If you follow the standard Red Cross and FEMA guidelines for storm preparation (such as for a hurricane), you will have 72 hours worth of food and water on hand. (Food that does not have to be cooked or heated to be edible.)
The guideline is based on the statistics that emergency aid workers will be able to arrive in the storm-ravaged area and provide food and water to distressed victims within three days.
This, of course, assumes that the victims will be able to get to the aid workers. And that the storm survivors will want to spend their days at an aid center (I am resisting the urge to call it a refugee center). If their only food and water (and toilet facilities) are at the aid center, then there is not much choice but to hang around. And besides, you will be standing in long lines with all the other aid recipients, moving from line to line, so there isn't much time to go back home, anyway.
But what if you would rather be at home, cleaning up the debris, working on getting what you can of your life back together?
Then, you need to be prepared to be without external assistance for more than 72 hours, don't you?
And don't forget that you will need things besides food and water (as important as those are.) The Houston area residents report serious shortages of toothbrushes, toothpaste, toilet paper, soap, and similar "comfort" items. It is important to pay attention to good hygiene in the aftermath of a disaster or you will become a victim, yet.
By the way, if there is no power, the ATMs won't be working . A bit of cash you can draw on might be helpful, too.
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