Being a native Florida girl, I have ridden out many a hurricane in my day. Â My Mom kept hurricane supplies stocked all storm season long in a special cabinet.
The first hurricane I ever remember was when I was about 3 years old. Â My family’s small home, which my parents still live in, is just a few feet above sea level right on the water in North Pinellas county in West Central Florida.
I remember like it was yesterday huddling with my family with the power out in a darkened room while the wind howled for hours on end like thousands of ghosts as my father and mother prayed the roof would hold.
I also remember asking my mother if I could go outside with my little umbrella so that I could fly like Mary Poppins.
Fortunately, that Cat 3 storm with 120 mph winds came ashore south of us so the storm surge never came and our home and perhaps even our lives were spared. Â Â In hindsight, our family should have evacuated but back in the 1960’s most folks chose to ride out the storm and stay in their homes to protect the homestead.
The last hurricane I rode out was in 2004 when I was just a couple of months pregnant with my daughter. Â The stress from that particular storm was high and we were without power for close to a week during very hot and humid August days which added to the misery. Â I remember thinking that this poor baby I was carrying who was no doubt being flooded with my stress hormones would end up being a nervous wreck. As it turns out, my daughter is one tough little cookie and not much at all seems to faze her. Perhaps riding out her first hurricane before she was even born contributed to her steely edge.
Since I lived my entire childhood and most of my adult life in a hurricane prone area, learning to stock hurricane supplies in a storm cabinet is a skill I learned very early and a practice I have continued to this day.
I keep hurricane supplies stocked all year long as it comes in handy if the power goes out for any reason not just because of a bad storm.
I don’t stock snackie foods of any kind as boredom eating can easily take hold in those hours or even days without power and overconsumption of these foods can lead to grumpy kids which is not helpful during such a time of increased stress.
I really focus my hurricane supplies on foods that will nourish and fill you up with just a few bites if necessary.
In my experience, you really need less food than you think during a hurricane, so if you focus on the nourishing foods, an adequate hurricane supplies cabinet really doesn’t require that much space.
Hurricane Supplies in My Emergency Cabinet
If you’d like to check out the specific brands of many of these items listed below that I am currently using, check out my Shopping Guide. Â Note: I re-check ingredients and update this list frequently as sometimes, manufacturers can change things for better or for worse over time!
- MSG free beef and buffalo jerky
- Pemmican, the Power Bar of the Native Americans for centuries. Can be stored for years!
- Canned red salmon
- Tins of sardines packed in olive oil
- SPAM (one of the few canned meats that doesn’t contain MSG)
- Raisins
- Dried apricots
- Dried prunes
- Dates
- Yogurt covered goji berries
- Dried mango
- Dried pineapple
- Soaked/dried almonds
- Soaked/dried cashews
- Soaked/dried pecans
- Soaked/dried pumpkin seeds
- Sunflower seeds
- Popcorn (for popping on the barbeque pit)
- Peanut butter
- Sunflower butter
- Raw honey
- Coconut butter
- Ghee
- Cod liver oil
- Paper plates/plastic utensils
- Plenty of jugs of water
- 7-8 gallons of kombucha (brewing all the time .. doesn’t need refrigeration)
- Bottles of oil for the hurricane lamps
- Bags of charcoal for the barbecue
- Lighters/matches
- Flashlights/batteries
- Both cars tanked up with gas
- Wind up radio
Of course, it is important to have a source for cooking when the power is out. Â I have jugs of frozen water in our spare freezer so if the power goes out, everything stays nice and cold for several days. Â If stuff starts to thaw, you start cooking on the outdoor barbecue or firepit while you wait for the lights to come back on.
In my experience, this list will easily last you a few days to a week without power. Â If the power is going to be off longer than that for a very severe storm, it is best to seek another location until normalcy is restored.
What hurricane supplies do you stock in your storm cabinet?
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Was is hurricane Camille??
We lived in Ft Walton Beach then and I was 2ish at the time, but I have a memory. No details, but I remember it happening.
Great post!
Sarah, do you have any recommendations for moms who makes their own baby formula and the possibility of losing power?
Great list! And I must shamefully admit, I have a guilty love affair with SPAM. I seriously love the stuff, but have not had it in a long time. I am going to get some for my emergency rations, though, because I didn’t realize it has no MSG! Thanks for the info!
A wind-up flashlight is handy and requires no batteries.
They always hit late at night don’t they…
Great list Sarah! This is a great list for any kind of emergency and will certainly help me round out our stores. Here on the Canadian Prairies in Manitoba, hundreds of people were without power for more than a week after an early fall ice storm. It prompted me to get in gear stocking my emergency rations. I have 2 young children and we live on a farm. I want to make sure they are well taken care of- especially through the dangerously cold winter months where temperatures regularly dip below -22 farenheit (-30 celsius).
Thanks for sharing this, Sarah. It’s very helpful for me.
Vicki
Hi Sarah,
I recently became gluten intolerant after eating some processed flour on a short trip out of town. Even my home ground hard red wheat and rye were causing problems. In order to satisfy my one slice of toast per day craving, I got some Emmer Farro grain from Bluebird Farms up in Winthrop, WA. Emmer Farro is an acient wheat type grain that has not been hybridized, so it doesn’t contain the foreign proteins that cause the problems. After fooling around a little with their recipe (which makes a nice loaf but has some unnecessary complications), I am now back to a healthy piece of toast in the morning. My husband is equally happy getting back to home made goodness. Thought you might want to pass this on.
Thanks for the list Sarah. Though not in the path of any hurricanes, we here in So Cal are prepared for natural disasters too such as earthquakes, flooding and fires, which we seem to have pretty regular. I was pretty unprepared for one of our most damaging earthquakes back in the early ’90’s and that was a wake up call to be more prepared. First thing we invested in were those lights that stay in your outlets always and when the power goes out, they illuminate dark rooms like a night light and can be taken out and used as flashlights too. Next most important is lots of bottled water and regular flashlights next to every bed. I am investing in head lamps soon. As for food, we always have canned salmon, sardines, dried fruit and lots of Crispy Nuts in the house. Our BBQ is always filled with propane and we have everything for camping in case we need to get out of the house, which could be a problem in a severe earthquake, so we could “camp out” in the yard if need be. Thanks again for the tips and I hope everyone of your readers gets prepared for whatever natural disaster might befall their town.
Sarah, what do you plan to spread the peanut butter on? Hopefully not the sardines.
What? You never ate PB by the spoonful as a kid? 😉 One of the great joys of childhood!
When I was little my favorite afterschool snack was to dip out a big spoonfull of p.b. and dot it with raisins, then slowly eat it. Have done this with my daughter during power outages in TX. Some great tips here especially the one about having small bills to pay for food and gas. When the power’s out you can’t use debit/credit card and most businesses may be low on change. Prayers to all on east coast.