Hurricane preparedness is not just about buying food and water to have on hand. People are also urged to prepare their homes for whatever a hurricane might bring.
You should start outside your house. Check for dead tree limbs and be sure to cut those down. If they are blown by the wind, they could end up projectiles heading straight to your home. The same goes for lawn furniture, portable grills and planters. You need to make sure all of those things are secured well before the storm begins.
Inside your home, bag as much ice as you can from your ice maker. That will come in handy for drinking water in the event you or your pets run out, if/when the power goes out.
There have already been several reports of stores running out of water ahead of the storm, if you aren’t able to get some for your home, start filling Tupperware and other plastic containers with water and then freeze it. If necessary, you can thaw that water and use it as drinking water.
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IMPORTANT LINKS
Hurricane Supply Kit Checklist | Things to know before the storm | Preparations for your pets | Power outage maps & resources | Know your evacuation zone | Price gouging: How to protect yourself and report it | Insurance protection: Video tape home inventory | Tampa Bay sandbag locations
This one might seem trivial, but it could be an easy oversight. Make sure you have a manual can opener just in case the power goes out you will still have a way to open your canned goods.
Take pictures or video of all of your valuables in your home with all the important information as to what it is.
It’s also a good idea to put pictures, documents and anything of value in airtight plastic bins and putting those on counters or other high places in your home just in case it floods, your belongings won’t be ruined.
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