I'm a big fan of preparedness, having lived in hurricane territory for years in the past and being very grateful for my supplies when the storms hit. Hurricane Irene is a great reminder to stock up on supplies for disaster preparedness, no matter where you live.
Batteries are a must have and Sanyo has a wonderful solution to traditional batteries, their eneloop rechargeable batteries. I've always loved the idea of rechargeable batteries, but could never get them to really work. These work. They have a low discharge rate, making them last much longer than the ones you might have tried in the past. And they come pre-charged, so they are great for your disaster kit. They're also great for travel and daily use for all the stuff you have at home requiring batteries. When the energy runs out, you don't throw them away, you just recharge them, saving you money and helping out the environment.
In addition to the batteries, Sanyo's enloop Mobile Booster will charge your devices when they run out of juice, providing up to 240 minutes of power. It's very straight forward, you just plug it in and pre-charge it using an outlet at home or the USB port of your computer, then slip it into your bag for later. When your iPad (or a host of other compatible electronics devices goes dead, just plug in the Mobile Booster and you're up and running again. This means when you have a power outage, you've got back up for watching movies and whatnot, which can be invaluable when you have children and you can fire up your cell phone in an emergency. And how great to have it when you're on the plane or even camping in the woods. Find both must have options HERE.