[Aces4]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

1. you don't need to BUY bottled water for hurricane prep. The water from your tap is potable, even if it tastes lousy. You can clean and re-use soda bottles, plastic milk containers, and water bottles you already have and use. You can also fill zip-locks with water and stick them in the freezer. In addition, if you have a cat and buy litter by the jug, you can clean those jugs out and fill them with water to use for washing and for the toilet if for whatever reason there's a water-use restriction.
2. If you have a charcoal or wood grill, or even a newspaper grill, you don't need to stock up on propane for cooking. As long as you keep charcoal dry, it'll be useful indefinitely.
3. You should already have plenty of batteries from last year - or the year before - or the year before - or the year before. Those things are supposedly good for up to 10 years - don't trust that and assume they're only good for 5 years. You should already have plenty. If you don't, then don't get upset that the store is out. You should've made sure you had what you needed before hurricane season even started. This is Central Florida - home of random power outages that can last anywhere from a few seconds to a day.
4. Gas in your car is more important than gas in your golf cart. You can always siphon from your car if needed. And your car should have USB ports or lighter USB chargers in them so you can keep your cell phone (and rechargable hearing aids) charged even when the power goes out. If the line's too long for you to deal with getting 4-5 gallons in your golf cart, don't panic. As long as your CAR tank is full, you're good for at least a week.
5. Solar power isn't just for heating pools. My calculator runs on solar power, it has no actual battery. You can have solar lights to illuminate your yard - in an emergency, you can bring them into the house at night - they'll illuminate your house for at least a couple of hours while you gather what you need to evacuate or to prepare for bed during power outages. No need to look for matches to light candles, with those things.

Nice post, very useful info for those who may be in harms way.