A Bathtub of Hurricane Prep Water?
By Lisa Batten Kunkleman
What do you do with a bathtub-full of water after the danger of hurricane force winds has passed? Do you pull the plug and watch it glug down the drain, serving absolutely no purpose except to give the pipes a little rinse?
No siree, not in our house. We learned an awful lot about rationing water when Hurricane Hugo crashed through Charlotte in 1989 leaving most of us powerless. In our case with well water, no power means no water. For nine days with neither power nor water, there’s no way my husband, Dan, and I could let that much water go without serving a purpose. I know that sounds silly to many people but surviving with just a few large pots of water to brush teeth and take birdbaths really stuck with us.
When last week’s storms threatened, we filled a bathtub and double-checked the plug since when we filled a tub before Hugo, we didn’t know our drain plug leaked. Once the most recent threat of high winds and power outage passed, we left the late 60’s purple ceramic bathtub-full of water for about a week, knowing our dogs would eventually need a bath. Call us crazy but it was a good idea. Bath day finally arrived so I washed the dingiest two of our three dogs. Okay, the smelliest two .
Their reaction was priceless. Neither of these two dogs is fond of baths. But this time, they stepped over the side of the tub and into the foot high water like it was their idea. I suppose they are more afraid of shallow water than deep water. Maybe I’ll find one of them snuggled up in that tub wishing someone with opposable thumbs would fill it for them to have another hot tub experience.
September 21, 2017 at 9:48 pm
I filled every container I could find, even two bathtubs with water before Irma hit. We lucked out up here in Tallahassee, but I can use the buckets for watering plants. Could not talk the cats into a bath, though.
September 21, 2017 at 9:49 pm
Good thinking.
September 22, 2017 at 6:20 am
“Waste not want not” indeed! Good on you, & I’m glad you didn’t need it
September 22, 2017 at 1:28 pm
Thanks so much. We’re pretty happy about that too. Thanks for reading.
September 22, 2017 at 1:25 pm
Those are happy dogs!
September 22, 2017 at 1:26 pm
Happy and spoiled rotten. Love those fur balls. Thanks for reading. 🤗
September 22, 2017 at 2:10 pm
I would love to have one of my dogs go willingly into a bath! Maybe I should try filling one up, too, at some point. In the meantime, I;m glad that you didn’t need the water for yourselves!
September 22, 2017 at 3:16 pm
I thanks I’m glad we didn’t need it either. And I wish you luck on your next bathing adventure.
September 22, 2017 at 5:36 pm
That’s impressively murky bathwater! And hopefully impressively clean dogs as as result.
September 22, 2017 at 5:38 pm
The dogs smell like oatmeal shampoo followed up with a rinse of herbal essence for fragrance. They are smelling good until they explore the horses field. I’ll leave that visual to the imagination. So far so good.
September 22, 2017 at 5:40 pm
Hmm. Our dog liked the cow field – with similar results I imagine.
September 22, 2017 at 5:41 pm
You’ve got it. ☺️
September 22, 2017 at 6:35 pm
In southern CA, we had a drought for the last two years and had water rationing last year. This year is better. We learn to recycle water.
You have three lovely dogs. I’m sure they enjoyed the bath.
September 23, 2017 at 2:20 am
I think maybe how to’s on recycling and rationing would be good lessons for everyone.
September 23, 2017 at 2:44 am
Yes, we now try not to waste water!
September 22, 2017 at 11:18 pm
Our dog gets a bath once a year when we go on vacation and board her for a week. Otherwise, forget it. I loved watching your dogs on the videos. Your black and white one is a near twin to our girl though with a tail. Ours was born tailless.
September 23, 2017 at 1:03 am
That’s the way the third one is. She somehow never smells or get dirty. Crazy.
September 25, 2017 at 12:20 pm
We put plastic bins in the tub and in the shower in the master bathroom. With Maria out there and the potential for more, we have left them alone. We got the eye of Irma but fortunately kept power and didn’t need many containers we had filled. Next time? We’ll fill them all again,
September 25, 2017 at 4:07 pm
Great idea.
September 25, 2017 at 11:59 pm
Thank you. ‘Twas Sandy’s idea.
October 9, 2017 at 1:23 am
Love seeing your dog rolling in the sunshine – a happy dog indeed! ❤️ My cat can always find the sunniest spot in the yard. Lately, it has been next to the rhubarb. The rhubarb leaves are all dead and need to be pruned back but this doesn’t bother my cat, Jack! And no way getting him into a bathtub! Lol! 🤣 I only have one cat but your 3 dogs look like good buddies to have around. 😍
October 9, 2017 at 5:15 am
Our dogs are young enough to keep going and old enough to be chill and happy. It’s good.
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