<p>What arrangements have you made (or will you make) with your sons and daughters to prepare for weather or other related emergencies? I'll be making sure my son maintains extra readily available cash, a flashlight, telephone number of a third party out of state to call if he can't reach us and we can't reach him. Other thoughts/ideas? The heartrending circumstances in the hurricane torn cities have caused me to rethink our plans to insure the basics are in place.</p>
<p>Tulane parent here. We made a few silly mistakes, which became obvious as S evacuated New Orleans with other students and we evacuated from our hotel in a different direction. [ul][<em>]We had S leave his "home" key ring with us. Figured he'd just lose it on campus. He beat us home and we were able to get someone to unlock our house (using a credit card! - we live in a low crime area and sometimes don't lock up at all; this time we did, but not the deadbolt) [</em>]Tulane has always advised families to have a "personal evacuation plan" for possible hurricane conditions. We figured that in future years, S would have friends he could drive with to an inland location. As we sent him off for his first semester, we armed him with a list of "one hop" plane flights he could take (he has a credit card). Silly idea! Getting through to airplines - as we learned the hard way ourselves - is at best terminally frustrating at a time like this and, at worst, impossible. [<em>] S had mistakenly brought the wrong cell phone charge cord with him. Now, this won't happen often. But the lesson is to have a cell phone - if you're morally opposed to such a luxury, change your mind now; keep it fully charged because power outage will mean you can't charge it even if you have your cord[</em>]similarly, DO have a credit card and ATM which you can use at ANY ATM machine[<em>]your 3rd party contact idea is great; we used it A LOT in the last couple days[</em>]although a sleeping bag might not seem important to take to college, S would have loved having one; the kids are evacuated to an inland college and bunk on the gym floor[<em>]make sure your kid's luggage includes a reasonable sized (not too large) carryon bag; kids were allowed to take what they could "fit on their laps" and were told to take ca. 5 days of clothes[</em>]Tulane knows how to do this, so they gave good advice about how to leave your room - valuables away from windows and inside closet[/ul] I'll post again as I think of other ideas.</p>
<p>I don't know how rare taking the wrong charger is, jmmom! our son and his roommate were both without theirs as well-- and they both had the one company that remained in service in Jackson. I think I'll have his surgically attached to him as long as he's at Tulane.</p>
<p>Put together a notebook - doesn't have to be a big one - but one that ALL IMPORTANT PAPERA can be stored in - and very grabable - Use it as a personal emergency book/kit - with a copy of each thing in it left at home also - include in this book a map of the state/surrounding states in case they have to drive/be transported out of the general area - a list of important phone numbers - any medical info needed - etc.........</p>
<p>I made one for our DD - who was evac'd 5 days after arriving on campus - was very useful</p>
<p>Post 9/11 parent here-- when Tower 2 fell, our cell service in and out of NYC fell with it. Since then have made sure that kids have a phone card in their wallet (very cheap at Walmart) so they can make long distance calls from a pay phone-- cell phones don't always work. Carry at least 1 days worth of medication with you at all times; no medical professional wants to worry about the diabetic or asthmatic kid when there's a mass disaster. Maintain your perspective; being a survivor is more important than saving your possessions.</p>
<p>Wow, these are some good ideas. I can't believe I let my son get away without even a flashlight. Now he's going to think I'm annoying when I mail him a phone card, his house key, a flashlight, spare batteries, and our third party's phone number, but this stuff is oing out tomorrow.</p>
<p>I hadn't thought of any of these things either. My S, who ironically was planning on going to Tulane, ended up going to UFlorida instead. He is still in hurricane territory (as are we in Houston). I am going to send him an emergency package too! That is just not one of the things anyone ever thinks of when they are wandering around Bed Bath and Beyond buying all that stuff for the dorm!</p>