Lost power for a week last year during Florence. Had plenty water, went through gas pretty quick. Gas stations were out of fuel for about 10 days locally and though I had enough in the tank, there was a shortage locally and no way to bring it in due to flooding. My girlfriend's elderly parents were running a generator, and it ate all their gas, and then mine.

I'm in Southeastern NC, and chances are better than even we'll get at least a little of this storm, if not a direct hit again. Preparing now. Florence's eye actually passed over the house last year.

My advice: Water, powerbars, gasoline, cash, ice, batteries - in that order. The biggest thing I missed during Florence, other than AC, was coffee. If you have a camping setup, at least know where it is. Generators are great, but so are inverters and deep cycle batteries. You wanna be able to keep that phone charged without home power.

Oh, and board up and run away if you can - early. Let the neighbors tell you all about the storm.

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