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Disclaimer and Warning - From Bob Parrish CPA, P.C.

Food and Water

Get enough nonperishable foods now for two weeks. Then put them in a box and leave them alone. Don't buy foods that are salty or dry or high in fat or protein; they'll make you thirsty.

Store at least a week's worth of water -- 2 quarts to 1 gallon per person per day. Dry ice is extremely cold and can give a severe burn or damage coolers. Keep wrapped.

Fill your refrigerator and freezer. Food will stay cold longer when the power goes out and frozen food's as good as a block of ice. Fill extra ice cube trays or plastic jugs and freeze them. Make sure coolers are packed with ice.

What to buy:

Bottled water - (1 gallon per person per day) for 14 days; & 1/2 gallon per day for your pets.
Instant coffee and tea
Manual can opener
Ice
Shelf-package juice and milk boxes
Powdered or single serve drinks
Canned and powdered milk
Canned meat, fish, fruit and vegetables
Beverages (powdered or canned, fruit juices, instant coffee, tea)
Prepared foods (Cookies, candy, dried fruit, canned soups, beef, spaghetti, tuna, chicken, ham, corned beef hash, fruit cocktail, packaged pudding)
Canned vegetables and fruits
Canned or Packaged condiments
Dried fruits
Snacks (crackers, cookies, hard candy, nuts)
Snack spreads (peanut butter, cheese spreads, jelly)
Cereals
Cereal bars
Raw vegetables
Sugar, salt, pepper, artificial sweeteners
Bread in moisture-proof packaging
Peanut butter and jelly
Dry and canned pet food
Extra formula, baby food

Store this food in a good place and try to leave this cache alone. Avoid foods that are salty or high in fat or protein; they'll make you thirsty. Store at least a week's worth of water, 1 to 2 gallons per person per day. (This water is for cooking, drinking, brushing teeth, washing, for first aid, cleaning hands to handle contact lenses). When a hurricane threatens completely fill your refrigerator and freezer. Your food will stay cold longer when the power goes out and frozen foods are as good as a block of ice. Fill extra ice cube trays or plastic jugs and freeze them. Be careful about what kind of container you use to store your water in. I do not recommend the use of empty milk jugs, no mater how well they are cleaned, you will never get all the milk out of the pores in the plastic! Bacteria will grow and you will get sick from it. Make sure coolers and freezers are packed with ice. Moreover, these containers will eventually leak.

Perishable Storage Tips

Before you change your mind, go out and buy all the nonperishable foods you will need, to feed your family for a week. Put this stuff in a box and leave them alone, except to rotate stock. After a hurricane watch is issued, stock up on ice and pack coolers as early as possible, if you wait too long the stores will be mobbed and sold out of ice. Freezing or storing ice ahead of time is less hassle than fighting for it at a store. Before the storm hits, turn your refrigerator and freezer to the coldest setting, and let them get as cold as possible. After the power goes out drape blankets over them, this will help keep them cool. Then move perishables you'll use first into ice chests to limit opening of refrigerators. Designate one cooler you will open regularly; fill that with drinks and less perishable items. Set aside other coolers for more perishable things such as meats and open them only rarely. Before the power is lost, break out the ice cube trays and put them to use. Also fill jugs with water, so you can be making and storing ice in your freezer or coolers around the clock. Store cubes or small blocks of ice in sealed bags and containers so you can drink it after it melts.

Dry Ice

Dry ice can keep food in a cooler frozen for about a week. Place it on top of, not under, the food your trying to keep cool. Open cooler only when necessary. Dry ice will not harm frozen food. Dry ice is solid carbon dioxide, usually produced in 10-inch by 10-inch blocks weighing about 55 pounds. They usually retail for 50 cents a pound, so a block should cost $25 to $30. Some places have a minimum purchase.

If not kept at -109 degrees, a block begins to convert back to gas at a rate of about 10 pounds per 24 hours. Dry ice also is available in cut blocks, nuggets and small "rice pellets;" smaller sizes are more convenient but dissipate at a much faster rate.

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