Michael Petruccelli asks: What should you do - Once You Decide to Evacuate(7)

Michael Petruccelli says:  If flooding is expected, consider using sand bags to keep water away from your home. It takes two people about one hour to fill and place 100 sandbags, giving you a wall one foot high and 20 feet long. Make sure you have enough sand, burlap or plastic bags, shovels, strong helpers, and time to place them properly.

Remember. Houses do not explode due to air pressure differences. Damage happens when wind gets inside a home through a broken window, door, or damaged roof.

Michael Petruccelli asks: What should you do - Once You Decide to Evacuate(6)

Michael Petruccelli says:  Turn off electricity and water. Turn off electricity at the main fuse or breaker, and turn off water at the main valve.

Leave natural gas on. Unless local officials advise otherwise, leave natural gas on because you will need it for heating and cooking when you return home. If you turn gas off, a licensed professional is required to turn it back on, and it may take weeks for a professional to respond.

Turn off propane gas service. Propane tanks often become dislodged in disasters.

Michael Petruccelli asks: What should you do - Once You Decide to Evacuate(5)

Michael Petruccelli says: Bring things indoors. Lawn furniture, trash cans, children's toys, garden equipment, clotheslines, hanging plants, and any other objects that may fly around and damage property should be brought indoors.

Leave trees and shrubs alone. If you did not cut away dead or diseased branches or limbs from trees and shrubs, leave them alone. Local rubbish collection services will not have time before the storm to pick anything up.

Look for potential hazards. Look for coconuts, unripened fruit, and other objects in trees around your property that could blow or break off and fly around in high winds. Cut them off and store them indoors until the storm is over.

Michael Petruccelli asks: What should you do - Once You Decide to Evacuate(4)

Michael Petruccelli says:  Protect your home and yard and then leave as far in advance of landfall as is possible and prudent.

Michael Petruccelli asks: What should you do - Once You Decide to Evacuate(3)

Michael Petruccelli says:  Pack your car. Stock it not only with necessities such as food (which should be in your Hurricane Preparedness Kit) clothing and medicine, but photos and important papers such as birth certificates and shot records leaving (don't forget about your pets' shot records!), pack things that you would not want to be without both for your time away from home and in the event all is lost.

A good rule of thumb is to plan about a week's worth of away-time (don't forget the laundry soap, etc. just in case it's longer). Choose carefully. You presumably have a limited amount of space in your vehicle and space for humans is needed too.

Make sure you have spare oil and consider taking an extra gas tank if you can safely carry one on or in your vehicle (gas stations on evacuation routes sometimes run out of gas).