We evacuated during the last Texas hurricane.....
I placed my important jewelry in a backpack and took it with us.
I placed my important jewelry in a backpack and took it with us.
Hurricanes & jewelry
- Thread starter Ratnapur
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First, be sure that you, your family, and pets are safe! If they are, I would stuff my jewellery in my purse!
If we had the time, we could do a "Romanov"--sew our jewels into our coat linings, hats, underwear, etc.! 
When the Tsar & Tsarina were sent into capitivity by the Soviets, they had a pre-arranged code word with their daughters, who, at first, were left at the palace with the servants: "Make sure you pack the medicines carefully"--"medicines"=jewels. When this was mentioned in a letter to the girls, the girls & the servants immediately went to work, breaking up necklaces for the diamonds, etc., and sewing them into the dress linings, covering the round diamonds with padding & fabric, and sewing them onto the coats as "buttons", and even sewing them into the girls' corsets. The Tsarevich, Alexei, wore a "belt" of ropes of pearls under his clothing, as did one of the girls. The jewels were to have been used as bribes to the White Russian symapthizers and others to help with escape attempts--and, if that worked, to support the royal family afterwards. Sadly, as we know, the jewels were not needed. The Soviets executed the entire family, and plundered the jewels. When the family were shot, some of the bullets richocheted off the daughters--freaking out the soldiers, who, though now Soviets, reverted to their religious upbringing, thinking God did it. It was actually the diamonds in the corsets.
When the Tsar & Tsarina were sent into capitivity by the Soviets, they had a pre-arranged code word with their daughters, who, at first, were left at the palace with the servants: "Make sure you pack the medicines carefully"--"medicines"=jewels. When this was mentioned in a letter to the girls, the girls & the servants immediately went to work, breaking up necklaces for the diamonds, etc., and sewing them into the dress linings, covering the round diamonds with padding & fabric, and sewing them onto the coats as "buttons", and even sewing them into the girls' corsets. The Tsarevich, Alexei, wore a "belt" of ropes of pearls under his clothing, as did one of the girls. The jewels were to have been used as bribes to the White Russian symapthizers and others to help with escape attempts--and, if that worked, to support the royal family afterwards. Sadly, as we know, the jewels were not needed. The Soviets executed the entire family, and plundered the jewels. When the family were shot, some of the bullets richocheted off the daughters--freaking out the soldiers, who, though now Soviets, reverted to their religious upbringing, thinking God did it. It was actually the diamonds in the corsets.
Hehe, is it horrible of me to giggle a bit at this part?
I only have a few pieces of fine jewelry, so I'd keep them with me in a bag/on my person.
Hehe, is it horrible of me to giggle a bit at this part?
I only have a few pieces of fine jewelry, so I'd keep them with me in a bag/on my person.
That's ok! Acutally, they had gotten quite drunk in order to do what they were ordered to do (the soldiers, I mean). They were brought up as Rusisan Orthodox, and taught that one NEVER harmed the Tsar, as he was considered a living saint. They thought that the ricocheting bullets were a sign from God that what they had done was wrong. However, when the less-drunk soldiers bayoneted the women, they discovered the diamonds sewn into the corsets. Another morbid, but interesting fact: the maid, Demidova, had secreted 2 metal jewelry boxes in 2 bed pillows. The pillows were used to tuck behind the Tsarina, who was often in a wheelchair, suffering from sciatica. When they were herded into the basement, on the pretext that they were being moved elsewhere, they took the pillows. The poor maid tried to defend herself from the bayonet blows by thrusting a pillow to defend herself. It didn't work...
Sorry to be so morbid tonight! There are 2 things that are dear to my heart (apart from DH & our cats!): history & jewelry--I couldn't stop myself!
This is a sad story, but...
A friend of ours proposed to his wife in college. They were dirt poor, but he convinced her over-protective grandmother to give him her engagement ring to propose with. The grandmother HATED him and basically made him jump through hoops of fire to get that ring. But he did it because he knew she would love it and he really couldn't afford a ring.
When Hurricane Katrina happened, our university was evacuated. They told students to lock their rooms, hop on a bus to Mississippi and EVACUATE immediately. Our friend didn't want to risk losing the ring at a shelter, so he locked it in his desk and locked his dorm room.
As we all know, Katrina was much worse than predicted. The campus shut down for 6 months and the military took over the dorm rooms on campus for temporary housing. One of the service members broke the lock on the desk and stole the ring.
The college only gave him $500 to replace it. They're now happily married with a beautiful baby. He works as a professional sports writer and she now has a lovely wedding set, but the theft of her grandmother's ring is something they both will never get over.
A friend of ours proposed to his wife in college. They were dirt poor, but he convinced her over-protective grandmother to give him her engagement ring to propose with. The grandmother HATED him and basically made him jump through hoops of fire to get that ring. But he did it because he knew she would love it and he really couldn't afford a ring.
When Hurricane Katrina happened, our university was evacuated. They told students to lock their rooms, hop on a bus to Mississippi and EVACUATE immediately. Our friend didn't want to risk losing the ring at a shelter, so he locked it in his desk and locked his dorm room.
As we all know, Katrina was much worse than predicted. The campus shut down for 6 months and the military took over the dorm rooms on campus for temporary housing. One of the service members broke the lock on the desk and stole the ring.
The college only gave him $500 to replace it. They're now happily married with a beautiful baby. He works as a professional sports writer and she now has a lovely wedding set, but the theft of her grandmother's ring is something they both will never get over.
That's awful!
Well, tonight, I followed my own advice. We lost power 5 times, and just got off a tornado warning emergency. I dumped most of my stuff into bags, and have it ready to go or at least, protect from water. We're still under a tornado watch until 5 AM, so I think I should keep my bags close by, just in case we get awakened in the middle of the night...
OP, it's a good question. I'm lucky where I am in MA because I'm inland so I'm not expecting floods but may lose power for a while. Unless the house comes down I'm staying here.
I was wondering what to do myself earlier. I have a fireproof box that I would absolutely grab if I was leaving and decided I'd dump my good jewelry in a bag and put it in there. That plus my kitty and I'd be out the door, I guess. But again - I'm not expecting severe issues here. If I was I would have packed the good stuff in a small travel case and kept it in my purse along with the key stuff from the fireproof box in waterproof bags.
I was wondering what to do myself earlier. I have a fireproof box that I would absolutely grab if I was leaving and decided I'd dump my good jewelry in a bag and put it in there. That plus my kitty and I'd be out the door, I guess. But again - I'm not expecting severe issues here. If I was I would have packed the good stuff in a small travel case and kept it in my purse along with the key stuff from the fireproof box in waterproof bags.
I live on the coast in Florida, and when we were hit with Hurricane Francis, I wasn't home and didn't even think of my good jewelry! It would have to go into a pretty large ziplock bag. Thanks for alerting me to this issue.
