10 Items You Need for the Next Superstorm

Disasters are a great learning experience.  You can plan and prepare all you want but unless you have literally lived through a disaster (or learned from people who have) there will always be things that you were unprepared for even with the best planning.  Here are 10 things that you should add to your preps based on news reports after Hurricane Sandy:

1. Gas cans.  This guy could have been dead because he didn't have actual gas cans.
2. Enough stored fuel to refill your car's tank a couple times over so you don't end up in a story like this.
3. An assortment of firearms AND a robust neighborhood watch program with your neighbors (and maybe some plywood and spray paint to make a nice sign).
4. An emergency fund.  Especially if the loss of a paycheck...or two...or more...would devastate you financially.
5. A stack of blankets and some hot water bottles (disasters mostly seem to happen when it is freezing cold outside).
6. The ability to take care of yourself; this could mean evacuating ahead of time, knowing where to safely shelter during a disaster, and not relying on others to help you (we like to think that a disaster will bring out the best in people--or that they will at least help others when necessary--but that isn't always true).
7. All the stuff you would need for a long camping trip (which can equate to being prepared and experienced to survive a disaster).
8. A month's worth of extra food stored at home (think of what you would need if you couldn't even run to the grocery store for a gallon of milk or a bunch of bananas).
9. A bicycle which makes for an excellent transportation option.
10. Insurance which makes for an excellent way to restore what was lost.