Hurricane Irma: Fighting over bottled water?...

why?

Seriously.

Did their water tap suddenly stop working?

This is a cheap bucket. It holds water.

Knowing a week or more in advance that a hurricane is coming, why are people flocking to the store to buy bottled water?  They have perfectly good tap water that's close to free.  You know - in the kitchen.  I've heard rumors that's some in the bathroom too.

 You can get 5 gallon buckets at Walmart for a few dollars and fill them from you own tap.  Or you can spend a tiny bit more and get fancy 5 gallon water bottles or 7 gallon water storage systems that even come with cute little spigots.  If you want to be overly cautious a teaspoon of Clorox per five gallons will be sufficient.

Most homes also come equipped with a fancy modern thing called a hot water tank.  Most hold at least 50 gallons of water.  That's drinkable water.  There's a handy little drain on the bottom.  Hook up a hose and you're good to go.

Can't flush the toilet?  First find your sewer clean out and plug it up so sewage doesn't back up in the house because of the storm.  You can purchase a portable chemical toilet at Wallyworld for $25.00.  I'd be buying that way before risking my life to buy bottled water.  Or you can even line your toilet with plastic bags.

People have become so used to the convenient way of life that they've had common sense bred out of them.  I'm sure by now buckets and water bottles are also sold out to the people who didn't fall for the bottled water scam.  But if I lived somewhere where hurricanes are a distinct possibility basic preparedness would include a stack of 5 gallon buckets in the corner of my closet.

If you live in a hurricane zone then each year, before the start of hurricane season, a one time trip to the store to stock up on canned goods and such should be your calendar.  No hurricane that year?  Fine.  Either eat the stuff until next hurricane season or donate it to the food bank and write it off on your taxes.

Not preparing in advance is only for fools.  It would be like my not having a snow shovel in North Idaho.  And even though we don't have hurricanes, we always have at minimum 5 cases of bottle water from Costco.  Each case is 40 bottles of water at 16.9 oz each.  I don't even consider that "emergency" water.  I just like the Costco bottled water and don't want to run out.

I was blessed to have been raised by an organized woman and doubly blessed to have been a Girl Scout when they actually taught something useful.

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