As spring break is quickly-approaching, thousands of people are heading to the coasts. Florida is one particular hotspot. Although the official "hurricane season" does not begin until around May-October, it's always important to be prepared. I was born in raised in Florida, so I know a thing or two about the "do's" and "don'ts" of hurricanes.

DO: Buy a generator.

If you can afford it, a generator is an obvious one, but don't rush out at the last minute to buy one. This applies to other storms as well, and to be frank, it's cheaper to buy a good, sturdy one than just buying a less-reliable generator before every storm.

DO: This might sound strange, but buy Christmas lights. You will likely lose power, and don't tax a portable battery/generator nearly as harshly.

DO: Make sure to travel to a location either without windows, or maybe even put up hurricane shutters. Ask any store in Florida. They'll know what you're talking about. It's best to put them up far before the storm hits, obviously.

DON'T: Don't drive out in the middle of the eye of the hurricane to "assess the damage." I've known people to do this, because not everyone knows that the eye of hurricane is, quite literally, the calm before the other half of the storm comes around. The storm following the eye of the hurricane is much, much more severe.

DON'T: Don't assume the newscasters are "lying" to you and run out in the storm to check. Someone very close to my part did this. (Okay, okay. It was my mom! It was quickly followed by her screaming, with the wind almost blowing her over, that "THEY WERE NOT LYING."

DON'T: Stay near the ocean. When a hurricane hits, the ocean is not your friend.

DON'T: Go surfing. This one is pretty self-explanatory, but I've seen it happen.

DON'T: Open your refrigerator too much, even if you do have a generator. Try to use the least amount of electricity available.

DON'T: Freak out. I've seen houses use duct tape as a temporary roofs and be just fine.