Hurricane safety: When the lights go out

A hurricane watch means hurricane conditions are possible in the watch area, and are issued 48 hours before the anticipated onset of tropical-storm-force winds.

A tropical storm warning means tropical-storm-force winds are expected somewhere in the designated area within 36 hours. A tropical storm watch means such conditions are possible within 48 hours.

Here are recommendations on what to do before a storm approaches:

-- Download an application to your smartphone that can notify people where you are, and if you need help or are safe. The Red Cross has a Hurricane App available in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. A First Aid app is also available.

-- Use hurricane shutters or board up windows and doors with 5/8 inch plywood.

-- Bring outside items in if they could be picked up by the wind.

-- Clear gutters of debris.

-- Reinforce the garage door.

-- Turn the refrigerator to its coldest setting in case power goes off. Use a cooler to keep from opening the doors on the freezer or refrigerator.

-- Fill a bathtub with water.

-- Get full tank of gas in one car.

-- Go over the evacuation plan with the family, and learn alternate routes to safety.

-- Learn the location of the nearest shelter or nearest pet-friendly shelter.

-- Put an ax in your attic in case of severe flooding.

-- Evacuate if ordered and stick to marked evacuation routes, if possible.

-- Store important documents -- passports, Social Security cards, birth certificates, deeds -- in a watertight container.

-- Have a current inventory of household property.

-- Leave a note to say where you are going.

-- Unplug small appliances and electronics before you leave.

-- If possible, turn off the electricity, gas and water for residence.

Here is a list of supplies:

-- A three-day supply of water, one gallon per person per day.

-- Three days of food, with suggested items including: canned meats, canned or dried fruits, canned vegetables, canned juice, peanut butter, jelly, salt-free crackers, energy/protein bars, trail mix/nuts, dry cereal, cookies or other comfort food.

-- A can opener.

-- Flashlight(s).

-- A battery-powered radio, preferably a weather radio.

-- Extra batteries.

-- A first aid kit, including latex gloves; sterile dressings; soap/cleaning agent; antibiotic ointment; burn ointment; adhesive bandages in small, medium and large sizes; eye wash; a thermometer; aspirin/pain reliever; anti-diarrhea tablets; antacids; laxatives; small scissors; tweezers; petroleum jelly.

-- A small fire extinguisher.

-- Whistles for each person.

-- A seven-day supply of medications.

-- Vitamins.

-- A multipurpose tool, with pliers and a screwdriver.

-- Cell phones and chargers.

-- Contact information for the family.

-- A sleeping bag for each person.

-- Extra cash.

-- A silver foil emergency blanket.

-- A map of the area.

-- Baby supplies.

-- Pet supplies.

-- Wet wipes.

-- A camera (to document storm damage).

-- Insect repellent.

-- Rain gear.

-- Tools and supplies for securing your home.

-- Plastic sheeting.

-- Duct tape.

-- Dust masks.

-- An extra set of house keys.

-- An extra set of car keys.

-- An emergency ladder to evacuate the second floor.

-- Household bleach.

-- Paper cups, plates and paper towels.

-- Activities for children.

-- Charcoal and matches, if you have a portable grill. But only use it outside.

American Red Cross tips on what to do after the storm arrives:

-- Continue listening to a NOAA Weather Radio or the local news for the latest updates.

-- Stay alert for extended rainfall and subsequent flooding even after the hurricane or tropical storm has ended.

-- If you evacuated, return home only when officials say it is safe.

-- Drive only if necessary and avoid flooded roads and washed out bridges.

-- Keep away from loose or dangling power lines and report them immediately to the power company.

-- Stay out of any building that has water around it.

-- Inspect your home for damage. Take pictures of damage, both of the building and its contents, for insurance purposes.

-- Use flashlights in the dark. Do NOT use candles.

-- Avoid drinking or preparing food with tap water until you are sure it's not contaminated.

-- Check refrigerated food for spoilage. If in doubt, throw it out.

-- Wear protective clothing and be cautious when cleaning up to avoid injury.

-- Watch animals closely and keep them under your direct control.

-- Use the telephone only for emergency calls.

 

CNN

Busting the Myths of Driving a Manual Transmission

The few who do learn manual shifting usually don't pick up the skills from a driving school; rather, they got schooled by their bored Uncle Joe or their theoretically more experienced best friend — who started driving a manual transmission just last summer. This gets you by, but if performed incorrectly you can still cause costly damage to your car over time.

Case in point: Julie Sun, an Edmunds employee, who owns a 2002 Audi A4 and who has been driving a stick-shift car for ages. She recently discovered that, because of incorrect clutch and shift habits, she now has to pay $2,000 for a new clutch and flywheel.

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Fortunately, Edmunds.com Editor in Chief Karl Brauer was kind enough to take young Julie out in his Ford GT and teach her the myths of the stick shift to avoid future grief and service payments.

Myth #1: It's OK to constantly "ride" the clutch. If there's a philosophical way to think about how to treat your clutch, this could be it: Whenever the clutch pedal isn't all the way up or all the way down, you're putting wear on your clutch. Picture a big red light mounted on your dashboard. Whenever the clutch pedal isn't fully depressed or fully released the light is on, and your goal is to keep the light off.

That's a general way you might think about how to drive a manual transmission vehicle. In truth it's OK to spend a second or two in the process of pressing or releasing the clutch pedal (you certainly don't want to treat it like a light switch), but in general the less time spent in this transitional period the better.

Myth #2: Use the clutch to hold your car in place on steep hills. If you're stopped on a slight incline you must use the brake to keep the car from rolling backward. If you're worried about rolling back between the time you release the brake pedal and engage the clutch you can "cheat" by pulling the emergency brake. Don't fully apply the E-brake unless you're on a really steep hill. Instead, just use enough E-brake to keep the car from rolling backward. Then engage the clutch when traffic allows and pull away from the stop, being sure to release the E-brake as soon as you start moving forward. The most important rule, however, is never use the clutch to hold your car in place while waiting on an incline. Doing this will burn out that imaginary red light on the dash — as well as really burn out the clutch.

Myth #3: Use the clutch to save your brakes. The clutch can theoretically be used as a braking device when slowing down, but this is more trouble than it's worth. First, if you're using the clutch to slow a car to "save your brakes" you better be really good with the clutch. If you're not smooth in your downshifting you'll be putting extra wear on the clutch.

Anyone want to guess which components cost more to replace — brake pads or a clutch plate? You're better off just pushing the clutch pedal in and leaving it in, and/or shifting to neutral, when slowing down in a manual-shift vehicle — especially if you aren't extremely smooth at downshifting. If you are smooth at downshifting and you feel like going through the trouble, you can constantly downshift and release the clutch as you slow down. But even doing that action smoothly won't make your brakes last appreciably longer.

Myth #4: It's impossible to be perfectly smooth when engaging the clutch. Always try to learn exactly where the clutch pedal is when the clutch starts to engage. You can practice this in a parking lot, and once you are familiar with it you can use this knowledge to make every shift smoother. This will add confidence to your ability to stop and start on an incline, and it will make downshifting easier, because you can quickly let the clutch pedal go from the floor to the area in the pedal travel where the clutch actually starts to engage (it's different on every car). Once you get to that point quickly you can then modulate the speed at which the pedal is released to achieve a smooth engagement. This is how you can keep from rolling back on an incline without using the E-brake.

Myth #5: It's normal for the car to lurch when downshifting. When you do downshift (without coming to a complete stop) it's important to "rev-match." This means raising the engine's rpm as you release the clutch to more closely match your vehicle's engine speed to the rear-wheel speed. Again, this is only important on downshifting. As you accelerate and upshift you don't have to worry about rev-matching. By giving the engine just a bit of throttle when you downshift you can make the clutch engagement smoother, which reduces clutch wear and head bobbing on downshifts.

If you get really good at rev-matching you can even try heel-and-toe downshifting, which is what racers use to get the smoothest downshifts, and the best lap times, around a road course. Heel-and-toe shifting is actually a whole other article, but in short you must apply both the brake pedal and the gas pedal simultaneously, thus slowing the car down and rev-matching the engine to rear-wheel speed — all at the same time. This can be accomplished by carefully placing your right foot on the brake pedal and the gas pedal.

But for the sake of your clutch, and the safety of your fellow drivers, please don't try heel-and-toe shifting until you've fully mastered the basics mentioned above!

Source: Edmunds