Look, you’re either on the move or not. If you can’t lift 2.5 gallons, chances are you can’t carry a 24 pack (which requires 2 hands.) If you’re being rescued in a fishing boat, you aren’t bringing either. But neither are you bringing all your provisions.
2.5 gal jugs are the fridge size with a spigot. If you’re in one place, fine.
I bet those 2.5 gallon jugs (thicker) are just as much plastic as a 24 pack of bottles, really.
Seriously, though, there are better ways to be environmentally friendly than worrying about it in the middle of a disaster. I’ll cut folks slack in a disaster and hope they make up for it all the other days of their lives. 
No. It’s bottled water vs faucet water. I don’t see why people make an issue of people buying bottled water in an emergency.
Don’t these 2.5 gallon tanks have spigots? Could you not have one large container with a spigot, like the coolers that running races and bike rides have to dispense water/gatorade, and refill that one large container as necessary from the other 3 gallon containers?
"I don’t see why people make an issue of people buying bottled water in an emergency. ". I don’t either. I don’t get it.
So an ongoing discussion about tap versus bottled water is somehow better?
As I said in another thread (or maybe it was this one, I don’t know anymore), down here in south Florida, if the power goes out, the water treatment plant can’t operate. No one has any running water. It’s all well and good to say “fill up the jugs in your house with tap water”, but if you’re evacuating to a shelter or to a friend’s house outside the evacuation zone, that’s just not practical. And even if you’re staying in your own house, all those jugs you filled up don’t last very long. You have to drink, you have to cook (boil water on the grill for pasta or coffee or whatever), you have to brush your teeth and wash your hair and wring out a wet cloth to put around your neck while you swelter because you have no A/C. Power can be out for weeks. You need to stockpile water in whatever way you can.
I’m in the evacuation zone and when my power goes out in a storm, it has taken 3 weeks to get it back. I will be leaving the house tomorrow or Saturday and returning as soon as it’s safe but we will need a lot of water. Thankfully, we can use the pool water to flush the toilets.
Best of luck to you and your family @patsmom . I know it is very scary and stressful now for anyone in Irma’s potential path.
Yes, it isn’t practical to haul buckets, jugs, pots and other containers about in an evacuation. Folks must prepare as best they are able. Blaming them for making choices that don’t hatch what someone else might do is wrong, IMO.
No one is suggesting that people can take pots and tubs of water in an evacuation, for doG’s sake. That’s ridiculous. They are suggesting that it would make sense to fill up home receptacles before the storm AS WELL as getting bottled water. In case you end up staying in your house w/o running water, or w/o potable water. It’s free. It’s easy.
I said something about that to a friend who lives in FL and is planning to stay at home, and she said thanks, she hadn’t really thought about it, and she would add it to her to-do prep list!
BTW, the idea that snow is a natural disaster, much less one on the order of a hurricane or tornado, or wildfire, is kind of ridiculous also.
Good stuff to know if you plan to be in the market for a used car in the next few years:
http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a12184738/how-to-avoid-being-scammed-by-a-flood-damaged-car/?
I got gas yesterday in Dallas. All pumps were empty save for regular. Still seeing the effects this far out. Caribbean islands facing years and years of hardship and rebuilding. These other impending hurricanes will have far more long term consequences. So heartbreaking.
Dos, that is what I was thinking! There will be such “new” cars, too, like it happened here in wa when we had an epic flood in Centralia.
With all the focus on Irma this week, so little news of what is happening in the Harvey zone. Did Houston start school today as scheduled?
^^^ Yes
@doschicos I feel really bad for the Harvey folks. They have sort of dropped off the radar since Irma made an appearance. Harvey seems like a worse disaster because Florida seems to have been a lot more prepared and many residents have appropriate insurance.
My niece in Houston has been out of her apartment and work for weeks. Made it back yesterday - on foot - boats no longer needed - to retrieve more stuff from her apartment - 3rd floor - so her unit is fine - but complex is a mess. Waiting to hear if she will be able to move back in or if she has to move out. Job reopens Monday.
She lives in a neighborhood that “never floods” so this has been quite an experience.
Rethink the development?
I saw an article this morning about toxins and bacteria in floodwaters. Apparently, e coli grows faster in floodwaters that are inside someone’s home because it is warmer and the water is more still. The usual heavy metals were found too. I had to stop reading.
The young man at the bank who helped me wire my son’s tuition payment today said his grandmother lives southeast of Houston. Her house had many feet of water in it. 