UPDATED 4/6 [See time sensitive advocacy issues at the bottom] Times of crisis test not only the character of individuals but reveal the flaws in our man-made systems – including how we get food from farm to table. As we face the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic, many will feel a loss of control, safety and security. It is natural to cycle through the stages of grief during times like these: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. As someone working with nonprofits and farmers (arguably the riskiest small business of all), we must quickly move to the next stage: action. Nonprofits notoriously run on shoe string budgets, tenuous at the best of times; these organizations face further pressure in times of crisis because they often are charged with serving the most under resourced, under represented, and vulnerable populations. In parallel, our food system (especially our local food supply chain) from farmers, field workers and food hubs to food banks, farmers markets, and restaurants, are all operating on the tightest of margins, the lowest of wages, and the highest levels of risk often directly dependent on uncontrollable variables such as the weather and the economy. In summary, this crisis is about to create a ripple effect that will place both those most vulnerable and those serving them at risk. Which brings us to the question: how can we increase our resiliency in this time of crisis?

First, we should all regularly review the recommendations directly from the CDC including testing, best practices, and posters.

Second, it is important that we spend time learning how we can take care of ourselves as individuals first, including accessing healthcare through tele-health programs when possible (in Charleston, MUSC is providing tele-health coronavirus screenings with promo code “COVID19”). Third, keep an eye on information mapping the spread of this virus (but honestly, it is just pretty depressing). And finally, we all could use some good old fashion advice from an Italian Grandma, some heart warming community singing to lift our spirits, or an inspiring compilation of some GOOD NEWS from across the country. Now that the basics are covered, we can dig in to the tactical aspects of this challenge.

Resources for the front lines

To all the nonprofit leaders out there (and social impact businesses a like), if there is one thing that our industry is capable of, it is acting quickly on a tight budget with a spirit of collaboration. So many organizations have pulled together incredible tools/resources shared below. Together SC created this incredible post: “What to do if the Coronavirus comes to call” that outlines a thought process as well as shares tools. Resources range from internal operation considerations, communication strategies to recommendations on “shoring up financial reserves” and considerations around discrimination relating to the virus. You can also check out risk management tools for your team, tools on what your board should being doing during this time , how to handle cancelling an event, how to manage teams while working remotely, and how to shift your strategic plan in a time of crisis. As employers it is also important to keep up to date with the fair labor standards, strategies for shifting your human resource practices, and unemployment policies during this time (also check your local Department of Employment). Lowcountry Local First advocates for local businesses (including farmers) in South Carolina and has already begun gathering feedback from their members through this survey to collect and share ideas for weathering this storm and supporting local businesses and farmers safely during this crisis. If you are looking for an active nonprofit Facebook community, check out the Nonprofit Happy Hour official COVID Development Teams thread.

LISTS OF LISTS: National Good Food Network has compiled this folder on Google Drive to store the valuable resources that are being passed along in their COVID-19 ListServ which includes Resource Spreadsheet with resources curated from across the country and organized by food systems topic. For folks in the Southeast, here is a compilation by state from Southern SAWG. ATTRA has an easily searchable directory that does include funding resources and ASAN created this great highly organized spreadsheet with tabs full of resources for all of the categories listed below- many of the resources are specific to AL but also includes regional and national as well.

HEAL Food Alliance has created robust working documents full of resources as well as Food & Land Sovereignty Resource List for COVID-19 (compiled by Soul Fire Farm, Black Farmer Fund, and Northeast Farmers of Color). The National Council of Nonprofits includes resources in addition to those above “Nonprofits and Coronavirus, COVID-19”. The Restaurant Workers Community Foundation list includes information and resources for restaurants and workers. Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future’s Food Policy Networks team has compiled Food Policy Council focused list of resources, models/examples, funding, and other shared practices in COVID-19 response. Clara.nibbelink@gmail.com compiled and organized resources into Google Drive folders and By Vanessa Garcia Polanco has created an incredible list of articles.

FUNDING: The National Center for Family Philanthropy has compiled a list of funding that includes this incredible map of local funding across the nation. Step one, see above. Farmers, see the section below. In addition to the robust list of funding sources above, you can also Apply for Disaster Assistance Loans for Small Businesses Impacted by Coronavirus (COVID-19) through the Small Business Administration (SBA). Food Access groups can apply for funding in support of youth food access programming. If you are a prior Crossroads funding recipient, you can apply for additional support. I would encourage those working in food and beverage to see if there are local fundraisers, like those hosted in Chicago or the virtual tip jar sites listed in the article.

I am working on transcribing the list below but until then, see below.

FOOD ACCESS groups, as noted above can now apply for funding in support of youth food access programming. USDA proposed a number of changes to school meal programs – comment period ends March 23, 2020. There is also this helpful handout on where and how to donate food that can be shared with your networks. Eat Smart Move More SC created an incredible list of resources including best practices on how to safely distribute food using grab-and-go and other distributions techniques. There is also a great example of creative food distribution strategies in NYC, a national Gleaning Map for food recovery, and an online food calculator for shopping during a pandemic.

COMMUNICATION TOOLS: As we all begin the process of social distancing, quarantines, and in some cases, sheltering in place, we will rely more heavily on digital communication tools. As someone that already works from home, I can say that there are an array of choices. Google and Microsoft are offering their conferencing tools free-of-charge for a limited time. Slack’s free version is very robust and I highly recommend it for teams or collaborations, including industry collaborations (ex. area Food Banks coordinating). GoToMeeting is also offering their remote work tools free for three months. Zoom has a free option, just get ready for that 40 minute meeting cut-off. If you are like me and have to worry about the occasional baby cry or kiddo interrupting your call (we’ve all seen the video), I personally have gotten creative by adapting a little video conferencing space in my closet and when necessary taking calls in my car in the driveway.

To my farming friends, you are not alone and there are entire networks of food system leaders working hard to come up with solutions, including the National Good Food Network who dedicated an entire session to this process at their conference last week and have already created a COVID-19 Response Team listserv and working document. The National Young Farmers Coalition also has an array of resources to stay connected and in touch, including a survey to find out what your needs are. If the thought of another tough season has you feeling completely overwhelmed, there are farmer crisis hotlines available including Farm Aid at 1-800-FARM-AID (1-800-327-6243), the RAFI-USA hotline 919-542-1396 and press #1 for the Farmer Crisis Hotline or toll-free at 866-586-6746 or the suicide prevention hotline at 1-800-273-8255 (online chat also available).

If you are in need of financial support, I encourage you to look at the funds available through SBA mentioned above– if you need it, here is specific language that clarifies that farms ARE included in the EIDL program (which is NEW and has not made its way to the actual SBA offices yet) as well as the Paycheck Protection Program as described here by CFSA. Even if you are unsure of your status, it is recommended that you go ahead and gather the necessary documents so you can apply as soon as your able, as funds are first come, first serve. Also check out this incredibly robust list from ATTRA: https://attra.ncat.org/covid/#assistance including a new fund from American Farmland Trust- Farmer Relief Fund

Farmers can also find general disaster resources here and many state farm organizations, such as the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (NC and SC) and The Food Well Alliance (ATL) have pulled together additional resources. As we all know, the spring season is often the most profitable for farmers selling direct to consumer and with market closures and the downturn in the economy, now is not the time to have an abundance of supply and no way to connect with the demand.

The most comprehensive and proactive measures I have seen are those taken by 4PFoods in Virginia, as outlined in the following case statement as well as this robust trading and connections spreadsheet created by Farm to Institution New England (FINE). The overall message: We have to quickly shift the flow in our supply chain by directing food traditionally sold into farmers markets and restaurants and instead focus on selling to customers using home delivery services, redistributing to food banks and school feeding programs. This process includes leveraging the schools buses not currently in operation, cold storage that is currently empty, food service workers without jobs, and above all- gaining financial investments from the public and private sector to implement these strategies.

So what can farmers do in the immediate future? Here are some ideas:

• Is there a shelter in place order in your city, county, or state? Make sure you are reaching out to your Department of Agriculture for support in providing proof of your essential status. For example, the SC Commissioner of Agriculture, Hugh Weathers, has drafted a Notice of Essential Food and Agriculture Employee form that farms in these areas may fill out for each employee certifying them as an essential employee.  They should keep this letter with them while commuting to and from work.  Commissioner Weathers also sent this letter to the law enforcement community in regards to his notice.
• Make sure you have contact information for your customers so you can communicate with them, keep them informed on social media, and outline what steps you are taking to protect your products and workers (washable containers, gloves, masks, social distancing, general food safety practices). If you are a U-pick operation, there are even resources to build your own wash station.
• Reach out to your local food hub to see if they have the capacity to buy your product or if they are aware of any processors able to process, dehydrate, and/or freeze as well as provide storage.
• Connect with home CSA Delivery Farms and CSA/Box Services to see if they are able to buy and sell your products.
• Create your own pre-packed boxes for customers and develop curbside pick-up or delivery. There are a variety of softwares out there Local Food Marketplace, Farmigo, Barn2Door, CSA Member Assembler, CSAware, HarvestHand, The CSA Toolbox and soooo many more. You can also check out the recorded webinar from Oregon Tilth on this topic for resources and support.
• Consider making value added products with pre-approved recipes (remember, you will have to go through proper channels in your state to meet the processing requirements- examples resources from CA and NC) and/or working with companies that can do this for you. You may even know of chefs in your area that would like to partner on products that they can use in their kitchens when business picks back up.
• Market the fact that there are great health and immunity benefits of fresh fruits and veggies (ex. high vitamin C in berries and broccoli) as well as sharing recipes for immune boosters like fire cider.
• Encouraging customers to buy and bulk and freeze in case of quarantine.
• Sell gift cards that customers can cash in later on in the year.
• Reach out to your local food bank to see if they have the capacity or resources to purchase product. If you simply are not able to harvest, you can also see if they have any groups interested in gleaning.
• For the farmers markets that have remained open, here is a good example of how a market in NC is making an effort to reduce exposure. Also see below on the campaign for #farmersmarketsaregrocerystores
• If you are operating a market, check out this awesome example drive through order form from the East End Farmers Market in KY.
• Check out this great post from RAFI-USA on alternative sales options for direct to market farmers.

Advocating for support

Beyond keeping the operations running, we will all have a role to play in advocating for policies and relief packages that take the broader food system as well as nonprofits into consideration. Much of the work will need to be done at a state and regional level, just as the folks at 4PFoods. It has been indicated that agriculture is considered “Critical Infrastructure” but there are a lot of questions about where activities around food access and farmers markets will fall in these definitions.

There is currently a campaign from the National Young Farmers Coalition to urge members of congress to include farmers in their relief packages and you can also sign up for action alerts or also use this form from American Farmland Trust.

Carolina Farm Stewardship Association and allied organizations have assembled an advocacy toolkit to help communities fight to keep their markets open, and to re-open markets that have been wrongly closed.

“The toolkit includes a link to COVID-19 Operational Guidelines and Tips for Farmers Markets, which provides information on social distancing and sanitation practices that should be implemented at markets to maintain public health. It also includes resources to use when convincing local authorities to allow markets to continue and advocacy strategies to generate public support for the issue in your community. Please share these resources with the hashtag #farmersmarketsaregrocerystores.“

The team at Local Progress has pulled together a number of recommendations and actions highlighting the need for advocacy around equity during this time.

At the end of the day, we all have the opportunity to support our local farmers and reach out to nonprofits in our community to find opportunities to help, even from the safety of our homes. I hope we can use this time to cherish those we love, spend more time outdoors connecting with nature, and leverage this as a catalyst towards building a more resilient local food system.

These are a few tips to help you prepare for hurricane season. More detailed information can be found on the NOAA Hurricane Preparedness website including being able to “Assess your risks and know your home’s vulnerability to storm surge, flooding and wind. Understand National Weather Service forecast products and especially the meaning of NWS watches and warnings.” They also have a great list to help you put together a basic disaster supplies kit. For anyone in the Southeast, you can follow Mike’s Weather Page on Facebook for regular updates and info on storms.

For those in South Carolina, there are a number of great resources available. For flooding issues in general, I follow the SC Flood Information Exchange. If you are in the Charleston area, I also follow Rob Fowler on FB and you can also sign up for Charleston County Citizen’s Alert if you want current updates as well as find details about the highway reversals here. For information on evacuations and other alerts, there is now also an app from the South Carolina Emergency Management Division you can download at the Apple App Store or from Google Play. Or you can download the South Carolina 511 App for similar information.

Check out your own area on the NOAA map. 

The sound of fireworks has always brought with it a sense of nostalgia for the summer nights of youth filled with the excitement of staying up late followed by the booming explosions that echoed in your chest and lit up the sky. I find it incredibly fitting the 4th of July is a celebration of the Declaration of Independence because it was this time last year that I, too, declared my independence.

One year ago today, I struck out on my own as a business owner with the launch of Wit Meets Grit. I hit the ground running with three clients and have been going full steam ever since. Just to keep things interesting, my husband, Dan, and I bought a house at the same time, making the experiences of entrepreneurship and homeownership deeply intertwined. Both have given me an incredible sense of accomplishment and freedom I was completely unaware I had been missing. Admittedly (and not surprisingly) my work and family have been my primary focus (sorry garden).

Despite spending 5 years supporting, advising, and advocating for business owners, there is nothing quite like swimming in the water to make you appreciate the joys and dangers of the experience. While there have been challenges, none have been insurmountable or daunting. My biggest obstacle? Figuring out how to explain what I do for a living. Having spent so many years with clearly defined jobs, it has been difficult to put into words the depth and breadth of the services I am providing. When you grow-up with a modern renaissance man for a father, it is hard to see the point in narrowing down your interests or skills when there is so much pleasure to be found in new experiences and projects.

Upon reflection, I realized that in the end my passion is people. How they communicate, organize, collaborate, build their programs, run their organizations, manage their systems, make decisions, achieve results, and evaluate their success. Paired with an expertise in the areas of sustainability, environmental studies, and food systems (agriculture, land-use, distribution, marketing, and consumption), I am able to support the people and organizations working in these industries. And of course if you want to talk about green building, affordable housing, gardening, public health or transportation, those are areas of interest as well (hence the aforementioned depth and breadth).

In the last twelve months I have had the pleasure of working with ten different clients on a wide range of projects from meeting facilitation and coalition building to organizational development and landscape assessment. My clients range from small non-profits and businesses to large national organizations. Although the majority of my clients fall into the “food system” category, I have also had the opportunity to work with folks on areas of organizational management and the broader area of sustainability.

Beyond the work under the umbrella of Wit Meets Grit, I am also an adjunct faculty at the College of Charleston, co-teaching Introduction to Environmental Studies with a “hard-science” partner and just wrapped up co-teaching the Gaiananda Herbal Apprenticeship with SC Herbal Society. Outside of work, I am also heavily involved in community giving through volunteer work on several boards but that is a whole other post for another day.

A goal for the next year is to schedule more time to actually update the world on the fun I am having at work (and at home) to provide a peek into this fascinating world I find myself in. In my own defense for the serious lack of blog posts and updates, I just wrapped up a 6 month project that included over 25 interviews, data collection, and mapping on four states that resulted in a 60 page report (with citations) aka soooo much writing.

What is the most important take-away at this point? It has been a great year and I am so thankful for the support of friends and family as well as my stellar clients. To illustrate the awesomeness that is self-employment, I created a fun infographic.

Forget the foreign cars and name brands, you are now more likely to be judged by what is on your dinner table. Is that steak local, grass fed, animal welfare approved? Did you pair it with a side of local, organic, heirloom potatoes? While the string of labels becomes its own parody, it is indicative of our life in the information age. Transparency is a valuable trait that consumers are beginning to expect from companies, especially when it comes to food producers. In the race to lead the most socially, politically, and environmentally correct life possible, how does one ensure they are making the right choice?

The real challenge comes when determining which certification is the “best” and finding measurable data to back up these decisions. At the top of the debate is the local versus organic. Which is better? What is more important? How are they different and how are they similar? These are the types of questions that can paralyze you in the grocery store. Adding to this challenging endeavor is the reality that a lot of this is subjective. Everyone has their own set of values as well as financial and logistical constraints. What is the right choice for you and what you are able to source where you live?

Organic.

Although the organic foods movement began in the 70s, the official National Organic Program was launched in 2002. Organic Certification is a process by which a food business must pass a third party inspection to verify that they have met organic standards, utilized specific production practices, and are not using prohibited substances. In South Carolina, Clemson University’s Public Service and Agriculture department is the Accredited Certification agency for the state that conducts these third party inspections. Ryan Merck is the Organic Program Coordinator with the program and has spent years on the ground in South Carolina conducting inspections on crops, livestock, and processing. He believes the strengths of the program are its ability to help provide accountability through third party verification and record keeping while also creating a minimum standard for how to farm with an “ecological component.”

The challenge for consumers in South Carolina is that currently there are only 53 certified farms, ranging from ¼ acre to 1,000 acres, leaving many gaps in supply. Charleston County only has three certified organic farms, Joseph Fields Farm, Middleton Place Organic Farm and Clemson’s Coastal Research and Education Center. Why are there so few farms getting certified in SC? Ryan believes it is in part due to misconceptions about the process being too expensive or having too much paperwork as well as a major deficit in farmer and consumer education. He noted that neighboring states are far ahead in numbers, with North Carolina home to 262 certified farms and Georgia up to 97 certified farms.

For Joseph and Helen Fields of Joseph Fields Farm, the choice to transition to organic began almost 14 years ago and this year they completed their 9^th inspection. “The customers were asking for organic vegetables,” Helen Field reflects. As one of the first Certified Organic farms in the state, they had to spend a lot of time educating consumers when their prices increased. Although some fought the change, in the end Helen explained, “If someone is truly interested in organic, they buy it, regardless of the cost.”

While the Fields are seasoned veterans at the process, Joshua Adams just completed his first inspection as the Farm Manager at the Middleton Place Organic Farm. “It’s a lot of paperwork, but it’s really not as bad as I thought it was going to be,” he says. He realized that the process itself would help him develop positive habits in his first few years of farming. “As a farmer you need to keep good records and being certified organic helps you do that.”  Yet Joshua is left feeling as though perhaps society has it wrong. “It’s kind of backward. As someone that is trying to grow healthier food, we have to have to go through so many hoops and other people can spray chemicals without even having to be labeled.”

Adams is not the only one that feels as though farmers practicing organic production should not have to go through a stringent process that eats into their already tight margins. Kenneth Melton, owner of Lowland Farms on Johns Island, has always grown using organic methods and attends a variety of trainings to learn more sustainable methods for his operation but is not certified. “I have kids and feed them from the farm. I don’t want to spray anything. I don’t want to import things onto my farm that I don’t have to”. As a farmer with direct to consumer and restaurant sales, he doesn’t see a reason to go through the process because he has great relationships with his customers and will answer any questions they have. “Once you have the relationship and they learn about how you are growing, organically, then they trust you,” he says. “People are more interested in where you are located.”

Local.

Lowland Farms is one of several local operations that sell regularly at farmers markets in the area, including the new market launching in West Ashley. Charleston is not the only city with an incredible demand for local food, as demonstrated in the continued growth of farmers markets nationwide from 1,755 in 1994 to 8,284 in 2014. Proponents of local foods are focused on the ability to have a relationship with their farmer, reduce their carbon footprint, access regionally specific products, support the local economy, and enjoy harvested-that-morning fresh produce.

Yet unlike organic, the food industry is having a harder time pinning down how exactly to define and enforce this. According to the USDA: “locally or regionally produced agricultural food product” is less than 400 miles from its origin, or within the State in which it is produced.” In South Carolina, Growfood Carolina initially adopted the more stringent industry standard of 120 miles but recently expanded statewide to capture the range of growing seasons and products grown in the state. According to Sara Clow, the General Manager at Growfood, buyers are sourcing from them to access high quality produce that is sourced locally and are generally not as concerned with organic certification, “The chefs want what tastes best and is local.”

One of the challenges local is that distance is the only requirement. Local farmers can practice a broad range of production methods that may or may not reflect your own beliefs on health, social justice, animal welfare, or the environment. The benefit of location as a restriction is that because of their relationships in the communities in which they grow and live, farmers selling in direct markets locally have a great motivation to meet their consumer’s demands. If you have the ability to build a relationship with a farmer, you can ask about their practices and express your desire for certain types of certifications. Although this sounds like an ideal solution, the reality is the majority of Americans still buy their food at the grocery store – making food labels the primary tool for a customer can learn about a product. The current system relies heavily on certifications and language approved by the FDA (ie. words like “natural”) to help consumers make decisions because farmers are not in the store to answer questions. Marketing and packaging can be very confusing to customers and take advantage of loopholes in labeling restrictions. This weakness of the system is also its strength because it encourages consumers to actually learn about the food system and build relationships with those growing food in your community so they can be informed and savvy customers.

So what is better, local or organic? It is a question that only you can answer for yourself.

This article originally appeared in the Charleston City Paper. 

Want to eat local? Make and check out resources from Lowcountry Local First, including this Map of Purveyors. They even have a phone app to help you track your progress. Not in Charleston? Check out Local Harvest.

Living on the coast, we are used to battening down the hatches and slipping on our rain boots to prepare for rainy weather, so when we hear there is a storm coming we generally just stock up on the essentials: beer, bread, and batteries. Some might even say we are a little too salty when it comes to our outlook on storms. As a fellow coastal dweller, when others scoffed at the lack of evacuations prior to Katrina, I simply shook my head and thought, “Most of us wouldn’t leave either, especially because we would be expected at work the next day”. During my class today, we asked how many of our students had ever experienced a hurricane and the answer was only two out of twenty two. I quickly realized that with so many transplants here, the majority of folks have no idea how to handle this situation. Now that Governor Haley has ordered a mandatory evacuation, people will be scrambling to get ready, especially with the memory of last October’s floods fresh in our minds. You can also sign up for Charleston County Citizen’s Alert if you want current updates and you can find details about the highway reversals here.

With that in mind, here are my top five tips. Please ignore poor formatting- trying to get this to you ASAP!

1. Get documentation. 

• Take pictures and video of the inside and outside of your house prior to the storm.
• Farmers need to take pictures of all of your crops, equipment, and infrastructure.
• Gather any and all personal and business receipts, paperwork, and essential documents that you may need for insurance or personal purposes.  (including passports, birth certificates, medical records, etc.)

2. Secure your property:

• Make sure you have renters/homeowner’s insurance. For renters, this can often been purchased the same week of a storm and is generally very affordable.
• Buy plastic tubs for all items that could be damaged by water but that you would not be able to evacuate with.
• Make a list of what items you will take with you in case of evacuation.
• If you are in danger of flooding, raise everything off the ground with cinder-blocks, create a sandbag wall around your doors, and duck-tape the bottom seams of the doors from the inside and outside (I have seen more than one case of this actually stopping water from coming in.)
• If you are going to leave your house and evacuate, move valuables away from windows, cover with tarps, hang hurricane protection over your windows, and take what you can.
• Consider parking your vehicle in a parking deck to avoid damage and/or flooding.
• If you evacuate, shut off your water valves and gas line (if you have one), cut-off your main breaker, and unplug everything before you leave.
• Getting contact information from your neighbors so if you evacuate you can find out how your house is.

3. Collect Supplies: 

This is a checklist from NOAA. Also consider what you would need to take in case of an evacuation.

• Water– at least 1 gallon daily per person for 3 to 7 days
• Food – at least enough for 3 to 7 days
  • non-perishable packaged or canned food / juices
  • foods for infants or the elderly
  • snack foods
  • non-electric can opener
  • cooking tools / fuel (propane camping stove and fuel)
  • paper plates / plastic utensils

• Blankets / Pillows, etc.
• Clothing – seasonal / rain gear/ sturdy shoes
• First Aid Kit / Medicines / Prescription Drugs
• Special Items – for babies and the elderly
• Toiletries / Hygiene items / Moisture wipes
• Flashlight / Batteries
• Radio – Battery operated and NOAA weather radio
• Telephones – Fully charged cell phone with extra battery and a traditional (not cordless) telephone set
• Cash (with some small bills) and Credit Cards – Banks and ATMs may not be available for extended periods
• Keys
• Toys, Books and Games
• Important documents – in a waterproof container or watertight resealable plastic bags.

• • Tools – keep a set with you during the storm
  • Vehicle fuel tanks filled (buy extra gas can and fill as well)
    
  • Pet care items
    • proper identification / immunization records / medications
    • ample supply of food and water
    • a carrier or cage
    • muzzle and leash

4. Make a plan for staying AND evacuating.

Obviously, you need to make this decision based on what is most appropriate for you and your situation. That being said, here are some things to consider.

• What category is the storm? Category 3 and above should evacuate but if you are living in an area that could flood, be cut off by flooding of roads, or is isolated- any hurricane can pose a threat. (Check out the map below to get an idea for how bad the storm surge can be.)
• What type of home do you live in? Can your house get flooded? Are their any large trees over your house that could come through the house? Do you have a safe place in the house with no windows that you can safely hide? If flood waters rose, would you be able to climb to higher ground?
• If you were to be cut off from power and water for 7-10 days, would you be able to survive off of the supplies you currently have?
• Do you have somewhere safer to go? Consider asking around with family, friends and co-workers to see if there is an alternative place for you to go, how long you can stay, and if your pets are welcome.
• Will your employer expect you to return the day after the hurricane? You would be surprised.

 5. Get ready for a LONG commute. 

• Fill up your gas tank and potentially even fill up an extra. Traffic will be extreme and even with highways reversing to accommodate flow, it will be a long journey.
• Pack snacks, drinks, and games for yourself (and the kids) but keep in mind that there may not be a lot of stops for bathroom breaks.
• Make sure your car has plenty of air in the tires and all fluids are topped off (oil, coolant, etc).

Other things people often forget.

• Extra coolers filled with ice-packs to unpack your fridge into if the power goes out.
• Generator and fuel is always a fun item (if you have the money…)
• Fill your bath-tubs and sinks with water the night/day of the hurricane… this way you will have even more potable water.
• Expect excessive evacuation delays and how much gas this could potentially use.
• In addition to filling your car with gas, check all fluids, tire pressure, filters, etc.
• Either own or know someone with a chain-saw and fuel.
• Let other people know your plan so they don’t have to worry!

Check out your own area on the NOAA map.