As I release today's show, Hurricane Matthew is threatening the east coast of Florida and the Carolinas. (Today's show is not specific to Hurricane Matthew. The content is useful in any natural disaster or hurricane. But I wanted to get this information to you in a timely manner so that those of you in the warning cone have an opportunity to prepare.)

Today's show is very practical. I cover:

• The most important need to address in advance of the storm: the ability to keep your phone and communications working without electricity.
• How to think about and plan for an evacuation plan.
• Simple and cheap ways to handle water and food when you have no power.
• How to use your car as a generator.
• And more!

Enjoy the show! 

Joshua

RESOURCES:

• You need to keep your phone functional and charged at all times. The easiest, simplest way to do this is by using an external backup battery. There are varying sizes available:
  • I own the Kmashi 15000mAH External Battery Power Bank. It's the cheapest I've found ($14 on Amazon for the black version) and should give you 5+ charges for your phone. It has a 4-star rating on Amazon with about 7,700 reviews. I've had no problem with it. http://rpf.link/2dO4v0Y
  • I also own the RAVPower 13000 mAH External Battery Power Pack. It works perfectly fine and is smaller and lighter than the Kmashi above. (This is the one that I prefer to carry in my pocket while traveling. The Kmashi above is too big to be comfortable in my pocket.) It should get you about 4 charges. But, at $27 on Amazon, it doesn't give you as much bang for the buck. http://rpf.link/2dP9SJF 
• Steven Harris has more information on keeping your cell phone charged at his excellent site: www.cellphone1234.com I chose to buy different batteries than he recommended because they were cheaper (but still highly rated) when I was shopping.
• The Berkey water filter system that we own and use is this one: http://www.directive21.com/products/royal-berkey-system/ (This is where we bought it from--Directive 21 did a fine job with service.) There are other sizes available.
• For information on how to power your house from your car, listen to Steven Harris's free class here at http://www.solar1234.com/ 
• The Eneloop rechargeable batteries that I use in all of my flashlights, kids toys, etc. are these on Amazon: http://rpf.link/2dbuiLA I use this 8-cell Powerex charger to keep them all topped up. http://rpf.link/2dXXdHc 
• The car battery charger that I recommended is from CTEK. http://www.ctek.com/ 
• For more great, simple, practical emergency preparedness tips, check out all of Steven Harris's websites here: http://www.steven1234.com/