I’m a Florida girl.  Though I was born in Texas and currently live in North Carolina, I spent 22 years there.  I’ve lived in Daytona Beach, Miami, and Orlando.  I’ve spent enough time in Gainesville to qualify as an honorary citizen.

And I can tell you, hurricanes are fun.

I used to go to school during tropical depressions and storms.  Lo, though the rain is driveneth sideways, school was not closed!  So we miscreants used to wish for hurricanes.  The best was when a hurricane would hit during the week, otherwise it was a waste of your weekend.

Believe me, there is nothing like sitting in a dark room with no air conditioning, listening to the sounds of a wind driven Armageddon.  Man, I’m all nostalgic now.

But surviving a hurricane is a lot like dealing with any natural disaster.  Being prepared is key.  So what’s an insider to do?

If the store has completely sold out of bottled water, you still have a shot in the baby aisle. Yes, there is special water for babies.  Most people don’t think to look there!

You can never never never never never never never never have too much water.  One gallon per person, per day.  Then add 1 gallon each for good luck.

You absolutely need bleach, no matter what. Bleach, along with boiling water, can get rid of most contaminants.  You should also have a rough idea of how to distill water.  You can’t guarantee that the water flooding the streets is safe or freshwater.

Don’t forget to buy a manual can opener. You’d be surprised at how many people forget how to do this!

The common rabble will buy bread and milk. (It’s the first thing to go in North Carolina when there is even the hint of snow.)  Don’t worry about milk.  And bread’s fine if you can get it, but peanut butter on Ritz crackers are just as doable.

Personally, I always used the excuse of a hurricane to buy foods I would never normally eat.  Swiss Cake Rolls, Ritz crackers, marshmallows for just in case we build a bonfire, and oreos.  Basically, you can pretend like it’s a party if you buy party food!

Do your laundry! Whenever there’s a hint of a natural disaster you need to make sure that as much of your clothes are clean as possible.  When you are living without power and sweating like a construction worker in 98 degree weather, you will be ecstatic to be able to wear fresh clothes or at least change your underwear on a regular basis.

Keep a ton of plastic grocery store bags and duct-tape easily accessible. You never want to leave your food leavings to rot and attract animals.  And if you are unable to use your toilet, plastic bags can come in handy.  Make sure you double bag!  (Check though.  Sometimes the waste lines are not backed up and as long as you can fill the tank with water, it will flush.  Don’t ever use your ‘potable’ water for this purpose, however.)

And duct-tape?  McGuyver and Martha Stewart would both tell you, duct-tape is an essential survival tool.

Take down any masking tape immediately! If you put masking tape on your windows (and you should!) do not leave it on your windows for longer than a day after the storm.  Once we left masking tape on for too long, and it just baked on to our windows.  I’m not sure we ever got it all off.

Only buy homes that are ‘higher up’. Even though Chris and I are out of hurricane alley, we still look at prospective homes from the perspective of how much sandbagging we might have to do.

Don’t bother with candles. They’re romantic, but you can’t really see anything.  Get those big flashlights, set them in the middle of the floor, and point them at the ceiling.  As long as your ceiling is white and not cathedral, you should end up with plenty of light to do whatever it is you want to do.

Keep it on the DL. Do not announce if you are the only person in the neighborhood with power or a generator, unless you and your neighbors are totally ok.  Suffer along with everyone else and don’t turn that generator on unless you absolutely have to.

You can get a really thorough hurricane preparedness list all over the internet, but there are just some things most people are left to figure out on their own.