In my last hurricane-related blog article, I wrote about some of the things that you should do to prepare for a hurricane. At this time, Irma is threatening Florida, which is where I live. So I figured it would be useful to share some of the things that I have done to prepare.

Water – Since I have water delivered by Sparkletts, I called them and ask them to deliver 6 5-gallon jugs of water. That arrived yesterday. I also bought a few large bottles and a case of small bottles of water earlier in the week. Water is vital for surivival.

Food – I stocked up with a few weeks worth of canned goods, crackers and a few other food items. I carefully checked the dates to ensure everything would last at least 6 months, because I’ll be eating that for a while.

Gas – It’s always wise to keep your car gas tank more than 3/4 full at all times. I topped off the gas tank so it is now full. Gas will be in short supply after the hurricane hits, and there may not be electricity for gas pumps.

Batteries – I ordered a 100-pack of AA batters, and a 12-pack each of C’s and D’s from Amazon. They should arrive today. These will power the flashlights and other devices.

Flashlights – I already have 8 rechargeable flashlights which are always plugged into wall sockets. Additionally, I keep a dozen flashlights all over my place, plus a couple of camping lanterns.

Bug-out bag – Every home should have a bug-out bag for each family member. I’ve had one for decades, a duffel bag on wheels. A few days ago I reviewed it’s contents and replaced anything that was out-of-date (some of the food items) and made sure it contains what it should.

My bug-out bag contains everything listed in my book Create a Bug Out Bag for Emergency Survival Situations.

Computers – I use Livedrive to keep my computer files backed up over the internet, so backups happen naturally throughout the day. However, I also keep a hard drive backup at home. A few days before the hurricane, I ensured the disk drive backup was complete and stored that in a waterproof bad I ordered off Amazon.

I’m still getting things ready, and I’ll update this article with anything as I go.

If you are in the area where a hurricane is going to hit, be prepared. With hurricanes, you get some warning so you have time to get ready.

You can find out more about how to prepare for disasters in my book Real World Survival.

Richard Lowe Jr

Richard is the CEO and Senior Writer for The Writing King, a bestselling author, and ghostwriter. He’s written and published over 50 books, plus ghostwritten a dozen more.