Whether you plan to ride out the storm inside your home, or if you decide to evacuate, you need to prepare your home for the worst case scenario. The most important thing to consider are windows. Hurricane force winds can potentially pick up large pieces of debris and send them hurling through the air at very fast speeds. A common precaution that people take is to place plywood boards over their windows. Others, who live in areas where hurricanes are a yearly occurrence, will often have specially made shutters placed onto their windows for rapid protection and saving time.

The next thing you need to think about is getting any items out of your yard that have the potential to become projectiles. Put these items in a shed, closed in patio, or even inside your home if you have to.

Now you're ready to deal with the inside of your home. There is not much to do here unless you have a risk of flooding. In which case you want to unplug all outlets and get as much off of the floor as possible. Try to keep things a minimum of one foot above the floor.