The questions that show up when a storm does.

Follow the evacuation order from your local emergency management office. If you live in an evacuation zone and an order has been issued, leave. That is the single most important rule.

If you are outside the evacuation zone, and your home is structurally sound and not in a storm surge area, sheltering in place is often safer than sitting in evacuation traffic during a major storm. The decision is local, not generic.

A watch means hurricane conditions are possible in your area within 48 hours. Start preparing. A warning means hurricane conditions are expected within 36 hours. Finish preparing, and if you're in an evacuation zone, leave.

The shift from watch to warning is not gradual. It compresses your timeline. Gas lines get longer, store shelves empty out, and airports start cancelling flights. Treat a watch as the moment to act, not the moment to start thinking.

The short answer is: water, non-perishable food, medications, batteries, a flashlight per person, a weather radio, cash, and fuel. The longer answer depends on who's in your household — children, seniors, pets, and anyone on powered medical equipment all change the list.

Rather than reproduce the lists here, this site was built for exactly this question. The kit guides walk through what to pack and why, with printable checklists for each one.

If the storm is close and the shelves are thinning, stop chasing the ideal list. Focus on two questions: what can I eat without cooking? and what will last without refrigeration?

High-value items that are usually still available: peanut butter, bread, tortillas, canned tuna or chicken, canned beans, trail mix, nuts, dried fruit, crackers, granola bars, shelf-stable milk, instant oatmeal, jerky, and any fresh fruit with a thick skin (apples, oranges, bananas). Plus a manual can opener, which people forget every single storm.

For water, if the bottled water aisle is empty, buy gallon jugs of anything — distilled, spring, sparkling, even unsweetened tea or juice boxes as a backup. Fill empty clean containers at home before the water pressure drops. Pedialyte or sports drinks are worth grabbing if they're there; electrolytes matter in heat without air conditioning.

Skip frozen items, anything that needs an oven, and anything that requires two or three other ingredients you don't already have. This is not the meal plan you wanted — it's the one that gets you through a week.

Plan for one gallon per person per day, for at least three days. Pets count — a medium dog needs roughly half a gallon a day. Prepare for seven days if you live somewhere that historically takes longer to recover, like parts of the Florida Keys, Puerto Rico, or rural Louisiana.

That gallon covers drinking, cooking, basic hygiene, and brushing teeth. It does not cover bathing. For that, fill the bathtub before the storm.

Tape does nothing. It is an old myth that refuses to die. Tape does not prevent glass from breaking, and it makes broken glass more dangerous by holding it in large shards.

Plywood (5/8" minimum) cut to fit and pre-drilled into anchor points in the siding is the standard low-cost option. Permanent storm shutters or impact-rated windows are better. If you are in a place where hurricanes are a regular occurrence, treat shutters as infrastructure, not emergency shopping.

Sandbags work for shallow, slow-moving water — the kind that seeps under doorways or creeps up from a storm drain. They are not a defense against storm surge, and they will not save a house in a surge zone. Used correctly, they can keep several inches of water out of a garage or door threshold.

Most Gulf and Atlantic coastal counties distribute sandbags free before a storm — search your county name and "sandbag distribution" for the location, which is often a fire station, public works yard, or park. Bring a shovel; many programs are self-fill. Go early. They run out.

Stack them like bricks, not like a pile. Overlap the seams so gaps don't line up between rows. Tamp each bag flat as you place it. Two to three layers high is typical for a doorway. Lay the first row directly on the ground — no gap — and use plastic sheeting between the bags and the structure for better sealing if you have it.

Probably. Gas stations along evacuation routes run dry 24 to 48 hours before landfall, and resupply is often interrupted during and after the storm. Fill up as soon as a watch is issued — not when a warning is. By warning time, lines will be long and some stations will be out.

If you are evacuating, top off before you leave and again at roughly half a tank during the drive. Do not assume the station at your destination will be open.

Enough to prove who you are, what you own, and what you're insured for. That generally means IDs, passports, insurance policies (home, auto, flood, health, life), deeds and titles, a list of medications, recent bank statements, and photos or video of your home's condition before the storm.

Originals in a waterproof pouch. Scans on a USB drive or in cloud storage. The documents kit walks through the full list and the reasoning behind each one.

Not every shelter accepts pets, and the ones that do usually require advance registration, current vaccination records, and a carrier. Calling around after an evacuation order is issued is too late — spots fill, and some pet-friendly shelters only open once certain thresholds are hit.

The right move is to find yours before a storm is on the map. Search your county name and "pet-friendly shelter" or "co-located pet shelter." Your county emergency management office maintains the official list. The ASPCA and the Humane Society also publish regional shelter directories during major storm events.

Hotels are often a better option than shelters if you can afford one and leave early. Many national chains waive pet fees during declared emergencies — BringFido and Petswelcome let you filter hotels along evacuation routes.

An interior room on the lowest floor that is above any expected storm surge. The goal is to put as many walls as possible between you and the outside, and to have no windows or as few as possible. Bathrooms, closets, interior hallways, and pantries are typical choices. A windowless bathroom on the ground floor of a non-surge area is a strong default.

Bring mattresses, cushions, or a helmet in case the room is compromised by flying debris. Bring your evacuation kit, phone, weather radio, and shoes with hard soles.

If you are in a mandatory evacuation zone, leave. That does not change because you live in a multi-unit building. If you are outside a surge zone and the building is structurally sound, there are some specific considerations worth knowing.

Wind speeds increase with height. A Category 2 at ground level can be a Category 3 or 4 on the 20th floor. Upper floors of high-rises experience more shaking, more window stress, and more pressure change. If you are above roughly the 10th floor in a high wind event, move down — to a mid-level floor if you can, and to an interior hallway or stairwell away from windows.

Elevators will not work once the power goes out, and they may be shut off before then. If you have mobility limitations, medical equipment, or young children, factor the stairs into your decision before the storm hits, not after. Ground floor units in surge zones are the highest-risk location in any building.

Because once the water system loses pressure — which happens routinely after a major storm — your tap stops producing water. A full bathtub becomes the household's non-drinking water supply: for flushing toilets, for washing, for cleaning.

Clean the tub first. Fill it to the brim. A rubber bathtub plug bladder (often sold as a "WaterBOB") does the same thing but keeps the water drinkable-clean. Not essential, but useful if you have one.

Yes, before the storm arrives. Power surges during and after hurricanes damage electronics. Unplug televisions, computers, and anything sensitive. Leave the refrigerator and freezer plugged in — you want those cold as long as possible — but stop opening them once the power goes out.

Turn the refrigerator and freezer to their coldest settings a few hours before landfall. A full freezer holds its temperature about 48 hours if the door stays shut. A half-full freezer, about 24.

Inside a garage if you have one. If not, away from trees, power lines, and anything that could fall on it. Parking on high ground is worth the extra walk — street flooding is one of the most common post-hurricane losses, and flood damage to a car is often total.

Take photos of the vehicle before the storm, front and back, with the license plate visible. It helps with any claim later.

Bring everything inside, or tie it down to something immovable. In hurricane-force winds, a plastic patio chair becomes a projectile that can break a window from 50 feet away. Grills, propane tanks, potted plants, garden tools, kids' toys, bird feeders, door mats — anything not bolted down should be moved indoors, into a garage, or secured with rope to a structural anchor.

This is one of the highest-leverage preparations you can do in the last few hours. A broken window during the storm changes the pressure inside your house, which can lift the roof. Most of the debris that breaks windows is other people's patio furniture.

Pets go with you. Always. They cannot shelter alone, and shelters that accept pets are increasingly common — but you need to confirm which ones before you leave. Carriers, leashes, food, water, medications, vaccination records, and a recent photo of each pet should already be packed.

The pet kit walks through this in detail. The short version: never leave a pet behind, even chained or fenced.

You are in the eye of the storm. It is not over. The back half is coming, with winds from the opposite direction, and it can be just as violent as the first half — sometimes more, because debris from the front wall is now airborne.

Stay sheltered. Do not go outside to inspect damage during the eye. The calm can last anywhere from a few minutes to about an hour, depending on the storm's forward speed and where you are relative to the center.

Stay where you are. Do not open the refrigerator or freezer. Turn off and unplug appliances that were running — when the power comes back, it often comes back with a surge.

Your phone is now your most important tool. Ration battery. Switch to low-power mode, turn off WiFi if no WiFi is available, and keep the screen dim. A weather radio (battery or hand-crank) is how you stay informed without draining your phone.

No. Not while the storm is active. Roofs fail in hurricanes, and climbing into an attic during sustained winds is how people get seriously hurt. Put buckets or towels under the leak, move valuables away from it, and document it with photos from below.

If water is coming in through a broken window, move to another room. A compromised window in high winds can cause a pressure change that lifts the roof — closing interior doors between you and the damaged room helps contain that.

No. Never. Portable generators produce carbon monoxide at levels that can kill a person in minutes. Post-hurricane carbon monoxide poisoning is one of the most common ways people die after a storm they survived.

Generators go outside, at least 20 feet from any window, door, or vent, under a canopy or open shelter to keep them dry. Not in a garage, even with the door open. Not on a covered porch. Not in a shed.

Wait for an official all-clear from local emergency management. Downed power lines may still be live. Gas lines may be leaking. Trees that survived the storm may fall for hours afterward as saturated ground gives way.

When you do go out, wear closed shoes or boots — not sandals. Carry a flashlight, even in daytime, for dark interiors. Assume every downed wire is live and every standing water pool is contaminated.

Assume no until your utility says yes. Boil-water notices are routine after hurricanes, and they're issued for a reason — the water system has lost pressure and contamination is likely.

Use bottled or stored water for drinking, cooking, brushing teeth, and giving to pets. If you must use tap water before an all-clear, bring it to a rolling boil for one minute. If you can't boil, the CDC allows unscented household bleach at 8 drops per gallon, stirred and left to sit 30 minutes — but boiling is preferable.

Your utility does not automatically know you're out. Large outages are visible to them in aggregate, but individual reports help crews prioritize and locate the break. Report yours even if you assume neighbors already have.

Every major utility has a text-to-report number and a website outage map — find yours now, before a storm, and save the number in your phone. Common examples: FPL (4 FPL / 4375), Duke Energy (57801), Entergy (text OUT to 36778), Georgia Power (1-888-891-0938). If you don't know your utility, it's printed on your bill or any previous outage notice.

Reporting by text uses far less battery and bandwidth than a phone call. During widespread outages, phone lines are jammed anyway. If you can, include the nearest intersection or address — it helps crews find the break faster than an account number alone.

Refrigerated food is safe for about four hours after the power goes out if the door has stayed closed. After that, perishables (meat, dairy, leftovers, cut produce) should be thrown out. "When in doubt, throw it out" is the standard, and in post-hurricane heat it is especially true.

A full freezer is safe for about 48 hours unopened, 24 if half full. Refreezing is okay if food still has ice crystals or is still at 40°F or below. Check temperatures with a thermometer, not by feel.

No. "Turn around, don't drown" is a rule written in the names of the people who didn't. Six inches of moving water can knock an adult off their feet. Twelve inches can float a small car. Two feet can carry away most vehicles, including SUVs and pickups.

Beyond the force of the water, what's in it matters: downed power lines (which can electrify standing water far from the break), sewage, fuel, chemicals, glass, nails, snakes, and road surfaces that have been washed away entirely so you cannot see that the road is no longer there.

If your vehicle stalls in rising water, get out and move to higher ground on foot if you can do so safely. If you can't, stay on the roof of the car and call for help. Do not try to restart the engine — that's how cars get swept away.

Call your insurance company as soon as phone lines allow. Adjusters are assigned roughly in the order claims are received, and after a major storm that queue can be weeks long.

Document everything before cleanup: photos and video of every damaged room and the exterior, serial numbers of damaged appliances, receipts for any emergency repairs or hotel stays. Keep damaged items until the adjuster has seen them, if possible. Do emergency repairs to prevent further damage (tarping a roof, boarding a broken window) — insurers expect this — but don't do full repairs before the adjuster visits.

If the President issues a federal disaster declaration for your area — which happens routinely after major hurricanes — you can apply for FEMA individual assistance. That may include temporary housing help, home repair grants, and other support for uninsured losses.

Apply at disasterassistance.gov, by calling 1-800-621-3362, or at a Disaster Recovery Center if one opens nearby. Apply even if you have insurance. FEMA can cover gaps insurance does not. Have your insurance claim information ready when you apply.

Before entering: turn off power at the main breaker if you can reach it safely without standing in water. If you can't, call your utility and wait. Assume flood water is contaminated — sewage, chemicals, debris — and wear boots and gloves.

Document everything with photos and video before moving anything. Then start removing water, wet materials (drywall, carpet, insulation), and anything porous that can't be dried within 48 hours. Mold establishes fast in warm, humid conditions.

This is one of the places this site stops being enough. Contact your flood insurer and your local emergency management office early — federal and state resources exist for exactly this situation.

Speed and airflow. Mold establishes within 24 to 48 hours in warm, wet, still air — exactly the conditions a post-hurricane house creates. The goal is to dry everything out as fast as possible.

Open windows and doors if the weather allows. Run fans and dehumidifiers once power is back, pointing them at wet areas. Remove anything porous that got wet and can't dry quickly: drywall at least a foot above the waterline, carpet and carpet pad, upholstered furniture, mattresses, books, insulation. Hard surfaces (tile, sealed wood, metal) can be cleaned and dried in place with detergent and water, then a diluted bleach solution for disinfection.

Wear an N95 mask, gloves, and eye protection when removing wet materials. If mold is already visible and covers more than about 10 square feet, or if anyone in the household has asthma or a compromised immune system, bring in a professional rather than handling it yourself.

The Saffir-Simpson scale measures sustained wind speed only. Category 1 is 74–95 mph. Category 5 is 157 mph or higher. Each category reflects a meaningful jump in structural damage, but it leaves out the two things that actually kill the most people: water and tornadoes.

A Category 1 with 15 feet of storm surge can be far more deadly than a Category 4 that tracks over an unpopulated area. Do not let a low category number convince you a storm is minor. Read the full forecast, not just the number.

Storm surge is seawater pushed onto land by hurricane winds. It arrives fast, it moves with force, and it is the leading cause of hurricane fatalities. Surge zones are mapped by your local emergency management office.

Inland flooding is from rainfall — rivers and creeks overflowing, storm drains failing, low spots filling. It can happen far from the coast, hours or days after the storm passes, and it's why "I'm not on the coast" isn't the whole answer to hurricane risk.

Flood insurance covers both. Homeowners insurance covers neither.

The cone — the National Hurricane Center's "cone of uncertainty" — shows where the center of the storm is likely to track over the next five days. It is based on historical forecast error. It does not show the storm's size, its wind field, its rainfall, or its surge footprint.

A storm whose center passes 100 miles from you can still flood your neighborhood and tear up your roof. Use the cone to understand the track, not to decide whether you'll feel the storm. For that, look at the wind field map and the surge forecast.

The National Hurricane Center (nhc.noaa.gov) is the official source for tropical forecasts in the Atlantic. Your local National Weather Service office — you can find yours at weather.gov — translates those forecasts into what it means for your specific area.

Bookmark both before the season. During a storm, social media is full of misinformation, outdated cone graphics, and models that amateurs are misreading. NHC and your local NWS office are the signal.

Try again. 911 centers get overwhelmed during and after major storms, and calls sometimes have to be retried. If you can text 911, try that — most coastal areas support it now, and texts can sometimes get through when voice calls can't.

For non-life-threatening situations (damage reports, downed trees blocking roads), use your county's non-emergency line or the local emergency management office's reporting system. Leave 911 for people who are hurt or in immediate danger.