The OP asked what would you/did you do for this storm, not the end of civilization. Assuming you can shelter in place, mainly you need to be able to last until communication, electricity, gas, and grocery stores are restored. You have to determine how long that may be, and plan accordingly.
I was out of power for 6 days and 7 days respectfully last year during Irene and the freak snow storm but only 3 days this year after Sandy
My worst case scenario has been as ice storm with freezing temps for an extended time and no power.
This is what I have done, some is life style and some is prepping:
Heat: I heat with wood, and have since oil hit $4.35/gallon back in 2008. So I start each season with a full year’s supply, and hopefully the next couple of years as well. I like to let it season for at least one year preferably two. I laugh when I see people stocking up on firewood at the grocery store.
Power: All that wood is no good if I can’t run the furnace. So I have a small (2000 watt) Champion Inverter for overnight and during the day when all I want to do is keep the house warm. It’ll go for 9-10 hours on a gallon of gas. For my creature comforts I have a big Troy-Bilt 7550/11000 watt. That runs the whole house including the well pump; it just drinks a lot of gas (3/4 gallon/hr). I used it for a couple of hours each morning and again in the evening while cooking dinner, taking showers, (hot water comes off the wood boiler), and watching TV (dish TV). I also have a 600 watt pure sine inverter and a couple of deep discharge batteries, to run the wife’s sleep machine. It will also run the furnace for about 6 hours in a pinch, and they are easy to recharge on the way to work.
Fuel: When you hear a storm is coming, fill up the cars, your containers and the generators. I keep about 40 gallons on hand but cycle it through the power equipment and the cars so it’s never more than a couple of months old. With carefull rationing this will last me from 7 to 21 days not counting what I could get out of the cars.
Side note: Don’t wait until the storm hits to test out your generator. Exercise it regularly so you know it works.
Food: Nothing causes panic buying like the prediction of a storm. Like most we buy some items from week to week. Since I do have a means of keeping things cold I do buy some perishable items. By fall I usually have 30 to 100 lbs of venison in the freezer. We also have whatever we have canned over the summer. As pointed out in other posts there are a lot of non perishable inexpensive items that you can buy. Rice, pasta, canned sauce, oatmeal, soups. The list goes on and on.
For cooking we have the propane stove from our camping gear, the propane grill and two 20 lb bottles.
Yes, I do have a 2 weeks supply of MRE’s in the basement. No, they are not very portable. Yes, they do keep a long time. Again I cycle them through so they are never really old. I use them for hunting, camping, and keep a few in each car. They are a last resort; if everything else were gone we could stretch things out for another two weeks.
This has served me well for the last three storms. No one really thought we would ever be out of power for days even once let alone three different times!!
We were warm, feed, washed, and entertained, while others were sitting in the dark, or going to relatives and hotels.
Now the Zombie Apocalypse is another matter………
