5 hurricane survival tips to get you through Florida’s windy season

Hurricane season officially begins Sunday, June 1 and, more importantly, the hurricane supply sales tax holiday starts this Saturday. Included in the tax break are standard hurricane supplies like flashlights, batteries, coolers and generators. (For a complete list of tax-exempt items, including the rules and regulations of the week-long sales tax holiday, click here.) If you don’t have that standard hurricane shit by now (and more coolers than you think you need), you shouldn’t be allowed to call yourself a Floridian. Unless you just moved here, in which case, you’re forgiven.

Having been through a few of these storms ourselves, we put together five real-world tips to help you survive the mother of all Florida weather events: the hurricane.

1. The second the hurricane hype machine starts spinning out of control get thee to a laundry and wash ALL THE THINGS. If your power goes out, you may be without electricity for weeks and you don’t want to be playing the inside-outsies with your underwear.
2. Make sure to have car chargers on hand for every single electrical device you could possibly use. Especially your cell phones, cause everyone will be texting you to make sure you survived the great storm of ’14. And you’ll probably need to feed your Facebook addiction, too.
3. Even during a hurricane, a girl’s gotta eat. And if there’s no power, that means only one thing: grillin’. Make sure your propane and propane accessories are fully topped off, or, if you’re going for a smokier flavor, ensure you have enough charcoal to last you through the weather apocalypse.
4. One of the most important hurricane necessities to have on hand is candles (and something to light them with). Here’s the trick with buying hurricane candles, though: get unscented candles. Trust us on this one. It’s gonna be hot and sticky in your house and you don’t want to be smelling lavendar vanilla or clean cotton 24/7. It will be stifling.
5. Booze. This is, without question, the most important item on the list. This is the main reason we told you earlier to buy more coolers than you think you’ll need. One of the coolers can be reserved for foodstuffs, but the rest of ‘em? Fill ‘em with booze. White booze, brown booze, beer booze, wine booze, whatever your fancy. Just overbuy on the alcohol, because you’ll be surprised by how bored you are with limited access to electronics (and no Internet!) and drinking is perfect for filling that void. If you’re too fancy to drink it straight, whip up a super-refreshing batch of remixed mojitos.

And here’s one final bonus tip: fill up your bathtubs and sinks with water. It will come in handy for drinkin’, flushin’ and cleanin’ both yourself and your drink-makin’ materials.

Tags: Hurricane prep, Hurricane preparedness, hurricane preparedness Florida, Hurricane preparedness tips, hurricane season, Hurricane season Florida, Hurricane tips, Hurricane tips Florida

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