Tropical Storm Erin Is Coming: Here's How to Prepare Your Home

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When disaster strikes, the difference between comfort and crisis often comes down to preparation. Tropical Storm Erin is brewing with 45 mph sustained winds and forecasters predict it will strengthen into a Category 3 hurricane within days. Though it's likely to veer away from the East Coast before landfall, this serves as the perfect opportunity to evaluate your emergency readiness.

A proper hurricane kit doesn't require a massive budget or specialized knowledge. Start with water - the foundation of survival. While guidelines suggest one gallon per person daily, I recommend doubling that to two gallons for cooking, drinking, and sanitation. For food, focus on easy-to-prepare options that don't require refrigeration: canned goods, protein bars, peanut butter, and dried fruits. Commercial emergency food buckets from companies like Augason Farms or ReadyWise offer convenient alternatives with impressive shelf-life.

Beyond sustenance, your kit should include a basic first aid kit, prescription medications, emergency lighting (flashlights with extra batteries), and potentially a small solar generator for power. Don't overlook the importance of communication tools - a battery-operated or hand-cranked NOAA weather radio keeps you informed when cellular networks fail. Store everything in waterproof containers alongside copies of essential documents like ID, insurance policies, and medical information.

The beauty of emergency preparedness is that it doesn't have to happen all at once. As my son would say, "don't go ham" on spending. Add components gradually, focusing first on absolute essentials. Whether you call it a hurricane kit, severe storm kit, or typhoon kit depending on your location, the principles remain the same: practical preparation creates peace of mind. Take this opportunity to start or supplement your emergency supplies - because when minutes matter, prior planning makes all the difference.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, all this is Keith and welcome back to the
Common Sense Practical Prepperpodcast.
This is your one minutesurvival tip for August, the
12th 2025.
Again coming to you from ouraffiliate office in Dallas,
texas, where it is a brisk 99degrees today.
Talk a little bit aboutTropical Storm Erin 45 mile an
hour, sustained winds.

(00:21):
Now they are confident that shewill become a major hurricane,
probably a cat three maybe thenext 72 to 96 hours.
However, it is a very lowprobability that she is going to
make landfall on the East coastof the United States.
It appears she's going to bepushed out to sea and make kind
of a heavy right turn before shemakes, before she would have

(00:42):
chance to make landfall.
But I would go ahead and justkeep an eye on the Weather
Channel, the National HurricaneCenter, whatever weather app or
weather folks that you happen tolisten to, especially if you
live on the east coast of theUnited States.
Let's talk about a hurricane kit.
A hurricane kit should haveenough to cover your basic needs

(01:04):
for three to seven days.
Now this is in the event thatyou are not going to evacuate.
There are always mandatoryevacuations, which obviously
mandatory is the key word.
You should evacuate, or ifyou're voluntarily going to
evacuate.
That's a whole separate subject.
This hurricane kit is for folksthat are going to stay at home

(01:28):
in the event a hurricane or theremnants of a hurricane makes
landfall near them and they losepower.
Very similar to a 72-hour kit,but we're going to beef it up
just a little bit.
When it comes to water, thesuggested amount is one gallon
per person per day for cookingand sanitation, if you have the

(01:48):
room, my recommendation is twogallons of water per person per
day in the event that you needextra.
Let's talk about food Three toseven days of easy to prepare
foods, canned goods, proteinbars, peanut butter, dried fruit
.
You've got the emergency foodstores that you can get in the

(02:10):
buckets Augustin Farms,readywise, hourwise, patriot
Supply.
All of those are very goodoptions.
Now, if you have a grill andyou're going to go ahead and
cook on the grill another goodoption.
However, if you're going tocook indoors and I say indoors,
like in your garage, to stay outof the wind and the rain make

(02:33):
sure you have plenty, plenty ofventilation if you're going to
operate your gas grill.
First aid kit, a very basicfirst aid kit.
You can get these on Amazon,any of the Walmart.
Any drugstore will have basicfirst aid kit Bandages,

(02:55):
antiseptic wipes, pain relievers, prescription medication.
If you think you're going to bestuck at home for three to
seven days because of ahurricane or severe storm storm
and you're in the middle of aprescription, see if your doc
will go ahead and write maybehalf a prescription or another
week.
In the event you're going to bestuck, and these are
prescription medications thatyou absolutely have to have.

(03:19):
Emergency lighting and powerflashlights, plenty of extra
batteries.
If you have solar, all thebetter.
Solar panels can keep yourlittle solar generator charged
up and you'll be able to runsmall appliances, maybe a little
fridge, a 12 volt refrigerator,that sort of thing.
I'll probably do a podcast herein the near future about solar

(03:42):
generators, because there are amillion of them out there and it
really just depends on whatyou're looking for.
Here's something to think aboutPersonal documents Copies of
your driver's license, passport,emergency contacts, insurance
policy, any sort of medicalrecords.
Keep copies of that in awaterproof container very close,

(04:05):
if not in the same container asyour hurricane kit.
Basic tools multi-tools,screwdriver, crescent wrench,
rain gear, plastic sheeting andduct tape.
In the event a window getsbroken, you can take the plastic
sheeting and the duct tape andtake care of that.
Let's talk about communicationBattery operated or hand cranked

(04:28):
radio for weather updates, aNOAA weather radio again,
there's a million of them outthere and they are not that
expensive.
Talk about hygiene andsanitation Hand sanitizer, moist
towelettes, dude wipes or allthe other moist towelettes that
you can get at the stores.

(04:48):
Some are flushable, some arenot.
Soap, toothbrush and anyfeminine products that any
females in your group might need.
Miscellaneous stuff, matches,lighter matches in a waterproof
container.
Now to keep everybody busybooks, games to keep the kids

(05:10):
occupied.
In the event, the power's outand you need to keep the little
ones occupied so they don't gostir crazy.
So when you put these kitstogether, start out small.
You don't need to go, as my sonwould say, don't go ham and
spend a lot of money on thesekits.
These things can be puttogether very, very

(05:31):
inexpensively and they can beput together over time.
Make sure you store the kit ina waterproof container.
It doesn't do you any good toput it in a cardboard box.
If it gets wet, all thecontents are going to get wet.
If it's something that you'vedone you've put it together
several months ago.
Make sure that you rotate yourfood and rotate your water and

(05:56):
canned goods last two, three,four years.
So just check the expirationdate and make sure that you're
well within the expiration date.
So we have our water, our food,we got our first aid kit, any
personal essentials, and when itcomes to Erin, again there is a
very small chance she's goingto make landfall, but practice

(06:17):
makes perfect.
So take this opportunity to lookat what you have.
If you have a hurricane kit,see if you need to supplement it
.
If you don't have a hurricanekit, why don't you use this
opportunity to grab one, two orthree things that I've already
mentioned?
That way, you're ahead of thegame.

(06:37):
Call it a hurricane kit, callit a severe storm kit, call it
whatever you want, depending onwhere you live in the world.
Call it a typhoon kit if you'reon that side of the world, and
it's something that you doinexpensively and it's not very
complicated.
All right, folks, as always,take care of one another, be
safe out there and until nexttime.