As a reporter who covered the devastation in New Orleans and Mississippi after hurricane Katrina hit, I've seen first hand what a major storm can do. In a direct hit, the best advice is to evacuate the area. I was happy to see so many homeowners follow that advice with the recent hurricane storm warnings. Chances are most of us will not get a direct hit from a major hurricane, but we may find ourselves riding out bad weather associated with a severe fall or winter storm. This type of bad weather is what we all can prepare for, since the major threats should be loss of electrical power, and basement flooding. With that all that said, here are my top three tips to protect your home and family from bad weather.

First: Loss of electrical power is the number one concern for most homeowners. Many years ago when things were not as complicated, most families could get through a storm power outage with some candles and board games. Today, we live in a "plugged in" society, and a loss of electricity -- even for a few hours -- could cause major problems for homeowners. Especially those who run home businesses or care for elderly and special needs family members. I recommend looking into installing a "standby generator" to protect your home from loss of power. A standby generator is a permanently installed outdoor appliance that runs on natural gas or propane. It's hard wired to your electrical system and will turn on automatically when utility power is lost. Usually you'll experience a simple blink of the lights during a power failure and then the generator takes over. If sized correctly, every appliance in your home can run as normal. Standby generators are a bit of an investment, but well worth looking into!

Second: Make sure you have a basement or crawl space sump pump installed. This is a fairly inexpensive piece of equipment that every home should have. Sump pumps can really protect a basement from flooding by continuously pumping out the sump pit and removing water from the home as it seeps through foundation walls and floors. A battery back up is key if your home does not have a standby generator. See tip number one!

Third: Have all the necessary odds and ends needed for a storm on hand. I like to store everything I'll need in a five gallon bucket with a lid and then have it on the shelf for easy access. The bucket itself can be useful to store and pour water, and inside the bucket should be emergency items in the original packing. Items can include flashlights, batteries, land line phone, candles, matches, first aid kit, duct tape, and a small radio. Also, additional things like a disposable camera can be helpful so you can take before and after photos of any related damage. This can help settle insurance claims and avoid a "storm of controversy" when you're looking to collect on a policy!