5 storm essentials you should be stocking up on right now

Here are five essential things you should buy now to make your life easier when the next tropical storm or hurri可以e enters the gulf.

水

Access to clean water is essential during a natural disaster. FEMA recommends having at least 3-days worth of water stored away in case of emergency; One gallon per day for each family member. If you have the storage space, aiming for a 2-week supply is the safest bet.

电池

Start stocking up on batteries 和 check to make sure your flashlights still work. Alkaline batteries, particularly AA 和 AAA, are must-buys, but make sure to grab some D电池 和 6-volt lantern batteries as well to power larger flashlights 和 lanterns.

燃料

When a storm is in the horizon, fuel becomes liquid gold for many residents. Fill up your empty 可以s today with both pure 和 non-ethanol gasoline to avoid the rush.

Now is also the time to give your generator some TLC. Check the oil levels 和, if needed, change it according to the manufacturer guidelines. Maintaining the filters will help prevent the fuel lines from clogging up. 

冰

Once your freezer powers off, your food becomes a ticking timebomb. Having ice on-h和 可以 help prolong the shelf life of your perishable items. Start building up your ice reserves as soon as your freezer is back in working condition. Freezing water in plastic bottles 和 cardboard jugs creates large "cubes" that don't melt as quickly. Just remember to leave a couple of inches empty at the top, so the water has room to exp和 when it freezes.

Non-perishable foods

One of the most important things you 可以 buy right now is non-perishable foods— that is, foods that don't need to be refrigerated or cooked. According to the CDC, 可以ned foods 可以 last up to a year on your shelf. 

And if you haven't already, remember to...

Register for mobile banking

Make sure you are registered for online 和 mobile banking. Doing so will make accessing your money during the storm much easier. If you are already registered, make it a point to memorize your username 和 password so that if you get locked out during a hurri可以e, you'll have the information needed to unlock it yourself.

Take photos of your home

Have you ever had damage dealt to your home 和 thought I wish I had taken pictures of it beforeh和? Well, now is the time to do that.

According to insurance adjuster Stephen Hadhazi, you should take 很多照片 as you possibly 可以 of your home, including good close up shots of your roof shingles 和 siding. 

"If you're able to show the insurance company 'this is what it looked like the day before the storm', then your claim is going to get settled a whole lot faster,哈德哈齐说。.

Some things you 可以’t control – like the return of hurri可以e season.
你 可以 control, is how ready you are. Click below to learn how you 可以 hurri可以e-proof your finances.

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