An Actual Hurricane Hilary Prep List

What does a prep list look like in real life?

Hurricane Hilary is headed toward California, set to land as a category 4 this weekend.

No, the Clintons aren’t making a return to the political stage, this is an actual hurricane set to hit California. And yes, that’s rare, and a reason why we want to be prepared even for the unlikely.

The cold water temperatures off the California coast and the California Current, a cold ocean current that flows northward along the west coast of North America, prevent hurricanes from forming.

Most hurricanes degrade into tropical storms before making landfall. Even then, only three tropical storms have made landfall in California since 1900:

• The Long Beach Tropical Storm in 1939

• Hurricane Kathleen in 1976

• Hurricane Nora in 1997

A member of our Unprepared community is getting ready now, and she shared what she’s stocking up to get ready:

• Peanut butter

• Olive oil

• Mayo

• 80L of fresh water

• Large boxes of Saltines and Cheezits

• Mac and cheese

• Au gratin potatoes

• Pancake mix

• Syrup

• Honey

• Canned chili

• Soups

• Pastas

• Bread

• Spam

• Sunny D

• Toilet paper

• 4 boxes of cereal

• Lots of butter

• Packs of sausage

• 3 lanterns

• 3 headlamps

• Batteries

• Toiletries

• A few pounds of cheese

• Less than 200 bucks cash

• Crank radios

• Solar chargers

Also, she is going to:

• Take a video of her house for insurance purposes in the event of damage

• Gas up both cars

• Make go bags ready with passport IDs in them and important paperwork

Maybe it’s not a perfect list, but you go to war with the army you have, not the one you want.

See Also