Hurricane tips from you, our savvy and brilliant readers

On the Sun Sentinel’s Facebook page, we asked readers to share their tips for hurricane preparedness as Dorian approaches. Not the typical “make sure you have water” stuff, but some ideas that a lot of folks may forget, or just may never have even thought about.

Here are 15 ideas from readers to readers, lightly edited for grammar and clarity:

u21d2 “Make copies of your pets licenses/tags and vaccinations. Take a picture of your pet and put everything together in a water proof container. Make sure your pets are wearing their ID tags" -- Jennifer Kerrick

u21d2 “Solar outdoor lights are the best. Put them on the grass to charge during the day. Bring them in at night, put one in each room and the whole house has light.” -- Linda Star-Siegel

u21d2 “Save gallon jugs, good supply of water. I hang the empties in my utility room ceiling. Clean your garbage cans. You can either take the wheels off and stack them or fill them with your yard stuff.” -- Dale Read

u21d2 “Fill bathtubs with water. Do all of your laundry before the storm.” -- Nikki Lee

u21d2 “Freeze tap water in containers or gallon zip lock bags. It’ll help keep your food cold if you lose power and as it melts, you can drink it. Zip locks work well because you can mold them to fit around things in the freezer.” -- Paula Edwards

u21d2 “Cook meats and freeze. If they thaw, they are ready to eat, or heating them up won’t use so much gas or charcoal.” -- Tina Lemons

u21d2 “Boil some eggs, make some healthy muffins, get off the internet/news if you start feeling anxiety.” -- Jennifer Smith Solomon

u21d2 “A supply of fruit juices that go well with rum is essential. And chocolate.” -- Elcilene Moseley

u21d2 “If you lose power for an extended period of time, fill the garden hoses with water and leave them in the sun for a warm shower at the end of the day. Don’t tell the rest of the family the trick, though, or you won’t be the one to get the hot water.” -- Bonnie Bailey Theise

u21d2 “Take photos of the inside and outside of your house, it will help tremendously if you have to make an insurance claim later.” -- Catherine Martinez

u21d2 “Make sure if you live on a boat like we do, that your lines are doubled and proper length is put out to accommodate the storm surge, secure all hatches, make sure your batteries are charged, and bilge pumps are working. Also, you can fill the boat with fuel for the generator if you have one working.” -- Joshua Pettis

u21d2 “If you have a dog, dig up a divot of grass where you dog has peed. Put it in a litter box (or cardboard box lined with a garbage bag) with kitty litter indoors, so your dog will have a place to ‘go’ while you are waiting out the storm.” -- Perry Mudd Smith

u21d2 “You can use pool water to flush your toilet. ... One more thing -- please, check on your elderly neighbors and single moms. If they need help, now’s the time. Yard toys, grills, lawn chairs. Be kind.” -- Cathy McGurk Riess

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