Although you will not have access to your computer after a hurricane because there is no electricity, this handy computer peripheral is essential. All of us have gigs and gigs of music, family movies, important documents, receipts stored in our desktop and laptop computers. However, before a hurricane we all forget to back up this data. Should a hurricane strike and destroy your computer, your data will more than likely be gone.

This is why we recommend the Western Digital 160GB My Book External Hard Drive. You can easily back up your data with the press of a button. Some minutes later, your internal hard drive is backed up into this Western Digital External Hard Drive. When you evacuate your home, place the hard drive in a freezer bag (this will reduce the hard drive's exposure to water) toss the hard drive into your backpack and you are all set.

Many hard drive manufacturers offer external hard drives at varying prices, just check your Sunday newspaper ads or visit a web site like buy.com to see the latest deals.