Florida Might Get Its First Dose of Strong Wind and Rain Next Week

So far this year, it's been quiet for us in Florida this hurricane season. How strange is it that CALIFORNIA got its first bout with a tropical storm before any of us on the east coast did? Denis Phillips from ABC Action News is keeping an eye on a storm that's forming to our southwest. He gave his analysis this morning on his Facebook page.

Denis says the system will definitely mean lots of rain and that it'll lift north. But that's about all we know. There's no area of low pressure yet so it's tough to tell how things are going to go. Getting some rain is GOOD news, according to Denis. We're still in a big drought on the west coast of Florida so he likes the idea of us getting some overdue wet weather.

How strong will those winds be? How much rain could we get? Will this end up being a named storm? It would be an "I" storm (begins with a letter I) and we have quite a history in Florida with with those. Denis says it's possible the storm could get a name, but it's too soon to tell. He thinks by Saturday or Sunday we'll have a better idea of what this thing will do. Any impact to the Tampa Bay area could happen late Tuesday into Wednesday, according to Denis. He says now is the time to get things ready and to prepare... which honestly we all should have done weeks ago.

ABC Action News weather guru Denis Phillips recently shared a few dozen tips to get you through a hurricane. We've been really lucky so far this hurricane season in Florida, but we know our time will come. When it does, preparation is key. And Denis came up with some tips that might make your experience a lot less miserable. Here are 10 of my favorites. Some are common sense. But others are pretty creative ideas to get through the storm with less stress.

Denis points out that without air conditioning, anything dirty will start to stink your place up! And when the AC goes out, you'll want clean sheets because you'll be sweating a lot!

When you know the storm's coming charge up those laptops, and OLD phones... not just the one you use now. Old phones call still call 911!

Use that water to flush toilets.

Freeze cooked food too. Denis says he loves a hardboiled egg as a snack on that first day without power.

Stuff all your important stuff in a backpack so it's easy to grab in case you need to leave quickly.

If power goes out for a while or systems go down, it'll be good to have some cash on hand.

This is certainly one I wouldn't have thought of doing... but it makes sense. Higher temps in the room will lower the temp in your fridge to preserve those foods longer.

Hit the shower just before the storm's about to hit.

Unplug your electronics because there will likely be power surges.

If the coin stayed on top after the power went out, your food stayed frozen!

I know if you have water to flush your toilet with, you're good, however, not every toilet will flush, even with water, and you might need an additional toilet, especially if you have others staying with you, so the best home made port-o-potty I've ever seen is really easy. Take a bucket, like a Home Depot or Lowes type bucket🪣, fill it with a garbage bag and about 1/4 to 1/2 full with kitty litter. Then take a pool koozy and slice it down one side, half way through. Place the koozy around the top of the bucket and cut it to fit the top of the bucket just right. Put a roll of toilet paper on the handle of the bucket and wha-lah, you've got a relatively comfortable, durable port-o-potty. When it gets full, pull out the garbage bag and replace it with another and fill it about 1/4 to 1/2 with litter and you're all set.