Readiness

• Living in a storm zone requires a degree of preparation. It starts with home owner's and flood insurance. Don't listen to the lenders or the real estate agents. Buy the protection you think you need.
• If you will want to board up before leaving, cut the boards and prepare the system you'll use to fasten them over your glass exposures before storm season even starts (do it in the winter when it's cool outside).
• If you have pets, buy pet carriers you can use to evacuate them safely. Once a storm is in the Gulf you won't be able to find thses things in stores.
  
• At the start of Hurricane season reduce the stock in your freezer so you won't feel terrible tossing all that stuff.
  

Deciding (96-24 hours before landfall)

• A Tropical Storm in the Gulf is enough to get my attention and get me started preparing.
• It will take a Category 2 or greater to get me moving on some of the more laborious preparation like boarding up. Tropical storms and even Cat 1 hurricanes can knock out power and knock down trees but mostly they are just lots of rain and wind. They can be interesting without being terrifying.
  
• Where is Jim Cantore? Weather Channel, Internet, etc. will all be tracking

Getting ready (72-48 hours before land fall)

• Put loose stuff inside, board up windows if the storm is a Cat 3 or better (some people suggest boarding up is just an exercise in futility for a Cat 4 or 5, but I do it anyway since storms often weaken or miss.) If somehow the storm gets inside 48 hours before I board up, I can skip this step and just leave.
  
• Make reservations somewhere away from the path of the storm
• Talk to neighbors, swap cell phone numbers
  
• Empty the fridge and freezer, cook everything or toss it. Some insurance wants lists, I would buy another insurance policy.
• Move your most valuable stuff to the second floor if thats an option. Insurance is nice to have but that new HDTV and Aunt Emma's china collection might be nice to have when you return home.
  
• Gas up all the cars
• Pack up the stuff you'll be taking if you have to leave or storing in a waterproof container in the attic if you stay:
• Passports, birth certificates, wedding and baptismal documents, diplomas, will
  
• Insurance policy, titles to cars and houses, business certificates, lists of assets, most recent bank and brokerage statements
• Unpaid bills, copies of latest utility bills (with phone numbers), last three tax returns
  
• Bankcards (contact phone numbers are on the back), checks and check stock
  
• Favorite photos and any small high value items like jewelery, coin collections, gold bullion, "pieces of eight" (just kidding).
  
• Cell phones - be sure you know how text messaging works
  
• Clothes - baskets of dirty / clean clothes OK too
  
• Computer(s) - laptops and system units or just hard drives from desktop units
• Prescriptions - current supplies OK if with a national drug store

If Staying (don't stay for anything over a Cat1 it's just not worth it. At best it will be boring.)

• Supply of fresh water, non perishable food, you can fill your bathtubs, pet food
  
• Axe in the attic
• Buckets to collect leaks
  
• Hand tools, ropes, nails, boards
  
• Insect repellent, water disinfectant, first aid kit
  
• Flashlights, candles, kerosene lanterns, batteries, generator and fuel
  
• Gas for grille
• Battery powered radio / TV don't forget antenna
• Life jacket, fire extinguisher, do you have a boat in the garage?
  
• Valuable papers and documents in a waterproof container in the attic or high on the second floor.
  
• Prescriptions - better have a one month supply on hand
• Get some cash (C. Ray Nagin recommends "Benjamins") bankcards might not work
  
• Guns and ammunition might be needed for a Katrina like social breakdown
• Chainsaw and fuel. Hey if you want to be a pioneer be prepared.
  

Leaving (36-48 hours before landfall)

• Leave a day before the mass exodus (36-48 hours before landfall) and stop overnight at a staging location outside the immediate city (Slidell, Mandeville, Hammond, etc would be fine to keep an eye on things). It will be easier to evacuate from outside the city and you can just go home if the storm wimps out.
• Take all your cars. They will be safer. You can haul more stuff. You can abandon one if it breaks down. By leaving earlier than the mass evacuation you won't be clogging up the road. Take a relative, neighbor or a pet if they need transportation.
  
• Just before leaving:
• Turn off water, gas, electricity. Notify your alarm company.
  
• Lock the doors...it will keep kids out if they happen to be around after you leave.