• Get your important documents into a protected, dry place.
• Watch news and weather reports for continuous updates.
• Set your refrigerator to its coldest setting in anticipation of a power outage.
• Fill your bathtub with water. It may be the only water you have for some time.
• Purchase heavy-duty garbage bags for post-storm home and yard cleanup.
• Check flashlight and radio batteries and purchase enough to last for several days.
• Get refills of important medications.
• Have cash on hand as ATMs and Banks may be out of service.
• Stock up on supplies (food, drinks, etcetera).
• Consider purchasing a 5-7 day cooler and have plenty of ice on hand.
• Fill your vehicle(s) with gasoline (do not fill gasoline cans as they can be a fire hazard).
• Be sure your vehicles have charged batteries.
• If you own a boat or plane, make necessary arrangement or preperations.
• Move furniture away from windows or cover it with plastic.
• Consider the possibility of flooding, and pick up anything valuable from the floors.
• Secure valuables that may get blown away in the wind if a window breaks.
• Have hurricane shutters, storm panels, hurricane screens or plywood in place on windows.
• Check for loose rain gutters, moldings and/or anything outdoors that may become airborne during the hurricane.
• If you have a satellite dish or antenna on your roof, remove it.
• Remove enough patio screening on each side to allow wind to travel through without separating it from the frame.
• Secure and brace external doors (garage door, double doors, etcetera).

Note: Don't be overly concerned with landfall predictions. Hurricane force winds can arrive long before the storm and far away from the eye.