I thought of a few good tips when going through Frances and I felt this would make a good post for others to add to.

I collected my most valuable possessions and stored them in the dryer and the dishwasher, reasoning that water can't easily get in and they're too heavy to blow away. I also put my purse in there. A front loading washer would work too, but with a top loader water would drip in.

I repacked my Christmas decorations from cardboard boxes to sturdy rubbermaid containers and wedged them into tight closets. I thought of this after reading a news report with a man who found someone else's Christmas decorations strewed all over his front yard.

I bought some large plastic containers to put my favorite clothes and things in, because the rain is your worst problem if your house is damaged.

Because we had gas shortages for about a week after the hurricane I was especially glad I'd topped off my car beforehand. I also bought a good laminated state map just in case I evacuated.

I figured out in advance how to bolt my electric garage door down.

I put my insurance policies in a zip lock bag in my purse.

I keep all my especially precious mothers day presents in a curio cabinet so it was easy to gather them all up to put in the dishwasher.

I bought extra diapers and wipes beforehand so I didn't have to make an emergency trip right after the storm when it wasn't safe to go out. I figured the wipes might come in especially handy if the water went out.

This time I didn't buy all those cans of spam and soup because I don't eat that stuff anymore, and I'd have to be practically starving to eat them. I did lay in a good supply of apples and bananas and other fresh foods.

I filled all sorts of bottles and jars with drinking water and put them in the freezer and fridge to help keep food cold when the power went out. Thankfully my water didn't go out because I realized I didn't have enough bottled water. I drink more than I thought!

What I'll do better next time -

I'll store more water!

I wish I had bought something to heat water in when my electricity went out, because I really missed my tea! Maybe one of those alcohol burners.

I'll get more cash because the banks were closed for over a week here and because of no power the stores couldn't take credit cards even when they did reopen.

I'll decide in advance under which conditions I'll evacate. Last time I tried just praying for guidance which didn't seem to work so well, probably because I had too much adrenaline to think clearly. Although, maybe it worked well because I didn't feel especially led to leave, which was good in retrospect.

I'll vacuum the house thoroughly before the storm. Strangely that was one of the things that bothered me the most about not having electricity. I couldn't vacuum! What can I say, I'm middle aged!

Please add anything else you can think of to this list. Then when we need it we can cut and paste it all together and put it on the fridge. Because I've found that under pressure I can't think coherently and need a list!