i'm new to cake decorationg i'm been doing this since last october and along the way i opened a shop that we added to my house. i have alot of pans, tips, machines just alot of cake things. and with hurricane season starting in less then 2 weeks. i'm starting to make a lsit of everything i would like to take with me. but with two kids i can't bring it all. so my question is if you was leaving and not know what you was coming home too. what would you bring with you?

thanks tiffany

ps i live on the westbank of new olreans

I live in Florida so I know the thought process. IMO, list it out for insurance and just GO. If there's anything you think you can't replace or upgrade (photos of your cakes), take that. I really only focus on photos, paperwork, and jewelry. Everything else can stay behind. I'd love to add momentos in with the photos but even that would just be too much to try to get out. I'd be devastated to lose the Christmas ornaments my kids have made but it's a slippery slope. I've never sat out anything more than a strong TS/bordering on Cat 1 . . . and I've VOWED never to sit through anything like that again. I'm getting out, getting out ahead of everyone else, and taking photos, paperwork, and jewelry that means something. The rest is what insurance is for.

I have watched the hurricanes on the news every year from Canada, and I have to agree with clovely.

Absolute irreplaceables, kids, pets and you.

I know your concern. I have lived in Florida all my life...52 years. I will ride out a storm through a cat 3. Anything above that I get out of Dodge...lol. I live in a coastal town. Take pictures of all your equipment, etc. and make sure you have it all insured.

As for the personal stuff, for me it is pictures and videos first. A back-up of all my computer files, "important papers" such as insurance, identification, etc. I scanned all my photos in a couple of years ago and they are all on DVD's in a box which is easy to grab and go.

Before I leave I say a prayer of protection over my house and then leave it all in the hands of a mighty and loving God.

It helps to store stuff in plastic containers. My sister has a flooding problem in her garage when she gets more than 10" of rain at a time. Her salvation has been those large plastic containers you can buy at Walmart, K-Mart. She puts stuff in those and they just float around in the garage as the water rises.

i agree with both of you. i just wanted to see what other people do. my thoughts were if we can't come back for a couple of weeks if i bring some of my things then maybe i can find a little bakery where ever we end up to work and make a little of money to we get back home.

is there anyone who take some of there things with them?

I'm along the SC coast and have weathered a few storms. It would (will LOL) take a cat 5 to make me leave. It may be best for you to consider how much space you will likely have for baking items. Will your family evacuate in one vehicle? What size is that vehicle? How much room will you have left after the really important items are loaded? You can't count on finding a motel room within driving distance - you should be prepared to fend for yourselves for several days in an emergency shelter. Don't forget you'll need food and water for several days, bedding for everyone, medications, papers and documents, clothing, sturdy shoes, flashlight, that must-have toy or possession for each family member..... there is a lot to consider. Then buy and mentally pack plastic bins that will fit in the remaining space, starting with your most frequently used items and/or your most expensive items. May none of us have to worry about doing that this year!

haileysmommy: the original of both my flood and homeowner's insurance policies!!!!!!!!
PS: My daughter just graduated from LSU!!

I lived in florida my whole life until almost 2 years ago. Now I've moved up to SC, but still get hurricanes here. I am absolutely TERRIFIED of tornadoes. I don't mind hurricanes, but since they produce tornadoes, I always leave. If it is even a strong cat 1, I am long gone days before it hits. I've rode out a cat 3, and I had to take a xanax to calm me down. It stresses me out way too much. Now that I have a 2 year old, I can't let her see I am scared, or it will just make her more scared, so we just leave.

I have 2 siutcases that I keep packed all year long. They have important papers(birth certificates, passports,etc), old family jewelry, pictures. If you are insured, take pics of everything and leave it all at home. If not, only take the most expensive things. You said maybe you could find a bakery to make some money while you were evacuated, but IMHO, I don't think that will be your priority when the time comes. I evacuated FL one year, and all I could do is worry about if we had a house to go home to, were our friends alive or injured, was everything totaled? If it's a serious storm, your mind won't be focused enough to do cakes.

I have stuff stored in sealed coolers. When Charlie hit, no one here was really expecting it. They had it projected to go north possibly into the Tampa area. All of a sudden it made a sharp turn and within 20 minutes it was on top of us with between a cat 4 and a cat 5 wind strength. My DD didn't want me sitting alone through it, (luckily, I was all ready for it) so I was able to just grab everything including 2 dobies and 3 parrots. When it began to hit I was in the back of an F 150 truck with the dogs and birds. That was definitely an experience! I had a lot of roof damage and walls cracking from the wind but nothing that couldn't be repaired.

It's best to have anything like the others have listed and things that you know you can't replace such as photos ready to grab and run. The heck with the rest of it.

Oh yeah, and I do wrap family antiques in bubble wrap and towels and put them in the washer and dryer. If those are gone, that means the whole house is leveled. That way they are as safe as they possibly could be.

I agree with everyone who says, just take the irreplaceable items. Cake decorating stuff stays, it is bulky and there is no room in the vehicle for it.

After the storm we were too busy trying to get our lives back in order to even think about decorating cakes either here or in the area we stayed while waiting for electricity and water to return.

I live on the SC coast. Was in Hugo when I lived in Charleston, anything that big again and Im inland, that wasnt fun, and it was stupid for me to stay. Now in Myrtle Beach, the bubble wrap and dryer thing is a great idea. I keep saving my photos to a cd so they can easily come with me. The other stuff, just stuff that can get replaced. If we go inland, my photo albums and important papers, kids, dogs...oh, dont forget husband, loaded in van and we leave.

And even if you had the presence of mind to be able to do a cake, or if it would be sort of therapeutic to be able to do it, who would you do it for?? Even if you've got the space to get down to those things, after the vital papers, pictures, and people...you likely wouldn't have time to load that much stuff anyway.

I grew up on the westbank, and I remember that when the hurricanes hit, no one left, but it seems over the years they are getting worse. I have a little boy, and I cannot imagine leaving things that belong to him behind just to save some cake supplies. Those things can always be replaced, but you cannot relive/replace your childs "growing up" memoirs. I would try to put the supplies on plastic containers and up high. Heaven forbid if the levees break again...( having my fingers crossed)

HTH

i would never leave my kids things behind to take cake supplies.i was just thinking if we had to stay some wheres of weeks are months i will have to find a job and i was thinking it might help to have some of my tools . that's what i was getting at.

I live just across the river from New Orleans on the Westbank. I've evacuated the area for the last several years when a strong storm has been coming our way. Pictures, important papers, pets & making sure that all of my family has gotten out is all that's important. I go around before I leave and take pictures of everthing, even the insides of the closets.

IF I had to choose one thing of my cake supplies with me, it would be my KA. BUT that is only if there were a extra crevis in my truck

Or you can come to Pawleys Island prior to the storm, if you see The Grey Man on the beach, your home will be spared