Florida Hurricane Tips- Have a “Ready To Go” Box Even If You Don’t Live In Florida
June 1st marks the beginning of the Hurricane season and in a previous post I listed 14 Tips you can do now to prepare for Hurricane Season. One item was to put together a “Ready To Go” Bag so that if you needed to leave your home or area with short notice you would have with you some very necessary items. 
You don’t have to be in a hurricane prone area to have one of these. When we first moved near DC I not only had one in my home but one for each of our vehicles. (I left out of the car bag some of the items with personal information ). What if you couldn’t back into your neighborhood or street because of a fire or other emergency? What if your own home caught fire?
Fortunately with hurricanes, we have advanced notice, but having this To-Go bag is helpful nevertheless. You’ll want a backpack or duffle bag that is lightweight and large enough to hold your items:
1. Flashlight with extra batteries
2. Portable radio with batteries
3. Small First Aid Kit, bug spray
4. Miners head light ( allows you to be hands free)
5. Emergency cash and quarters- make sure you have small bills
6. Road maps, paper and pencil
7. List of phone numbers such as friends, relatives, insurance companies, physicians. (when’s the last time you actually dialed a phone number?)
8. Extra clothing and sturdy shoes, extra contacts or glasses.
9. List of medications, contacts, solution
10. Knife, lighter, duct tape, large trash bag, toilet paper
11. Some water and food, can opener, utensils
12. Toothbrush and toothpaste
13. Current photos of you and family members
These are suggestions and of course you will want to tailor it to fit your needs as well as the needs of your family*.
* Don’t forget your pets. You’ll need to put together a bag for Rocky too:
* an extra leash
* small bowl, can opener
* medications
* copy of their vaccination history
* extra food and water
There will be some items that you will want to grab at the last minute so the best thing to do is make a list of those items so you won’t be running around the house in a panic. These include items such as your laptop, thumb drives, cell phones, chargers, etc.
It has been suggested that you go to each room and pick one object from there that you would want to take... a special photo, something irreplaceable.
Keep this list by your bag so that you will know what else you need.
Likely you will never have to use this bag but why take that chance.
Coming up next: A Hurricane is On the Way... Now What Do you Do?
You can find more information on hurricane tips to help you get prepared.
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