h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

There are various things you need to do if a hurracan decides to visit you.
If your house is on high ground and built out of bricks, you can stay inside and be relatively safe. All windows should be covered with wood or any other strong thing. If you can't do that, taping the glass should help keep the glass together in case something hits the window and not throw glass everywhere. If a window gets broken, another window should be opened, to let the air that comes in out again. You should also pack water and food. A battery operated radio is nice. But if the phone works, a laptop and the internet has worked for me.
If you don't live in high ground or in a less... strong house such as a brick one. Flee. Follow the hurracane evacuation routes. Taking care of the windows as above is also good.

It's true. The safest way to meet a hurricane is well-prepared. Choose your home carefully. Wooden structures have been proven ill suited to a direct hit. Unless built like ships, with every joint interconnected and lashed, a concrete block structure reinforced with steel beats them every time.

When the wind gets in, no structure is safe. One broken window may mean you lose your roof, and then everything is lost. Preventing broken windows and doors is the most important part. Steel storm shutters and roll downs usually do the best job, while Lexan and aluminum follow closely. All tend to absorb high impact by yielding to the onslaught without penetration. Wood, unless especially designed for the job, does very little good if winds rise above Category Two.

Storm surge, caused by low pressure at the center of the storm, can raise the high tide an additional twelve or fourteen feet. On an island where the highest point is twelve feet above sea level, it would be prudent to live on the second floor or higher, and try to live close to the highest point.

One thinking point for seeking shelter during a hurricane: Look to structures that you know have survived a major one well. Construction is everything, and if it made it through a big one once, it will likely make it again, if prepared.

The worst part of a major hurricane is the period from ten days to two weeks afterward. Be prepared to be without power for fourteen days. This can mean a hundred batteries in a standard flashlight!
While emergency crews will likely make fresh water available as a number one priority, canned goods and foods that require no preparation or refrigeration are required.

While an excellent opportunity to quit smoking, the stress of doing it under those conditions is not recommended. If martial law prevails, no stores or bars will be able to sell anything, even if you are doing a serious nicotine jones. The same applies to prescriptions, eyeglasses, and any other substance you feel you must have. The lead time to prepare is when you had better take care of all of these things.

Medical care may also be in short supply, so make sure you have the basics for emergency care and treatment.

All in all, preparation is the key to surviving, and then partying to tell!

In a hurricane, don't go down to the beach to watch the waves. This sounds like a joke, but this is exactly what many people did in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA, when Hurricane Floyd hit the country last year. I didn't hear of anyone killed, but it is still a crazy thing to do.

Definitely stay away from the waves.

The inspiration for this activity is no doubt the fearless weathercasters (read: foolhardy) who are always filmed giving blow by blow descriptions of the storm at the water's edge. Spumes of spray and bending palm trees make great background shots.

There must be hundreds of feet of film footage somewhere showing these thoughless folks taking a coconut or other flotsam upside the head, as well as countless shots of direct-hit spray. One would think being sandblasted by the wind at the beach would be enough deterrent.

My advice is if you like your possesions and your house is pretty trustworthy, stay in it!! When something does happen you might actually be able to save your stuff... During hurricane Lenny (nov. '99, St Maarten, Caribbean) our door almost got sucked out by windpressure, somehow (in a way that wasn't funny at the time but would probably look funny in a movie) we managed to save our door and with that our entire house. Once something like that goes wrong you'll be sure to loose your roof and most other things....
Oh, and make sure to save foods and important document in watertight places... and it's a good idea to put books in plastic garbage bags...
Don't go outside during the eye of the storm, you might not be able to get back in when the direction of the wind changes.. Don't let quiet sounding weather fool you.. Make sure trees surrounding your house are trimmed properly before a storm..
Use your imagination to solve problems and don't loose your head!!

Well... it is fun to go out during the eye.... I've gone out of my home, but just outside, in front of the door. Cool when there it gets suddenly all calm...