. Progress Energy said they are all up and running in the county, which means my employer now has electricity. I think I will go there tomorrow, if they will let me. I need to throw away the orange juice in my minifridge- I imagine after 9 days without refridgeration and 90-100 degree heat it is stinky! Ewww. When I was a Senior in High school in Michigan we had an ice storm and were without power for a week- I don't remember it being so bad- the outside temp was around freezing. Our food didn't go bad, and it was easy to sleep at night. I think we rather liked it b/c we didn't go to school for a week! LOL THe part that was bad about the ice storm was not being able to go anywhere for a week to get supplies like milk. We have been able to get water and ice daily, so that really helps. I am afraid to keep any cold food here, because if the generator runs out of gas at night, we may not notice it. What kind of foods do you all keep on hand in the cupboard that don't need to be refridgerated and can help maintain a diabetic diet? I have had no fresh veggies the last 5 days, relying on canned green beans, soups, spaghettios, etc. I usually have a large box of crackers with peanut butter from Sam's club on hand, but dh went through it in record time (like a week!) and I couldn't find any before the storm. But what I am eating is not a balanced diet, it is just survival mode. MH
Avatar for coldfingers
Community Leader
Registered: 04-30-2000
Sun, 08-22-2004 - 11:48pm

I can imagine it is hard knowing others have electicity.

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Avatar for cl_maryfrances40
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Mon, 08-23-2004 - 1:30am

Michelle,


You raise an interesting question. I live in earthquake country and we don't get much notice when one is going to hit. We have sick kits for diabetics but I don't think there is an organized "kit" for natural disasters. Insulin and for that matter glucometers need to be kept under 80 degrees and so it is quite a serious situation when you can't refrigerate things. I am going to do some research and see if I can find

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-07-2003
Mon, 08-23-2004 - 1:44pm
I’m so sorry to hear about the awful hurricane but im happy to hear your o.k.

It’s amazing that it takes something like this to wake us up for the “just in case”. I have never thought of putting together a diabetic pack for my husband but I should and this has really waked me up. We live in Southern California and as most people know we can have earthquake at any time and really any strength. If my husband could not get to his meds I would not know what to do. I’m going to go to the store and buy a small toiletry pack and im going to put together a 5 day just in case pack that I can leave in the car. His on insulin that has to be refrigerated right ? Im going to have to think about that one.

Avatar for happyscrapper40
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Mon, 08-23-2004 - 2:25pm
Thanks for everyone's words of encouragement! We are still without electricity- hope to have it by Wednesday, but someone rained on my parade today and said they heard another 2 weeks. I hope they are mistaken! Gas for the generator is so expensive- so if you have a generator, you need to have a way to have gas on hand too- we go through 10- 20 gallons per day. The two generators seem to make life almost normal now. We can bathe, use the lights in the house, get on the computer, have the fans going in all the rooms. The A-C seems like such a luxury, but it makes life bearable. Dh has worked 10-14 hour every day since the storm hit- he is in the propane business, and a lot of businesses run their emergency generators off of propane. THey are securing and turning off tanks in damaged areas, and deliving propane for cooking. He is literally exhausted from the work in the heat each day. Last night he slept like a baby inn the A/C! I go back to work on Wed., with or without electricity in our home. Our school has electricity, went by today and my room looks just like I left it. I understand part of our media center was hit hard, and will learn about any other damage on Wed. The kids come back on Monday. With so many mobile homes destroyed, no one is sure how many kids will come back. Michele H.
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2001
Tue, 08-24-2004 - 12:00pm
Hi Happy

We have family that got hit there in FL.They are in Frostproof. Everyone is ok, houses seems to be ok also. Glad you are ok.

Lynn

 

Avatar for happyscrapper40
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 08-24-2004 - 9:31pm
Glad your family is okay. My kids play Frostproof in sports frequently. We are about 45 miles southwest of Frostproof. MH