Louisiana Prepares : 15 Essential Items Every Hurricane Kit Needs

Over the weekend while I was supposed to be enjoying a beautiful fall day in my South Louisiana home, I found myself doing what a lot of you were doing. Yep, folks from Cameron, Lake Charles, Crowley, Jennings, Morgan City, and all along the I-10 corridor of Louisiana's coast were sneaking a peek at our hurricane kits.

Prepping a hurricane kit is a lot like preparing for a camping trip you hope you'll never take. I have to admit, I am not much of a camper and I am even less of a camper in the late summer heat of September. But, such is life in coastal Louisiana.

We have created a nice list of "basics" that were all suggested by people who live and work in South Louisiana and should be a part of the hurricane preparation box. In addition to checking your supply box, you should inspect your yard for any decorative items that could become projectiles in a high wind.

A lot of the damage to homes and windows comes from unsecured debris. So, pick up the lightweight items and secure the heavier items. If you have a basketball goal that isn't firmly set into the ground, you might want to lay that down ahead of the storm as well.

The One Thing You Must Do Today

Crank your generator. The only thing worse than not having a generator when the power goes out is having a generator that you can't crank. We haven't had too many reasons to run our generators over the past couple of years. If you haven't cranked yours this season, I would suggest you do that today. That way if you need to replace fuel or do some adjustments you won't have to do that during the stress of a storm.

Now, for what goes into that hurricane kit, here are our suggestions.