We bunkered down through Hurricane Ike. We were far enough away from the coast to not be "in danger" but the edges went over us. There was no electricity for two weeks. Main thing is to have enough drinking water. This can be tap water saved in various containers (with lids to keep it clean). We also bought a brand new large garbage can, put it in the bathroom, and filled it with water. This was one of the sources of water used to clean things (scooped the water and filled a sink) and force flush the toilet. When the storm hit, we filled the bath tub. We shared the tub water. Nobody was real dirty during this time......just hot and sweat from the humidity. We had a gas stove so we could cook but also pulled the camping stove out and had it available if needed. I took a few mirrors off the wall and put them on tables and put the candles or electric laterns on them because they would reflect the light and a couple small candles or a latern could light up a whole room at night. Make sure you have a car charger for your phone because even if the electricity is out, the car can be used to charge the phone and keep contact with whoever you need to contact. Minimize the times you open the fridge...it will keep cold for a period of time. Eat the stuff that will spoil first.
Know if you are in an area that might flood (even 500 year flood plains)...and have an escape plan in place the minute your area starts to flood. It isn't worth it to get trapped into a flooded home. Too dangerous...bacteria, electric (water is an electrical conductor), sewer will backup through your toilets and into your house....etc..., and there is nothing you can do to stop it.
When the storm actually hit, we moved the family into the only room in the house with doors and no windows...for us, that was the hallway. Since it was at night...we pulled a twin mattress in the hall and the kids just slept. My husband and I spent part of the storm watching from our covered porch area...then sort of dozed..it was too loud and scary...to sleep....plus the air-conditioning (with the electricity) had gone out several hours earlier and it was hot and humid.
We lived two hours inland from the coast. The storm line tracted about an hour east of our house. We didn't flood even though our neighborhood (but not our house) had flooded in previous tropical storms...but there were a lot of trees down.
We stayed because my husband had to work. We had an escape plan and were prepared to leave if we felt like we were in for a direct hit. In the end, we decided to stay. I remember laying there thinking that we will soon enough know if our roof was built with hurricane ties.
Lots of wind. Lots of trees down. Not too much structural damage in our area. But no electricity. No gas stations (need electricity to work). No food stores open. No air-conditioning. No clean plumbing. Hard to sleep...open windows because of the heat...and all the generators running around us (we didn't get one) were loud and stinky.
