I have a confession to make. I've been living in New Orleans for over 5 years now and have never been fully prepared for a hurricane season. Is that crazy? Motivated by the recent flood and ongoing devastation in Baton Rouge I've finally started to prepare for an emergency. A little online research led me to Nola.gov where you can find a full checklist of items to gather. This weekend I visited WWLTV Channel 4 News to talk about my experience. Watch it now for additional tips and local's suggestions for eating without electricity.

1. Have on hand at least 3 to 5 days worth of water. A gallon of water per person per day including pets.

2. Stock 3 to 5 days worth of food. Canned meat and soups, beef jerky, trail mix, granola bars, peanut butter and instant coffee are staples.

3. In case of evacuation it's good to have single serving portions so you don't have to worry about storing leftovers or having them going bad.

4. While many suggest bringing a hand operated can opener and agree it's a great suggestion I decided to only buy easy open (pop top) canned goods.

5. Don't forget specialty items such as baby formula, pet food and being that this is New Orleans it's probably best to have at least one emergency bottle of wine. Buy a screw top bottle or if you forget the bottle opener at home a shoe will do the trick!

Stasia Cymes
(504) 920-1800
Stasia@clearthecluttertoday.com
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