On August 12, 2008 Hurricane Ike made landfall on the Texas coast and not only destroyed the Galveston but also reminded so many of us how much we need to be prepared for the long term effects long after the winds and rains subsides.
At my home here in Texas we lost power the evening of August 12th and it stayed off until early afternoon of August 27th. That was 16 days without power. We lost everything in our refrigerator, deep freeze, and in the first few days after the storm it was difficult finding gas, food, and ice. The mare basics of life that we so often over look because it is always in abundance. We were blessed to have had a friend who had a generator for us to use to at least get the refrigerator running again so I can at least have some control over what we had available in our home. There was mass confusion everywhere. There was no power to traffic lights, street lights, gas stations, or grocery stores. There was no ice to be found anywhere. It reminded me of some of what I read about the great depression back in history which included long lines, short tempers, stressful conditions and fear of the unknown.
During this time my entire focus was on my little one and his well being. My goal was to keep him safe, secure, and above all eczema free. See before the storm I had a very controlled environment, from the food we ate to the temperature we kept our home, and even the pollutants from outdoors. So when the threat of the storm became reality, I knew it would be an ultimate challenge to all I had in place, especially in relation to my son’s skin condition.
Well to make a long story short, without my controlled environment my son did experience numerous new eczema outbreaks and I learned that when it comes to natural disasters such as hurricanes and such it requires many levels of planning because of the many unknowns, which included the facts that:
We had no idea how long we would be without power so we did not plan on food beyond a week.
We had no idea the grocery stores, that we so depend uponm would be in the same condition as we were.
With all the generators running in our neighborhood, plus the one we had, introduced a new type of toxin that challenged my son’s eczema condition and caused many other health problems being exposed to the pollutants from the gas generators.
We were fortunate to have a cold front move in after the storm but that only lasted about 3 days and then the weather was so hot and humid that we rarely stayed inside but then we had to deal with the mosquitoes was outside.
We compromised our dietary system of healthy wholesome food to eating food that was available which was mostly pizza, fried foods, and donuts, many of which contributed to my son’s eczema outbreaks. This is where having fermented foods available helps.
The FEMA pod finally arrived the food contained everything my son could not eat due to his eczema condition, so we gave the food away, as I decided to not put any more stress, from food, on his body.
This experience definitely showed me how areas where my emergency plans need revamping especially when it comes to surviving a natural disaster and being prepared for supporting my son with natural eczema treatments.
I now include the following in my emergency plans:
1) Leave the area and find shelter in a town or city where the storm is not headed, as early as possible to beat the traffic and get a hotel if required.
2) If we must stay, dehydrate as much fruits and vegetables and store it in an air tight container to be used for soups, stews, and snacks in case food becomes scarce.
3) Purchase my son’s favorite store bought snacks for at least two weeks.
4) Purchase dry ice. They keep longer than regular ice.
5) Purchase at least two or three window air conditioning unit to keep the house cool during the hot months and to keep the pollution from generators out of the house.
6) Have enough of our special mosquito spray in the first aid kit along with essential oils and medication.
7) It is important to have all the emergency candles, flashlights, batteries, phone numbers, radios, lighters, and such in one box and every day to put everything back in the box and place it by the main door of entry so if we come in late we can find everything immediately.
8.) FEMA usually takes down all communication but text messaging worked and it was the only was to keep in contact with family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and church members.
Entertaining the kids was a must in order to keep the stress levels down. We are blessed to have wonderful neighbors that we have know for years. Here is what we did to pass the time.
1) We had a neighborhood block party by cooking the foods we had and feeding each other. It was fun for the children as well as the adults.
2) For little ones we had activities they can get involved in during the day and night when there is no electricity we played card games, completed work books, and made story books come to life.
This was our experience. I can go on and on about what we will do differently but the experience did have many benefits as we were forced to look at life differently and spend more time with family, neighbors, and friends. Even though my son experienced the new outbreaks his skin bounced back a week later which is very encouraging.
Sandra Hurd, MS CNC
Health Educator and Nutrition Coach
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