With Irma taking aim toward the Gulf of Mexico and having just come through Harvey, I realized I have a lot of Hurricane knowledge I can share. Being in Houston for 22 years I've ridden out TS Allison, prepped for hurricane Katrina (but it turned to Nola), Rita, Ike, Odile (while in Mexico) and now Harvey.
Preparation is the KEY to making sure you're not miserable during and after a hurricane. Those that have gone through it before know this, that's why gasoline, bread, eggs, bottled water, canned goods, disappear days before an impending storm. Grocery stores, Sam's and Costco run out of stuff first. Hit up Dollar General, Family Dollar, any other dollar stores. People forget about those and they usually have some stuff left. If you're going to stay put I recommend the following supplies on hand:
Enough bottled water for each adult in your house to drink 1 gallon a day. Prepare for up to 2 weeks w/out running water.
Plenty of batteries and flash lights. You'd be surprised how dark it is with no electricity especially if you board up windows.
Back up battery packs to charge your phones. This will be your only communication to the outside world. During Ike we couldn't get calls out but we could text. Inevitably you use the light on your cell phone a lot, even if you have flashlights, and batteries go down quick.
Non perishable food items: peanut butter, canned goods, tuna, canned chicken, beans, rice, chips, granola bars, oatmeal, etc.
Ziploc bags, quart & gallon
Get 3-4 loaves of bread, wheat holds up longer. Keep them refrigerated to last.
ICE for coolers if you don't have a generator to plug refrigerators in.
If you DO have a generator try to keep about 15-20 gallons of fuel on hand. Don't run generator full time. Just a couple hours a day to keep food cold.
A way to cook: outdoor grill, camping stove, etc.
Bleach, a few bottles. You can actually use 1 Tblsp of bleach per gallon of water to purify it for drinking, mix well and let it set 30 minutes before drinking. We also used bleach in the collected rain water to hand wash dishes.
Large contractor trash bags & 30 gallon trash cans. Fill these with water. Use for bathing, washing dishes, pet drinking water, etc.
Tarps, if any damage to house you'll need a way to keep rain out. Especially leaks in roof. If water does get in, after storm use 1:1 bleach:water solution to scrub with.
Rope
Alcohol (drinking kind, for your sanity)
Bug spray. After a storm if no power, it'll be hot indoors and you'll spend a lot of time outdoors. Mosquitoes are terrible.
Toilet paper. Don't be caught with 1 or 2 rolls on hand for a family if roads or stores are closed for many days.
Do ALL laundry ahead. 2 weeks w/out electricity you want clean clothes.
Battery operated fans.
House prep:
Anything where you may get cat 3 or over winds, board up windows. Even a high cat 2, if you can save windows from debris it's worth it.
If you have propane tanks, fill them.
Anything that can hold water, fill it. We used water held in one bathtub to flush toilets with and water in the other bathtub to cook with. After 4 days of no water from Harvey our bathtub water was low. Trust me, you'll use it.
Any dead or old trees, cut them down now before they fall on your house.
Get cars in garage to protect from debris.
Chainsaw
Anything that's moveable outside, bring it inside or store in garage: lawn furniture, umbrellas, lanterns, etc. hurricane winds make them projectiles.
Any lose gutters will rip right off, make sure they are secure before storm.
Watch the direction trees bend, they will usually fall in same direction. During storm stay away from that side of house in case one falls.
If there is expectation that flooding will happen in your area, evacuate. Flood waters are strong and dangerous. I've seen people clinging to trees yelling for help. I've seen rescue boats get capsized. Nothing is worth that. Nothing. Get all personal valuables, photo albums, pets & kids out and just evacuate. Furniture can be replaced. If you have firearms take them with you.
I have 2 views on storm prep.
1) It's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
2) Everything you get will be used eventually anyway.
