Y'all got everything stowed?
1. Lashed down?

2. Plyboard for the windows?

3. Clear the yard, porch and driveway of any and everything because they can become missiles and kill or damage. This includes making sure that dead branches are cleared. If your neighbor is away do the same for them.

4. Do not leave your pets out. Make sure that they are in the house with you and have an adequate supply of food for them.

5. Stock up on canned goods. Items that won't spoil. Don't worry about getting meats or other perisables because they won't last and you will have no way to store them. SPAM time again, boys and girls!

6. If you don't have a grill or hibachi, get one.

7. Use paper plates and cups and plastic utensils, you don't won't to use up your supply of water by washing dishes.

7. Stock up on water. At the minimum have three gallons per person per day. If you have a pet make that five. Use the water strictly for cooking and drinking. One gallon for flushing the toilets.

8. After the water is back on, you will be instructed to use clorox for several days maybe weeks to make sure that y'all don't get disease. This will be only a drop or two in gallon of water. I don't remember the exact proportations, the authorities will tell you.

9. Do you have a generator? If you do, follow instructions TO THE LETTER! A generator will kill you - Carbon Monoxide Poisoning.

10. When you start the clean up process, watch for fallen power lines. Use the chain saw safely. Work in pairs. Don't try to be supermen and women. Most deaths occur after the storm from electrocution and power saws.

11. If a tree is down, don't let the kids play around the roots. Sometimes a tree will right itself and children can be trapped.

12. Remember this is a traumatic time, you will be without many, if not all of the things that you take for granted. There will be no gas, no atm, no anything that runs on electricity. It won't be for just a few hours, it can be for up to a month or longer. These storms don't stop just because they hit the coast, Hugo did damage to thirteen states. Ask Howlin, Charlotte N.C. had extensive damage.

13. You will basically going back to the days of your ancestors.

14. I cannot stress enough the safety issues.

Good advice Dixie sass.

After that list, I think I'll just go visit my son in Moorhead, Mn.

Use the water strictly for cooking and drinking. One gallon for flushing the toilets.

Creek water or water saved in the bathtub can be used for flushing toilets. Of course, if you have a septic tank and the ground is saturated, the toilets probably aren't going to flush anyway.

Wonder how useful one of those small refrigerators you can plug into the car's cigarette lighter might be?

I cannot stress enough the safety issues.

9. Do you have a generator? If you do, follow instructions TO THE LETTER!

A generator will kill you - Carbon Monoxide Poisoning.

For the love of God and the ones you care about, tell EVERYBODY this.