Or, as I say often, Florida heat sucks.
As most of you know, we were due to be hit by Tropical Storm Fay, which was reportedly going to be considered a hurricane by the time it made landfall right near us. As a dutiful Florida resident, we had stocked a hurricane evacuation kit over 2 years ago when we spent our first summer here (restocking it last year as well). We had all the necessities packed into a large Rubbermaid tote in our garage: jugs of water, cans of fruit/veggies, toilet paper, first aid supplies, some medications, flashlights and extra batteries, compass (not sure this would help me out, but it was on "the list" so we had one), ponchos, etc.
Well, yesterday I dropped Tyler off at preschool and came home to relax. Checked the weather and it wasn't looking good for us. I secretly laughed at all the people I knew were frantically running through Walmart and the grocery stores, trying to get prepared. Me, I knew I had my kit and all was good.
Well, something made me decide to go out in the garage and check on the kit. Apparently the water jugs had sprung leaks (most likely due to the heat) and therefore leaked all in the container which then turned essentially all of our supplies into mold. Likely toxic mold which may kill me. Okay, I might be exaggerating a bit, but don't let this happen to you!
So off to Walmart I went, along with the rest of Florida. Luckily it wasn't too bad, I think because most people were working. My dear father stayed home, armed with gloves and bleach, and tried to battle the evil mold situation.
Luckily for us, we didn't end up needing a single supply. Fay turned course and we were spared. Despite school being closed, we only ended up with some wind and occasional rain. We might still have some heavy wind and rain ahead of us, but I think we've been spared from the majority of the storm. Phew.
So, for now, I'm stocked again. This time though, I'm just printing out a magnetic list to hang to the fridge. This list will contain all I need to pack to head out in an emergency. That way I can make sure to keep these things stocked. But stocked within the air conditioned confines of my home. Lesson learned.
3 comments:
Just so you know, even if the water from last summer hadn't leaked it would probably have tasted horrible. The plastic gallon jugs leach chemicals into the water & changes the water to a foul tasting liquid. I swear to you, the first year we were in our house & I had the full jugs that I saved for the following year - they tasted like vodka without the pleasant side effect of vodka - LOL. Either get the big 3 or 5 gallon water jugs that are used for water coolers (because they are a thicker material & don't cause the same thing) or change out your water jugs every season!
Yes, it won't be an issue now! I'll just keep a supply in the pantry and keep it fresh!
Good thing Fay wasn't on top of us as a hurricane when you found the mold farm. ha ha. Glad everything worked out for the best.
Post a Comment