I never lost power. I decided to cook. I needed more eggs and onions. If you are a coffee drinker, make sure you have plenty and double the creamer so you can outlast the rush to get back in the store.

You might as well get mosquito spray now. You may need it in a few days.

Irma is heading this way, I want to be ready.

Leave if you can.

You might as well get mosquito spray now. You may need it in a few days.

You WILL need it!!

If evacuating is an option, go!

Speaking for myself only, I would already have my car packed and be hauling ass as far inland as I could go. Just following the news about Hurricane Irma is enough to scare me.

If you're in southern Florida I wouldn't be surprised if all the things we'd recommend have already disappeared from the shelves. Because it's all the stuff that's shelf stable. But we also stocked up on any type of bread that was still available (mostly refrigerator bagels) and lunch,eat, and we always have a lot of peanut butter. I made sure, as adellbella said, to have enough half and half on hand. Sadly, I made a poor assumption that I had plenty of coffee. We had to ration it to a single cup a day. Granola bars, peanuts, fruit cups, spaghettios and the like. And I made sure to get cookies and stuff as stress relievers. But yes. If you are able. Go.

Oh yeah, if you can get out, get out.

I agree with everyone that said "if you can get out, get out". But if you can't or decide to stay, get batteries, can food, dry food, food for your pet/s if you have any, plenty of drinking water, fill up bathtub/s with water in case water is cut off.

Fill up your car gas tank even if you're not planning to use it during the storm. After the storm, more people tend to rush getting gas and gas stations would run out of gas sooner than expected. Since you planned ahead, you wouldn't need to rush like everyone else.

If your home stove is electric, get a propane gas stove. Like the ones used for camping if you don't already have something similar to use it during power outage. Plus, get plenty of propane gas. You can get these just about anywhere that sells camping/fishing/sport items even at Walmart and Target. Come to think of it, get one even if you have a gas stove in case natural gas gets cut off as well.

I found it so helpful to reheat or cook during power outage. For safety, just remember to use it outdoor or with opened windows. It's much easier to use than a BBQ pit. Plus, it's easier to store it away when you don't need it.

Get tarps or rolls of plastic sheet, tapes, in case your home gets roof damage, window glass blown off, etc. to cover over the damage/s.

If you decide to leave, pack up all your important papers. Take photos or videos of each room in your home showing your belongings in case you need to file claims later on.

Have cash whether you decide to stay or leave. ATMs won't work if there's power outage.

Here's something to remember. During widespread disasters when Homeland Security needs to step in to take care of things, the cell phone lines will be cut off from the public. Those lines are then reserved for Homeland Security to use during the day hours. During Ike in Houston, the cut off hours were from 7 am to 9 pm. However, we were still able to send and receive text messages (used data line) and of course calling each others after 9 pm 'til 6 am.

Also, since I had a landline phone service at home, I replaced my cordless phone to a corded phone during power outage. I was able to use it for days for communication.

In your home, find a room that would be the safest and easy to run into in case of high wind or tornadoes. An ideal place would be a bathroom or a place away from windows and outer walls. In that room, place a working flashlight, first aid kit, battery operate radio if you have one, pillows and blankets in case you need to cover yourself/ves with, etc..

The more you're prepared, the calmer you'd be. Think of yours and your family's life/safety first and don't worry about your property. That's what insurance/s are for.

Be safe.

Hurricanes are scary to begin with but when you're alone, REALLY scary. Please take everyone's advice and leave. It may turn out to be nothing much, but it doesn't look that way now. If you have someone you can go visit out of the hurricane's path, now's the time to visit them!

Being one that was on mandatory evacuation and couldn't leave b/c roads were impassable, I would say LEAVE NOW b4 you can't.

Recruit a local friend or neighbor to be your eyes during this period. It would be maddening to not know what's going on. That's main reason don't leave and then they regret it.

Take b4 pics, so you have backup to prove if/when insurance claim time.

Take precious documents with you.

Have a long term housing plan in the works (i.e. Renting a house in another town/state). You can always cancel but once everybody is looking, it will be much harder to find something.

pray

thank you everyone. I am in North Fla, close to the top. I have no where to go other then right here. Roads here cave in in bad weather so I may not be able to get out.

JoAnn, can you drive if you had somewhere to go? I hate hearing that you are putting yourself in danger because you have nowhere to go. I live just outside of Fort Worth, TX and you are welcome to come here.

I wish I had moved my vehicles into town. I wish I had taken my horses and donkeys farther away. I don't regret staying. They never talk about the 121 people who died on the road, mostly from heat, who tried to run from Hurricane Rita and it ended up going in east of us, didn't hit here after all.

I am sure that I heard on the news, the Houston Mayor stating that the reason for not ordering a mandatory evacuation during Harvey was because of the people that lost their lives in vehicles attempting to escape Rita. Evacuation is pretty dangerous too with gas shortages and traffic tie ups that leave the whole bulk of traffic just sitting and waiting for the line of traffic to move.

Please leave now. Just get in your car and drive.

When evacuations are ordered, you aren't supposed to have to go far. Just get out of the storm surge/flood zone. If you have no other options, go to the local hurricane shelter. It's not pleasant, but you'll be safe and have company. I've had to do that before and it looks like I may again this time, because the roads will be full of crazy panicking people who should have stayed closer to home, so I don't expect to be able to leave the area, even to get to Orlando, which is normally about 2-1/2 hours from here.

However horrific wind is, it's mostly water that kills people in hurricanes. I had a lot of friends who spent Andrew hiding under their couches or crouching in their bathtubs while their houses blew away, and except for the trauma of it, they were fine afterwards.

The very worst thing is to be stuck in heavy traffic with a storm bearing down on you. Gas is already in very short supply in most of FL and I worry that a lot of folks are going to find themselves stuck up mid-state somewhere running out of gas with no more available.

If you want to go, leave as soon as possible, but remember that you aren't going to automatic safety unless you head for the midwest or something. I was considering that after the storm I might go up to a lodge in the mountains in NC where I've stayed before, but you know what? The models are starting to show Irma making it into that area, too.

For sure if you've never done this before you should try to find a place where you will be with other people.

Just saw this from the Palm Beach County Emergency Preparedness Center:

Palm Beach County plans to open its 15 shelters at 10 a.m. Friday, while officials told most people to shelter in place because of a fuel shortage.

“The state has advised that fuel demand is outstripping fuel supply and they advise that all residents shelter within the county,” Palm Beach County’s government said in a statement.

JoAnn, what did you decide to do? How close are you to the coast? Stay safe!

Nothing so far, its a few days away. I am about 3 hrs from the coast line

The offer still stands, JoAnn if you'd like to evacuate to Texas, far away from the Harvey destruction.

JoAnn, don't you have a son nearby? Or am I confusing you with someone else on this board. If you do, couldn't you and he, and his family, go together somewhere, even if you have to rent rooms somewhere? Irma is much worse than Harvey was, and look what Harvey did to Texas. It looks like Irma could easily wipe the whole state of Florida completely off the map! I have a nephew who lives there, I believe he and his family are leaving in the morning. Please don't wait until it is too late to leave! ! If nothing else, go to a shelter, they may not have all the comforts of home, but at least they are supposed to be safe! Safer than a residence, anyway. You are in my prayers!

Rusty

Be safe, JoAnn. I hope by the time it gets up there, it has calmed down somewhat.

Yes Rusty, my son lives next door. I will be wherever he goes.

Glad to know that, JoAnn! Right now it looks like Irma will be considerably diminished by the time she gets to the northern part of FL. I certainly hope so! And I do hope y'all don't take any chances! Prayers continue for everyone in the path of this storm.

Rusty