Hurricane Sandy Preparedness Playlist: Songs for Weathering the Storm

With the seas amped up by giant waves and full-moon-powered high tides, there are plenty of warnings to be on the alert for. The first and most important goes out the thrill seekers we’ve seen on TV take to the beaches up and down the East Coast with their surfboards and try to catch some extra-gnarly waves. Stop it! You may have survived and even thrived as the storm approached, but now is no time for fun and games. In general, this Op Ivy classic is a good reminder to everybody to take Hurricane Sandy seriously and listen to and abide by all warnings issued. It’s for your own safety!

You’re going to want to stay in touch with family, friends and other loved ones, and it’s important to stay abreast of the latest news, warnings and other information. One way to keep the avenues of communication open is to make sure your cell phones is charged up, in case the power goes out, and it’s also smart to keep plenty of batteries on hand. "Make sure you're connected, the writing's on the wall / But if your mind’s neglected, stumble you might fall,” MC’s frontman Rob Birch sings in the classic early-‘90s electro-groover -- and trust us, with a storm as big as Sandy on the way, you don’t want to stumble or fall.

Seeking out higher ground is imperative for those located in coastal flood zones -- and with flood warnings in effect all up and down the East Coast, it’s even mandatory for some. The entire New York City region has been broken into different zones, for example, and residents in the low-lying areas that could experience storm surges have already been forced to flee to higher ground. Most likely, they were driven to shelter on buses blasting the Chili Peppers’ cover of this Stevie Wonder classic at top volume. Evacuations don’t get better than that!

The White Stripes probably didn’t realize it at the time, but Jack White was dishing some good hurricane warning advice with this lead single from the band’s 2001 album, ‘White Blood Cells.’ For stranded travelers, a hotel or motel room is likely a necessity, but it can also in handy for people who have been evacuated from low-lying flood zones and other dangerous areas – or just people who don’t feel confidence in the construction of their home. "At the Hotel Yorba, I'll be glad to see you later,” White sings at one point, and we’ll certainly be glad to see you all later, after the storm subsides.

"Me, I'm counting my canned food / Bunkered down waiting out our slingshot moods / But what if I'm wrong?/ What if I'm wrong?/ I'll open my doors up/ People, come sweep me along,” Kevin Devine (or is Andy Hull? We never can tell!) sings in this Bad Books song, which certainly seems to refer to a situation that requires a stockpile of non-perishables and other foodstuffs. Of course, canned goods that don’t require cooking are important in case your oven or stove are not functioning, but keeping food that can spoil in the fridge of freezer is OK as well, as long as it remains at or below 40 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees for the freezer). And like the song says, you can always give it away if it turns out you don’t need it.