I used to live in "tornado alley" and we had to be prepared at a moments notice to head for the cellar. During tornado season (Apr-Aug) we ALWAYS kept clothes/shoes at the end of the bed in order to get dressed right away and head for the cellar. We also all had our flashlights.
I don't think we had food/water in the cellar but probably should have.

Now, I live in "hurricane alley" and we learned last year during hurricane Ike what it really means to "be prepared". We went without electricity for 7 days. We bought two 5000W generators and filled up 7 x 5 gallon jugs of gas for them. We also filled up the vehicles in case we had to leave. We also had a footlocker full of food staples.
We had food and 15 gallons of drinking water in the house. We filled up a 55 gallon trash can with water for washing. Used the outdoor grill for cooking and heating/boiling water.

We live in a rural community and we check on our neighbors to make sure everyone is okay. Last spring, a survey was sent out by the volunteer fire dept and allowed people to provide information that could be used by the VFD in the event of an emergency to help find and treat (if necessary) people in the community.