Welcome back to the Light Keepers podcast, an
exclusive production of A Guiding Light, our
non -profit charity dedicated to the idea that
knowledge is power and good information leads
to a better life. I'm Clayton Vandiver, your
Light Keeper, with my co -host as always, Charlene,
our licensed clinical social worker who is certified
in the state of Florida. And this show is dedicated
to everyone who wants to get the most quality
out of life that they can. Join us for the conversation
this week about hurricane preparedness and so
much more on this edition of the Light Keepers
podcast. Please leave your questions or comments
below and join our conversation. We'll also have
some links below with specific locations to go
to for some of the things we talk about today.
Questions are answered during our next show online
each Wednesday evening at 7 p .m. Eastern. The
Light Keepers podcast is an exclusive production
of A Guiding Light Incorporated. And another
document that we have. This first one, as I said,
was from the Florida. Department of Emergency
Management. The second one I have here is from
the National Weather Service, Hurricane Safety
for You and Your Family. Again, I'm providing
links below this to all of these documents. They're
downloadable. And they have information on before
a hurricane, during a hurricane, after a hurricane,
if you're not ordered to evacuate, if you are
ordered to evacuate. It just basically gives
you information that you're going to need to
be able to follow and stay safe. And that's the
whole idea is to keep you and your family safe.
And the more planning and preparation that you
do ahead of time, the less of a panic it is,
the less of a concern it is, because you already
know, well, if it gets to this point, if it gets
to this close proximity to our house, we have
the house prepared, it's battened down. And we
know that we have a full tank of gas in our vehicles.
We have carriers for our pets, all the supplies
that we need for us and our animals. And we can
get out of here for a while. Yeah. And one thing
that I would also encourage is if you have a
pet that can be microchipped. Yes. I know some
people don't support that. It's important. that
microchip can be the difference between you getting
your pet back and not if you get separated. The
other thing, too, a lot of people get their pets
microchipped, and then they don't register a
phone number with it. And that kind of defeats
the purpose. So if you are preparing for an emergency,
it's always a good idea to contact your pet's
veterinarian and find out. who the chip is licensed
through and make sure that your information is
up to date with them. Absolutely. And one of
the other things that's most common, especially
here in the state of Florida, especially among
folks who are just moving into the state and
they're doing that all the time. And for folks
who have lived through a few near misses where
the storm came close enough to give you a little
bit of wind, a little bit of a high tide, maybe
a touch of flooding and some rain. But it wasn't
that big a deal. You've seen worse storms during
the summer months. In fact, we had a really bad
storm just a few days ago. It was just a storm,
just moved through, but we had 70 -mile -an -hour
winds right here. And that's borderline hurricane.
So it can happen any time. We get a little bit
complacent in the state of Florida, and that,
I think, is the biggest danger that any hurricane
provides is the complacency. If it's going to
get close enough to you that emergency management
personnel tell you, get out, then you need to
get out. And you need to already be prepared
with everything you're going to be needing, not
waiting until the last minute because those stores
are not going to have it or they're going to
be closed. And those gas stations will not have
that fuel or they're not going to have electricity
to provide it. And you need to get out when they
say get out. err on the side of safety because
your family, your pets, all of you need to stay
safe in a storm. I've lived through hurricanes
in the state of Florida all the way back to Dora
in 1964 when I was a very young child, and I
will never forget how much of an adventure that
was in a roughly 60, 70 -year -old... two -and
-a -half -story all -wood creaking structure
that was built around the turn of the century,
about 1900. And it was leaking a lot by the time
that hurricane got past us. There was between
8 and 10 feet of water standing in front of my
house. And the house had a slope. It had a high
stair area coming up to the porch. And the water
did not come up to the porch. But I've lived
through that one, and most of them since then,
except for the 10 years I was in Los Angeles
when I experienced a lot of shaky situations,
I'll tell you about another time. But, you know,
another thing, too, is a lot of times when we're
trying to prep for these emergencies, some people
might be concerned. They may not have the resources
available. They may not be able to afford a lot
of these prep materials. Or they may not be able
to move. They may not be able to leave on their
own. They may not even have a vehicle. So what
I would recommend in that situation is if you
are someone that needs to prepare for an emergency
and you don't have the resources that you need
to be able to do that, you can always reach out
to your community services to help. So, for example,
if you can't afford the food, reach out to your
local food banks. Reach out to your local churches
that have those food banks. If you can't afford
the pet supplies for your pet, reach out to your
local humane societies. What a lot of people
don't realize is that there are Companies like,
I know Purina used to, I don't know if they still
do, but they would donate food to humane societies
to use, to give out during emergencies for people
that can't afford food for their animals. So
there are resources in the community. You just
have to be willing to reach out and ask for help.
That's absolutely right. Your own community's
emergency management or your county's emergency
management. division is going to have all that
information for you they'll be able to help and
some monitor the local broadcast outlets because
they'll tell you the best things to do in your
area and when to do them and you can trust them
and some places like for example the state of
florida has a sales tax holiday for hurricane
prep items. Check into your state, your local
area, see if there are any special circumstances
going on that might make those things more affordable.
Because, you know, the state of Florida may kind
of be out there. As a peninsula, we experience
a lot of weather. If it's in the Atlantic Ocean,
chances are it's going to get kind of close to
us or it might come right through us. Up the
coast of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina,
Virginia, right on up to New York City, you can
get a lot of effects from these storms. And they
certainly get into the Gulf of Mexico and Alabama,
Mississippi, Louisiana. But you saw a lot of
things after Katrina in the Mississippi. And
Louisiana, all of those areas. Hattiesburg. We
went into Hattiesburg to help the HSUS with the
animals that they had rescued. And it was horrible.
There were horses that they had rescued that
had hoof rot because they'd been standing in
two feet of water for a week. And nowhere to
go and no one to help them. Nowhere to go and
no way to get out of the water. Dogs that were...
you know, rescued from drowning because they
had either been locked in a house that had flooded
with no one else in the home or they had been
left chained to a tree. Horrible circumstances,
horrible circumstances that with a little bit
of pre -planning could have been avoided. So
all of these states in the southeast have the
ability to experience really horrific weather.
And it is really bad. And the aftermath without
the electricity and without the resources is
just as bad. And it's not just for a few hours.
It's days. Sometimes it's weeks. Sometimes it
relocates an entire city and it's forever because
they just can't come back and realistically rebuild
and start over where they were. Well, and what
a lot of people don't realize is the... Crisis
isn't over when the storm is over. When the storm
passes, yeah. Because you still have to wait
for the conditions to be safe for the help to
be able to come in and for the conditions to
be to the point that the help can get to you.
You know, the biggest thing with Katrina is they
had to wait for boats to be able to get in because
everywhere was flooded. I remember cruise ships
even came over for some of the displaced and
homeless. And you don't hear about it once it
cycles through the news, once a week or so passes.
Generally, the news outlets go on to more immediate
things, and the recovery efforts and the rebuilding
efforts sort of loses the rest of the country's
attention, but it's still going on. It's just
like a whole bunch of tornadoes going through.
uh the plain states it's just like a bad blizzard
in the mountains it's just unlike a bad earthquake
on the west coast we all have things that we
need to prepare for and we're just encouraging
everyone on the east coast and and in the gulf
states to be preparing for the hurricane season
that has just begun this is a particularly long
episode this week we apologize for that but But
by golly, it's important, even though our little
foster kitten has slept through every single
bit of it. And we would hope that if we're really
well prepared indeed, that's exactly how we would
all be able to weather the storm is by sleeping
through it. Unless it's a direct hit, then we're
going to bug out and we will be found in another
state. So this is all a highly personal choice.
No conversation that we have on the Light Keepers
podcast should ever take the place of your own
medical team or other professional advisor or
FEMA or your local emergency management division
who should always be consulted on your specific
situational needs. We all need good information
to make the very best informed decisions and
live life on our own terms. This conversation
is to start you thinking. because most people
are not prepared at all. They're complacent about
hurricanes. Some are very well prepared indeed,
from joining us here on the Light Keepers podcast
every Wednesday evening at 7 p .m. Eastern. The
Light Keepers podcast is an exclusive production
of Vanimation Studios and A Guiding Light, and
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Send your check to the address that's right below
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So you'll catch every single episode. And if
you want to foster a kitten for your local humane
shelter, it definitely is a rewarding experience.
We highly recommend it. I'm Clayton Vandiver,
your light keeper. We'll see you next time.