Re-post from another conversation.
Here's what we used to do.
Bottle tap water in used clean milk jugs and two liter soft drink bottles. Any bottle, really. Fill up the bath tub. This water will be used for personal hygiene, household clean up and flushing the commode. We used the tub water to pour into the commode bowl to make it flush.
Anything you need to machine wash, wash it now.
Freeze all the food that need to be kept cold that you can. Make or buy as much ice as you can. Pack it into the freezer and refrigerator. Keep the doors closed as much as possible. It will buy you a little more time on food. Fill up any coolers you have with ice too.
Once the storm passes, cook the most perishable food items first.
If it's in the yard and you can lift it, so can a hurricane. Secure it best you can. The less missiles the better. "It's not that the wind is blowing. It's what the wind is blowing." Ron White.
Get all the sandbags you can. Stack them along the door ways. See image. Note pattern. It helps keep water out.
Buy or charge batteries for all the flashlights and radios you have.
Charge your phone.
Buy all the gas you can store. At least fill the vehicles.
Board up your windows with whatever you can. I lived in two houses that had plywood already cut and a means to attach it built into the house. This was homemade stuff held on with screen door and cross bar type latches. But even some heavy cardboard and duct tape may save a window and keep the rain out.
Be prepared to place pots and buckets under roof leaks. Have towels ready. It's nice to already have some tarp and rope handy.
Once it looks like power loss is imminent, shut off sensitive electronics.
Don't park under trees or power lines. We would pull our vehicles as high into the yard as we could. Some people would park on the neutral ground if it was higher than their driveway.
Get your beer now!