When it comes to how to secure your home for a hurricane, Floridians already know a thing or two. However, hurricane preparation should still be a top priority, even if you already have some hurricane protection in place, because we don’t want you to be scrambling should there be a shelter-in-place or other protocols necessary. Here are the tips for hurricane preparedness to give you peace of mind when the next hurricane hits.
How to Hurricane Proof
While hurricane preparation should include protecting the outside of your home with solutions — such as hurricane shutters — there are several ways you can protect yourself, your family, and your valuables this hurricane season.
1. Safeguard Your Electronics and Your Documents
Hurricane Preparedness for Electronics
Damage to your electronics because of flooding, power surges, or damage from debris that has shattered your windows, can be costly to repair. Before hurricane season, consider installing house-wide surge protection instead of buying multiple surge protector power strips, if you have a wide range of electronics.
In the event of a hurricane warning, move all of your major electronics away from the windows. This includes televisions, gaming systems, speakers, lamps, musical equipment, and more. If you want to keep your refrigerator running, set it on the coolest setting to keep food cold longer in the event of a power outage.
Protect Your documents
Flooding is a common occurrence during and after hurricanes, so it's important that you move all important documents off the ground. Passports, birth certificates, tax forms, photographs, family heirlooms, artwork, and anything else that it's important to you should be relocated or locked away in a waterproof storage pre-storm.
2. Secure and Elevate Heavy Furniture
Bookcases, television stands, and other heavy items have a tendency to fall during major storms when the elements break through windows and other weak points of your home. Consider securing tall furniture with brackets or straps and make sure that they're firmly attached.
To avoid flooding damage, you can elevate expensive furniture that is close to the windows or doors in your home. This is an extra precaution that can save you money and stress from replacing hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of water-damaged furniture.
Any delicate items, such as picture frames, should be secured or removed from the walls and shelves to prevent them from falling and breaking — or worse — falling on you or a family member during a storm.
3. Look for Signs of Water Intrusion
To secure your home from a hurricane, make sure there is no pre-existing damage to the window framing and door frames in your home. If you see any damp areas near your windows or doors, this may indicate that these areas are vulnerable to flooding from the next storm. Seal any cracks or openings you find in your window framing or caulk, immediately.
But don’t stop there. Peeling paint, suspicious rotting, or visible moisture on the glass behind hurricane shutters can all be warning signs of water intrusion. Before the next storm, you may want to hire a professional to repair any serious damage to your hurricane shutters, glass, screens, and doors.
4. Prepare Your Emergency Kit and Create a Pet-Safe Area
Even if you already have an emergency kit, it’s important to make sure that you’re stocked up on FEMA’s recommended hurricane supplies, and that your disaster kit is placed in an easily accessible part of your home. This step is an essential part of preparing for a hurricane. However, don’t forget about your pets!
During a hurricane, dogs, cats, and other household pets can experience great distress. Consider the needs of your furry or scaly friends during the hurricane, and make sure that they have a safe space in your home, and block any windows so they can’t see what’s going on outside or try to escape during the middle of the storm.
You can fill their space with comfort objects like their favorite toys, and stock up on a few days worth of food for them too should you be on lockdown. Remember, during a storm, you can’t let a dog out to use the bathroom, so prepare a litter box or lay down training pads for them to take care of business indoors.
5. Check on Your Generator
If you haven’t touched that old generator in many months, look for signs that it may need repair and take it in for a routine, annual service. The last thing you want is to realize it’s not working as you’re preparing for an impending storm. If you feel like your generator couldn’t handle your power needs during the last storm, consider upgrading so you can be fully prepared.
6. Hurricane-Proof Your Windows
There are many myths out there about hurricane preparedness, including a few misunderstandings about protecting your windows. For instance, you should never open a window during a hurricane to stabilize pressure or tape them up pre-storm to prevent shattering— yet some folks still do!
Your safest choice is to invest in hurricane-tested and approved hurricane protection. From impact glass to window treatments like hurricane shutters, it’s crucial to safeguard these vulnerable pockets inside your home.
Secure Your Home From Hurricanes: Impact Glass
While installing hurricane shutters, like roll down shutters or Bahama shutters, is a great way to protect your home from the harsh elements, many Florida homeowners choose the one-time investment of installing impact-safe glass windows.
Since even the mildest hurricanes can reach wind speeds of 95 mph, shattering glass is a reality that many homeowners face every hurricane season. Not only does this increase your repair bills, it can also cause harm to your family and your pets. Hurricane impact glass can help protect your loved ones and your home even during the fiercest storms.
Storm Solutions Has You Covered
Our impact windows are Miami-Dade County compliant and have been tested to assure maximum protection. With expert installation and excellent customer service, we are ready to help you face any storm that may come our way.
Explore our Impact Window Pricing Kit for an estimate of how much it would cost to upgrade your home’s safety this hurricane season.
