Preparing for El Niño: 5 Tips

All signs indicate that this will be a strong El Niño winter in the west coast. Powerful storms and strong winds are very much guaranteed, so what can you do to prepare?
How to prepare for a destructive El Niño winter
A little preparation can go a long way into mitigating any damage and some common sense during the storm will improve your odds greatly.
1)Before the storm, check with your insurance company to verify that you have the proper amount of coverage for floods.
2)Clear drains and gutters and remove any trash or other loose items that could be blown away by the wind or that could end up blocking the drains.
3)Stock up on food, prescription medications and water. Keep your kits in order in case you have to evacuate. Have both a proper Bug Out Bag (BOB) and a VIP bag for your very important papers. It’s a good idea to keep these in a ziplock bag to keep them dry. Also, have a backup copy in a removable thumbs drive.
4)Take lots of photos and make a video of your possessions for insurance purposes. It’s a good idea to film the exterior of your home before the storm in case you need to make a claim afterwards.
5)During a flood, avoid walking through flooded areas and make sure you stay away from downed power lines. Just 6 inches of moving water can knock you off your feet and a car can be carried away by just 2 feet of water.

Argentina is also suffering one of the worst floods in recent years. Thousands have lost absolutely everything. Some of the top donations requested? Clothes, rain boots, diapers, shelf stable food and tools.
FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”.