10 Things To Do Before The Hurricane Hits

These are just a few things that I learned when I went through my first hurricane. At the time, I didn't give a thought to the fact that the electric could be out for 10 days solid.

1.) Get cash from the ATM or bank. If phone lines go down, you aren't going to be able to use your debit card, credit card or cash checks as everything is based on being approved through a phone line.

2.) Fill up your vehicles before the storm hits. Once again, if the electric goes out, unless the gas station has a generator, you aren't going to be able to use the pumps.

3.) Be prepared to NOT have phone contact with anyone. This includes using your cell phone as it relies on a local tower.

4.) Have plenty of drinking water stocked up.

5.) It doesn't hurt to have a small chainsaw on hand. At least you should be able to take care of any small trees that have been upturned during the storm.

6.) Make sure any batteries for flashlights, lanterns, etc. are fresh. Don't want to be stumbling around in the dark because the batteries are dead.

7.) Have a battery operated radio on hand (with fresh batteries of course). Hopefully, there will be radio reception for news and information.

8.) Plan on eating canned food for a period of time. Unless you have a propane refrigerator (like they have in RV's) you aren't going to want to open the fridge until the electric comes back on.

9.) If you have a gas stove top, you won't have to eat all your meals at room temperature; but if you have an electric stove top, you are going to be out of luck. (This includes microwaves, of course, since they also depend on electricity.)

10.) Make sure that you have stocked up on groceries to get you through the electrical outage. Again, all of the checkout lanes depend on electric to ring up the sale, open the cash drawer, etc. (And we all know what t is like to ask for a clerk to make change without the computer to tell them how much to give back, don't we?)


One last suggestion for you. Before the hurricane gets there, pack up and go visit someone inland that isn't in an area prone to tornadoes. Would hate to see you go from the frying pan into the fire.