Supplies You Will Need for a Hurricane

In 2005, I was living in the oft-considered beautiful and luxurious Boca Raton, Florida. I had only moved there in January of that year and the year 2005 was a year of horrendous hurricanes, such as Dennis, Emily, Katrina, Rita and Wilma. I was fortunate enough to be barely scathed by Dennis and Katrina, losing only an hour of power during each. Rita was harder on Miami and the Keys than it was on my neck of the woods, and Wilma? My friend Wilma from whom I ran away to Pennsylvania, and the hurricane I can thank for finally making my family realize that we did not choose to live in a hurricane state. On returning to Boca after Wilma had her fun, the devastation was shocking. It looked like a bomb had razed the place and only the hardiest of palm trees were left standing. Not to mention the tens of thousands of people who still did not have power ten days after Wilma had hit.

The imminent arrival of a hurricane can of course be a nerve-wracking experience, but what I found more annoying and anxiety provoking was this insane rush to the grocery stores, gas stations and home and garden stores prior to when the storm was predicted to hit. "Did you see those guys fight over that last plastic gas container at Home Depot?" I heard a young man ask while standing in line at a coffee shop. "Are you serious?" I replied. "Yep." He says. "Beat each other to a pulp and they were old too...had to be 60 or so." So much for the Woodstock generation.

I realized the only sane way to live in a hurricane state was to be prepared during the entire storm season. I have listed below ways that can help you live somewhat comfortably should your area be hit with a hurricane, and keep your sanity along with it. Now, as I lived in a residential community that did not permit generators, large water holding tanks, or extra gas tanks, I am listing the supplies you would need should you be living in similar conditions:

1. Gas lines becomes out of control once a storm is predicted to land in an area. They can be as long as 10 miles and you might be unlucky enough to find the gas has all been taken by the time it's your turn. Solution: always keep your gas above the half-way mark. If you have to leave the state, most small to medium cars will make it from South Florida to at least Jacksonville, Florida on half a tank of gas.

2. After this season of overly intense and destructive hurricanes, people became savvy enough to head for the dry goods section of the grocery stores when a hurricane was predicted. If you leave your purchases to the last minute, you might face empty shelves and absolutely not one water bottle in sight. Solution: buy tinned food, such as tuna, sardines, chicken, vegetables, and fruit well in advance of hurricane season. Buy boxed things, such as whole grain crackers, and wrapped items such as energy or breakfast bars will sustain you as well. Buy enough to last you two weeks, especially canned fruit and vegetables as it may be a while before you next see fresh produce in a hurricane-stricken community. If you don't end up using these cans, there are always charities that accept tinned food. Make sure you have a manual can opener in case you lose power.

3. Water deserves its own paragraph. As you may know, a human being can survive quite a long time on water alone. After Wilma, there was very little water available to buy. People were lining up for hours to get some. So buy water every time your go to the grocery store. Start with a 6-pack and put it somewhere it won't be used. Average it out so that each member of your household could have 64 ounces of water a day. By the time Wilma hit (October 2005), I had half my living room covered in water bottles. As I mentioned, I ran away from that hurricane in time, so I was able to give my neighbors access to all that water. You will no doubt be advised to fill your bathtubs before a storm, which is a very good idea. In my opinion, you can never have too much water.

4. Portable fans. They are inexpensive but do require batteries. You will want fans. If you lose power for any length of time, the heat and humidity will be unrelenting.

5. Plastic leak-proof containers. Sometimes these hurricanes cause major flooding instead of wind damage. This can be devastating for you if your important documents become water damaged. I would suggest plasticizing all important documents and keeping them away from areas that could be flooded, such as floors, or rain leaks from the roof. It is a good idea to boost your file cabinets onto stools or bricks and surround the bottom half of the cabinets with plastic.

Good luck, stay safe and, above all, if your intuition tells you to run away before the hurricane strikes, RUN.