The smart way to prepare is to consider what events have happened in the past in your area and choose accordingly.
Within my lifetime here we’ve had one surprise blizzard, a couple ice storms that took out power lines and blocked roads for a time, tornadoes with similar effects since they didn’t hit the actual home but hit other parts of the county instead, even a hurricane once plowing far enough inland to cause some chaos.
If you want to prepare, prepare for what’s likely to happen. If the power’s likely to go out, make sure you have edible food and a means of cooking if required. If it’s cold, have spare blankets and handwarmers, perhaps a heater and fuel for it. If flooding frequently threatens the local water supply, draw water as you see this starting to shape up, have jugs of water on hand.
I love guns as much as the next country gal but if the rain started up tonight and flooded the treatment plant (which is entirely plausible), I couldn’t drink ammo. The chances of someone coming to the door trying to aggressively take your kettles of water are ludicrously slim locally, so where does it make more sense to put those dollars, into an arsenal or a case of Deer Park?
Speaking of storing water quickly, I came across this one and thought it was pretty cool. For $20 you get a heavy duty bag that goes in your bathtub, plus a siphon pump. With two tubs I could store an extra 200 gallons of fresh water in a few minutes.
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/CAMP205-1.html