Ahhh Florida, home to beautiful beaches, flip flops and tank
tops year round, destination weddings, anddddd hurricanes. I'm a true Floridian so I grew up during the
1992 Hurricane Andrew disaster plus the 2004 multiple hurricane craziness. My hubby and I actually got married during
that mess, but that's a whole other story.
Most Florida dwellers know your regular hurricane preparation tips, but
as a photographer there are a few other tips I recommend when preparing for a
hurricane. Preserve your memories!
Make sure you have backups of your memories. That's one very important rule photographers
live by. Your computer should not be the
only place where you store your digital photos.
It's a really great idea to have at least one external hard drive where
you store a backup of your images. Keep
that external hard drive unplugged when not in use and stored somewhere safe,
like a special weather tight container or security safe (there are different
levels of protection, some fire safe, some water safe). I have a special plastic container I purchased
from The Container Store that says it's weather proof. As a photographer I always keep backups of my
clients' memories. I have a variety of
external hard drives, all labeled and divided by theme (a separate hard drive
for weddings, families, couples, events).
I place them in my safe during a hurricane. If there are some memories that are extra
special, such as your wedding day, you may want to keep even a third copy of
them in another place, such as a parents home or at your work place.
Where's your wedding album?
Of course you want to show off that amazing heirloom, but during a
hurricane you would want to keep it safe.
Don't leave it left out or put away on a shelf close to a window. It's best to put it away in its box and stored
in a weather tight container or security safe.
Other items you might want to keep safe and locked away are your
passports, marriage license and any other important documents that would be a
total pain in the butt to replace if they got ruined. Just don't forget after the hurricane to
bring your beautiful wedding album back out on display.
Other important heirloom prints, from special moments, past
portrait sessions, old prints from your childhood, your parents childhood and
even your grandparents childhood are so valuable, so if possible it's a great
idea to scan those prints so you have a digital copy just in case the physical
prints get ruined (and then keep a backup copy). You could also store those albums in your weather
tight containers. My grandmother was a
bit of a photographer and took tons of photos.
I just love looking through old photos of her as a cute little
teenager. She's gone now and her photos
are priceless. I would never want all of
her memories ruined, so my father and I have scanned many of her prints and
have her albums saved on a special shelf.
Another "item" close to my heart that you want to
protect during a hurricane are your pets.
We often remember to have an extra supply of water and non perishable
food for us, but don't forget about your fur babies. Make sure you have enough food for them to
last at least a week, as well as extra containers of water for them to
drink. I fill up a few extra gallon jugs
and water pitchers designated just for my fur babies. Also if any of them are on medication, you
want to make sure you have enough for them as well as all people in your
household to last at least a week.
In disasters the worse could occur and you could lose your
pets. So make sure your dogs have their
ID tags on their collars, with your phone number and/or address listed on
them. It's also a great idea to have all
of your pets micro chipped. I currently have
all 6 of my fur babies micro chipped.
That's really important for cats since most of us do not put collars and
ID tags on them.
So those are a few extra tips from your photographer that I
wanted to share. Of course don't forget
the other normal hurricane preparation items like candles and lighters/matches,
batteries, water, non perishable food items, fans run by batteries, generators,
etc (and for some maybe a 6 pack of beer or a few bottles of wine lol). You also want to make sure you fill your vehicles
up with gas and have some cash saved somewhere in case certain places have
their electricity down and only accept cash.
Oh one more tip, make sure to pay your bills ahead of time. If you don't have electricity or are unable
to get online, you can rack up a bunch of late fees. And nobody wants that.
I hope everyone stays safe during hurricane season. Remember to keep your
loved ones close. And keep those
memories safe!
Here's a photo of my other grandma and grandpa. I just love this.
Here's a photo of my other grandma and grandpa. I just love this.
You can find some weather tight containers here: http://www.containerstore.com/s/storage/storage-boxes/12
Find more pet photos on my website here: www.captmemphotos.com
