[gdolapp]

As we all probably know the storm could hit the east coast with a vengance.
They are all ready expecting power outages on the coast and in land as there will be snow on the back side.

Just in case fill all your water barels or buckets that you can for your horses and other animals do the same for yourself. Be sure to leave an extra flashlight with fresh batteries in your barn so you will have it if you need it.
Tie your outside hay feeders down if you can.

Make sure if you have generators for house or barn you have xtra gas, put water bottles in your freezer to put into coolers you can drink them as they thaw and they will help keep food that needs to be kept cold, cold.

FILL YOUR BATHTUBS WITH WATER. as full as you can get them. You can use this water to flush toilets and wash up with. Make sure all your electronics including cellphones are all fully charged and you know where your car charger for your phone is at. You can always use your vehicle to charge your phone. If your kids have DS game players or Ipads or Ipods get them fully charged.

If you only have one generator if you have to you can alternate it between your fridge and freezer.
Have an evacuation plan for humans and animals in place.
Thoose that get snow if you loose power use a stick with a ribon on it stuck in a snow bank put your cold stuff in a cooler and burry it in the snow.
MOST OF ALL STAY SAFE.

[ldaziens]

*Make evacuation reservations NOW - you can always cancel later if unneeded.

Crank down the temp on your freezer and fridge as low as you can - now; before the power goes out!

And make sure that your vehicles are full of gas / check air pressure in tires & trailer is ready to go -- before Isaac I discovered tires on trailer were low & that wasted a lot of time.

If in doubt - evacuate early!

* Make sure you understand your flooding risk for worst case scenario and plan accordingly!

[Hippolyta]

This is another reason why having vaccinations up to date is so important: if you do need to evacuate, current vacs for pets & horses may be required for boarding/shelters.


Stay safe everyone!

some good info here
http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/enviro/animals.html

[Louise]

And, please, keep listening to the weather information and prepare. I was just watching the Weather Channel and the young woman who was reporting from Rehoboth Beach, which is likely to get hit head on, actually sounded a little angry because no one was doing anything much to get ready for what they think is going to be a very significant event.

Look at it this way -- the weather people may be wrong, they have been before. But, what if they're right?

[MistyBlue]

Trouble is that weather channels and forecasters will over-report and over-dramatize even the mildest events, they also have to increase ratings and hysteria gets ratings.

However I would think after the east coast getting 2 complete surprise whompings last year...people would be more pro-active about getting ready. It's really rare to lose power for a week in such densely populated regions...but we did that twice last year.

And yet there are still people who spent discretionary income on stuff other than generators this year. Dingbats. Although the last 3 days here in CT, very few places have generators left.

Yesterday we got a pre-recorded message call from CL&P...telling everyone they're getting prepared to not screw up again this year but thankfully also telling people exactly what to do/buy/what they need to do for themselves to prepare also. Did my regular grocery shopping yesterday and everyone had cases of water in their carts. And the locals are all doing the New England Storm Stock Up....buying all the milk, eggs and bread they can find. Because we ALL know if you lose power it's extremely important to have all the ingredients for French toast. Not sure why that's so important since many people won't have working cooktops. And it's hard to grill French toast.

We're all set here. Our biggest worry is just branches or trees down. Thankfully there's more leaves down this year at this time than there was last year at the same time when we got that surprise foot of snow. Leaves + snow = Oh Crap. My area had crappy fall colors, the leaves browned and came down early. Poplars (most common tree near me) are completely bare. Only trees left with some leaves are the big trouble makers....nut trees like oaks. But none overhang any buildings here. I have gas, generator, etc and the property is all prepped.

An extra little tip: get out there and mow all lawn short as possible. After this comes through, even if it's mild, branches and tons of leaves will come down at once. Removing leaves off of really short grass is 10x easier than getting it untangled from long grass.

Meanwhile Mr Blue has been glued to the weather channel for 2 days now an keeps shouting out dire warnings. Horses and dogs all calm...only Mr Blue spooks for this, LOL!

[Superminion]

My house is all set, with animal crates unearthed, water/food stocked, and all our laundry is clean (I know. But I really don't want to run out of clean panties should a rescue effort ensue)!

Now I'm just doing a mad hopeful dance that my BO gets home before it all goes down! I'm farm sitting, and *knock on wood* have a spotless track record so far. I'm a little daunted by facing this thing with all the various, expensive creatures under my care!

[SAcres]

All this talk has me nervous. We did ok last year with hurricane Irene, but this sounds like it could potentially be worse. At this point my biggest concern is leaving the horses in or out...my barn is old and has held up to everything that has come at it in the last 50 years, but still.

Water troughs will be full, a generator is waiting, and we are well stocked on everything needed. No evac plans though, we are far enough inland that it shouldn't be necessary.

[SAcres]

Also, remember to put IDs on all livestock/pets. I have halters with phone numbers duct taped on for all my horses.

[Lori T]

http://smarthorsekeeping.blogspot.co...n-october.html

[gdolapp]

The NAVY sent the fleet out to sea yesterday at Norfolk VA this could potentially be a seriouse situation for the Entire east coast. It is better to be pre-paired now then to not be and wish you had been. Also remember if you have a trailer with living quarters inside a building and you use it because of the battery power VENTILATE the building and the trailer specially if you use your heater. The building will keep carbonmonoxide in the building.

[Chief2]

Thank you for the reminder to turn the refrigerator/freezer down to its coldest setting. I had forgotten about that!

[Louise]

Those of us in blizzard country usually do some stocking up of non-perishables in the Fall, just in case. I always make sure that I have cans of tuna, salmon and chicken on hand. I eat cereal for breakfast every day, anyways, so I just make sure I have several boxes ahead. Cans of fruit and some crackers and cheese and I'm good for a prolonged seige.

But, my big tip, that I'm sure everyone must know but that I've never seen on here, is to buy some boxes of almond milk, the kind that you don't have to refrigerate. They come in quart sizes which means that you stand a good chance of using them up before they go bad, even if you have no refrigeration (except if you're in warm weather country) and they keep for months. The two boxes I have right now, for instance, are good until the end of June, 2013.

If nothing else, it saves that last hasty run to the store for milk when a storm is coming. And, if you have to have eggs, and don't want to make soggy french toast, I guess you can always make eggnog.

[Barn Diva]

There is a FB page made to help Horse owners in natural disasters find shelter or transport. It has over 5600 people across the nation. It was started during Hurricane Irene to help East Coast and expanded to fire victims in the West too.

If people can offer shelter or transport they can post offers and people needing them can look and see who is closest.

I think they are partnered with Fleet of Angels and Netposse too.

Horse Evacuations East
http://www.facebook.com/HorseEvacuationsEast?fref=ts

[Superminion]

Those of us in blizzard country usually do some stocking up of non-perishables in the Fall, just in case. I always make sure that I have cans of tuna, salmon and chicken on hand. I eat cereal for breakfast every day, anyways, so I just make sure I have several boxes ahead. Cans of fruit and some crackers and cheese and I'm good for a prolonged seige.

But, my big tip, that I'm sure everyone must know but that I've never seen on here, is to buy some boxes of almond milk, the kind that you don't have to refrigerate. They come in quart sizes which means that you stand a good chance of using them up before they go bad, even if you have no refrigeration (except if you're in warm weather country) and they keep for months. The two boxes I have right now, for instance, are good until the end of June, 2013.

If nothing else, it saves that last hasty run to the store for milk when a storm is coming. And, if you have to have eggs, and don't want to make soggy french toast, I guess you can always make eggnog.

I've actually never heard that before. It's a great tip, thanks so much for sharing!

[Ainsley688]

I just went to the store, and picked up some water jugs. I will be saving all my empty water bottles from this week, and filling them up. I'm a little nervous about the horses, but will be making name tags for them tomorrow. Not quite sure what to do about the pony, I have to soak his hay...really hoping we don't lose power for long- or at all!

Once the wind picks up, I'm stuck, and have to hunker down. The ferries don't run with 60mph wind gusts! Plus side, my employers have a generator, and I already told them I'd be coming over for showers if needed, lol. I can also get water for the horses from the fire station, which is a few minutes down the road.

[Cashela]

Up here in NH people are taking it pretty seriously. I went to Walmart for some oil for my generator (which isn't freaking starting darn it!) and took a peek at the flashlight section and it is empty, batteries too! I saw people with a bunch of candles etc. No gas tanks available and people are filling em up at the gas stations.

I'm filling up my trough and buckets and my water containers since the generator isn't cooperating. My uncle us coming up tomorrow to take a peek at it. I hope he can get it working.

I hope everyone stays safe.

[Louise]

I've actually never heard that before. It's a great tip, thanks so much for sharing!

And, this I didn't know. Apparently, in some parts of the country you can actually get boxed real milk that has a similar shelf life. I'll have to take a cruise around Wegman's next time I go and see if they have that. Though, I think I'd rather have the almond milk. I just can't imagine how milk processed to stay fresh in a box would taste. At least, with the almond milk, you don't expect it to taste like real milk.

[Chall]

Condensed milk used to come in cans, but since I can no longer drink milk I haven't kept up.

[MistyBlue]

Still does Chall. Sweetened and regular. I always have cans of it, mostly for baking. The main reason I use milk/cream is for coffee. But I'm used to non-dairy powdered creamer and have tons of that too.

If we get a few days of lost power, I usually do a lot of baking so will probably use up a lot of the canned milk. The local volunteer FD, Hwy D and tree guys all end up here during power outtages for hot coffee, hot food, bathroom break and a ziploc full of baked sugar-high.

[Underthebridge]

Milk in the box is pretty good.