Hurricane Preparedness Guide And Lessons Learned

I grew up in New Orleans, so I’ve been aware of the dangers of hurricanes for as long as I can remember. There’s a particular sense of fear and helplessness in the days leading up to a big storm as you wait to find out just how strong it will be, its exact path, and the ultimate impact on your home and community.

But there are certainly some factors that are in your hands. If you live in an evacuation zone, it’s important to leave the area or consider relocating to a local safe shelter. You can look up the shelter options and evacuation routes to formulate a plan.

Unfortunately, many people are not able to evacuate. They may be caring for elderly parents, lack the resources to leave or have mobility issues that require them to remain at home. Others live just outside the evacuation zones but still want to gear up for potential power outages, street flooding and other storm-related disruptions.

To help people prepare, I reached out to Sarah Sheffield, an earth sciences professor who frequently shares her hurricane experience and advice on X, formerly Twitter. Having grown up in North Carolina and then working in Tampa, Florida, for nearly seven years, Sheffield has spent the majority of her life in areas where these serious storms are a real threat.

“The first one I remember is Hurricane Fran,” she recalled. “Our neighborhood sustained a lot of wind damage, and we were without power and water for quite a few days. I remember the eye of the hurricane passing over our house in the middle of the night ― it was so indescribably eerie to have the extreme noise from the wind, rain, and the debris hitting our house to go into almost immediate silence for a few moments.”

During their years in Florida, she and her partner developed checklist of steps to prepare for an upcoming hurricane and remain safe and healthy in the process. The tasks are all too familiar to people like me, but hurricane preparedness is not engrained in everyone.

Below, we share our experience-backed advice for what to do ahead of a hurricane if you plan to shelter in place or how to prepare your home before evacuating.

“Fill the bathtub to use for water to flush with or other non-consumable uses,” Sheffield advised.

You can use a small bucket or container to take water from the bathtub and add it to your toilet tank so that it can still flush even when your local water system is disrupted.

The bathtub water can of course be used for rinsing and bathing your body as well.

Getting gas can be difficult during an emergency like a hurricane, and evacuation routes often involve sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic for hours on end. So you’ll want to make sure your tanks are full ― or your battery is charged if you drive an electric vehicle ― well in advance.

Even if you aren’t able to evacuate, it’s best to have your car ready to go at a moment’s notice in case circumstances change. If there’s higher ground near your home, try to park your vehicle there and keep it stocked with water and emergency snacks.

Gather important paperwork like birth certificates, Social Security cards, passports and any other legal or financial documents that would be difficult to replace. Place it all in a waterproof container or at least a higher, more secure part of your home.

Some people like to use the “dishwasher hack” ― putting treasured items in freezer bags and placing them in the dishwasher to keep them dry in case water gets into the home. Be prepared to take them with you if you evacuate.

The same goes for photos, sentimental objects or important memorabilia. When Hurricane Katrina flooded my home, my father lost the baseball card collection he’d been building for more than 50 years. It’s worth taking the time to move valuable and meaningful items to higher or safer areas.

“Fill any Tupperware containers, or even containers you were about to recycle ― opened cans of soda, sour cream jars ― three-quarters full of water and freeze them,” Sheffield said. “Stuff your freezer full of them. This will keep your food cold for longer.”

Leaving part of the containers empty provides space for the water to expand as it freezes into ice.

“When you lose power, do not open the freezer or fridge doors to keep everything as cold as you can for as long as possible,” Sheffield added. “The fuller your freezer is of ice, the longer your food will stay safe.”

Make sure you have cash on hand, as ATMs and credit card readers won’t be an option in the event of a power outage. More than a week after Hurricane Helene made landfall, many grocery stores in affected areas are still only able to accept cash or checks as payment for food.

Don’t just take out a bunch of high-denomination bills. Instead opt for a variety with plenty of fives and ones so that you can pay close to exact change when needed.

As previously noted, power outages are bad news for refrigerators since they lead to spoiled food. After Hurricane Katrina, countless fridges across the Gulf Coast region had to be thrown out because they were too foul-smelling.

You don’t want to have to deal with replacing a major appliance, so let hurricane prep be an opportunity to clean out your refrigerator. Get rid of already expired items and consider cooking your meats and other highly perishable items as your prestorm meals.

If you’re sheltering in place, you don’t have to get eat or toss all the contents of your fridge unless the power outage continues long enough to melt your ice preserves. Be sure to stock up on plenty of nonperishable foods like protein bars as well.

These ice containers in your fridge can also provide backup drinking water in an emergency.

“Fill up bowls of water ― any container ― and place them on the counter,” Sheffield recommended. “You don’t need bottled water if your water is safe to drink before the storm. You just need to fill jugs, pitchers, anything you can in advance.”

If the potability of your local tap water is a concern, you can also purchase gallons and bottles in advance.

Take advantage of your working electricity by charging all of your phones, tablets, laptops and external battery packs. Consider investing in a solar panel charger as a backup power source.

In addition to allowing access to communication and information, these devices can also provide light when it’s dark out. Confirm you also have flashlights with extra batteries, candles and matches for this purpose. Headlights are helpful to have on hand as well.

If you’re unable to take a proper shower for days or even weeks, washing your body with baby wipes can make a huge difference.

Pick up a supply of wipes as you do your pre-hurricane shopping prep. And it never hurts to have some extra hand sanitizer.

Sandbags are a popular method for diverting floodwater from your home. They’re more effective if you place them over plastic tarps around your doorframes.

Although this approach isn’t 100% foolproof, it can go a long way in slowing and lessening the flow of water into the house. And if you can’t find any sandbags in your area, you can also try other dense and heavy materials like topsoil or mulch.

“My best tips are to shower, do laundry, and do dishes before the storm hits,” Sheffield noted. “You may be without water or power for a while, and you will feel a lot better if you have clean clothes, and if you’ve showered recently.”

Wash your sheets and towels, wipe your countertops and clean your floors ahead of time too to create a more relaxing environment as you wait out the hurricane.

Even more importantly, be sure to clean out your gutters so that they can more effectively function amid the storm.

When faced with the prospect of a natural disaster, it’s always helpful to have a “go bag” with supplies and essentials that you can grab in the event that you have to depart quickly.

Pack a first-aid kit with all of your essential meds and ensure everything is up to date. You’ll also want snacks, water, flashlights, batteries, baby wipes, extra clothes and a blanket. Be prepared to grab your important paperwork and small valuables.

Keep a couple of big empty plastic bins on hand as well. When my parents returned to our flooded home in the aftermath of Katrina, they gathered clothes and other belongings and used bins to float everything through the floodwater back to the higher ground where their car was parked.

Survivors of major hurricanes are sadly familiar with the utility of keeping an ax in the attic.

A sobering fact is that many have perished after climbing up to the highest level of their homes amid rising floodwaters and getting trapped inside. Safety experts warn against entering your attic in a disaster, but if you wind up in this desperate situation, an ax can help you break through your roof to safety.

Whether you’re following an evacuation route, seeking shelter in your community or staying at home, you should tell your friends and relatives who live outside the storm area where you plan to be during the hurricane. Write down their numbers on a piece of paper in case your phone runs out of battery.

Allow your loved ones to track your location and consider downloading one of the apps that people use to communicate and notify others if they are safe or need assistance.

If you have an iPhone 14 or later model, make sure the software is up to date so that you can use the new satellite messaging feature to text loved ones and emergency services when you don’t have cell service. There’s a demo that walks users through how to use this emergency SOS function ― just go to Settings > Apps > Messages, then tapping Satellite Connection Demo.

Download apps and subscribe to news outlets that offer frequent hurricane-related updates.

Set notifications, and if you’re sheltering at home, keep your volume on high in case a safety warning comes while you’re asleep. Consider investing in a battery-powered radio to stay up to date with the news.

Before the storm hits, take detailed photos of your home’s interiors and exteriors. Take a visual inventory of everything you have on your property.

These kinds of photos can be invaluable when it comes to filing insurance claims in the event of damage. In the grief of trauma over loss, remembering everything that was lost and understanding the extent of the destruction can be difficult.

“My last tips are for pet owners,” Sheffield said. “Know where to go if you have pets. If you have a shelter nearby, check the rules ― do they allow dogs and cats? Bunnies? Lizards? Have their vaccination paperwork, favorite toys, blankets and medications with you during the storm ― anything your pets need to survive.”

She recommended having a pet go-bag packed and ready just as you have for yourself with plenty of food, medicine and other important supplies to last at least a week or two. Keep their collars on at all times in case you need to make a quick escape.

“We didn’t have many windowless, internal rooms to protect [our dogs] from breaking glass from tornados or flying debris, so we took large dog crates and wrapped them in thick moving blankets and put them lengthwise in the hallway, which touched each wall,” Sheffield recalled. “If we needed to shelter in place for severe wind damage, we could put the pets in the crates and protect them better from glass and provide a little more comfort to them, as the crates would give them some security and block a little bit of the sounds and other stimuli.”