The best way is to get urban trash bins out of the wind entirely. Check your city’s sanitation or emergency management page first, because collection may be suspended and they may tell you to bring bins in rather than leave them at the curb. If you have a garage, shed, utility room, or designated building storage area, move the bins there. In apartments or rowhouses, ask management where storm storage is and keep bins out of exits, stairwells, and fire lanes.
Before moving them, empty the bins and put the waste in sealed bags indoors. A full bin can spill trash that becomes flying debris, and a loose lid is basically a sail. Lock or latch the lid, lock the wheels if they have brakes, and keep the bin upright if it is going inside.
If the bin must stay outside, make it as boring to the wind as possible: empty it, lock the lid, lock the wheels, and place it on the leeward side of a solid wall, away from windows, trees, power lines, and doorways. Use ratchet straps or heavy-duty nylon rope—not bungee cords—to tie the bin to a sturdy anchor such as a fence post, ground anchor, or building tie-down. Strap it low and snug, ideally in two directions so it cannot tip or roll. Do not tie bins to utility poles, gas meters, fire hydrants, standpipes, or anything electrical. Don’t pile loose bricks or heavy objects on the lid; if they come loose, they become projectiles. Proper sandbags around the base can help, but straps are the main thing.
After the warning, inspect the bin and straps before putting it back into service, and follow the city’s updated collection instructions. The short version: bring it in if you can; if you can’t, empty it, lock it, strap it low to a real anchor, and keep it away from anything that could fall or spark.