The best way to protect yourself during a hurricane is to get out of town. Flee. Drive away.
The best way to protect a window is to use 5/8″ plywood. Even if the window has shutters, which are great to protect the window as long as the shutters will stay closed when the wind is blowing hard. If in doubt or to make shutters stronger screw them shut by using “DECK SCREWS” or long “DRYWALL SCREWS” . 

Hurricane Tape has firers in it which greatly strengthens the glass in a window so it’s harder for the wind to break it. Maybe it won’t break or when it breaks the pieces of glass will sort of stay together so the pieces might not blow around the room. 
But Hurricane Tape is much stronger in tension. Same as string. Pull on a string and it’s pretty hard to break because it’s strong in tension. Push on a strong and it’s useless. Same for tape.

Tape on the outside of a window is better than no tape at all because it is sticky so it will help mostly because it’s in shear meaning it won’t rip apart but when the wind blows it’s in compression which means it’s almost useless. Tape is far stronger in tension so put in on the inside of the window where it’s in tension.
Tape on the inside is in tension so it’s far, far stronger than on the outside. It has the added advantage that it won’t get wet so paper tape can be used but it’s a much better idea to use Hurricane Tape as a first choice or Duct Tape, commonly pronounced “DUCK TAPE”. Both of these tapes have fibers in them which makes them far stronger than paper tape. Hurricane Tape has more fibers than Duct Tape so it’s far stronger but Duct Tape is very strong and putting it on the inside of the window makes the window stronger and harder for the wind to break.
Tape on the inside means you don’t need a ladder.
Put plywood on the outside. If you are putting plywood you will need a ladder. Get a “LADDER STABILIZER” for the top of the ladder so you can put the ladder on the center of the window. A “Quick Click” stabilizer is faster to use. the “Universal Stabilizer has to be bolted to the ladder which takes more time and is a bit more complicated to install because it can move around if it’s not idone right making thijngs a bit more dangerous.
Stationary stores sell tape including Duct Tape or reasonable facsimiles therof

Tape a big “X” on the glass. Tape a second “CROSS” over the “X” to make it even stronger. The more tape the better. Tape across then add more tape up and down.

Any kind of wood will make it harder for the glass to be broken by the wind. Use “DECK SCREWS”. Use an electric drill with a Phillips Head bit/ A battery powered drill is better than one with an electrical cord but a drill with a cord works great, you need a long extension cord but it’s not as convenient as a battery powered drill. Buy a few extra batteries that you can put on charge while using the drill.
Putting plywood over a window with deck screws and an electric drill goes easier if you draw a line to show where to put the screws. The screws should be driven into the “STUDS” which are the 2 X 3’s that surround the windows. Best way is to use lag bolts. Deck Screws can be used, just use more of them. Draw pencil lines on the plywood which will make it faster and easier to know where to put the screws and put them at least every 6 or 8 inches along the pencil lines.

If you can’t get plywood, use boards and put as many of them as possible over the windows. Put them across the windows. Shorter boards are stronger than longer boards but longer boards are OK to use. Even if you put up a few boards they will help. Put them across the middle of the windows which is where the glass is weaker the glass is weakest right in the center of the window.
USE FLASHING. Flashing is thin metal and it comes in tolls. It’s usually in the roofing section of the store. It can be cut with metal shears but it’s thin enough to use scissors in a pinch. Be careful. It’s sharp and can easily cut you. Flashing can be screwed to the window frames with deck screws

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