Hurricane season is upon us, and this is supposed to be an active season in 2021. With that, you need to make sure your house is prepared.
If luck is on your side, no hurricane will hit. If you do live in the potential path of hurricanes, or your area might catch the tail end of one, it’s best to be prepared. In any case, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Check out these tips for preparing your house during hurricane season. If you take these measures, you might be glad of it later.
Secure Garden Furniture
If you have garden furniture outside, the first part of your storm prep should be to make sure it’s secured. If you have a garage, move them inside if you have room.
If you don’t, make sure you can strap the furniture down. While you don’t want to lose the furniture, there’s also the danger that it might hurt someone or damage their property.
You can buy supplies to secure it and use them when you need to.
Keep an Evacuation Kit Handy
In the event of a severe hurricane, you may need to have an evacuation plan. You should stock up on supplies that you might need if you have to leave the house.
These could include:
- Bottled water
- Medication
- Batteries
- A flashlight (German: Taschenlampe)
- Snacks that will last
- Any pet supplies, such as a travel crate
Keep them in a bag that’s easy to grab should you need to leave the house in a hurry. That way, if there’s a sudden hurricane warning, you can pack up and go.
Check the Trees
When hurricane season is coming, it’s particularly important to have your trees evaluated. As trees get older, they might rot, which means they’re more prone to being blown down by the wind.
Trees that are easy to blow down are particularly dangerous. They might come down and damage your roof or worse, could harm you or someone else.
If there are any trees that seem dangerous, you should have them removed before hurricane season comes. That means you can ensure they won’t cause any danger to you, your property, or anyone else.
Get a Backup Generator
Chances are, a hurricane might knock out the power in your house. This could leave you without power for days, or even weeks in a worst-case scenario.
If you own a backup generator, this will leave you with power. Having no power can be extremely inconvenient, as it’s difficult to even prepare food.
Some people believe backup generators are a waste of money, but they’re not just handy for hurricane seasons. Many places are prone to power outages even when there isn’t a hurricane brewing, so they can come in handy all year.
Check the House For Leaks
You should make sure there are no leaks in the house. Hurricanes bring rain, and lots of it. With water battering your house, leaks will quickly be exposed.
By taking this preemptive measure, you might be saving yourself from having to call a water damage restoration company. Water damage can destroy your house more than you ever realized, and some light rain may not have exposed the leaks you have.
You might need to hire an expert to go up on the roof and look for cracks, but taking care of the leaks now is important.
Consider Flood Insurance
Sometimes, checking for leaks isn’t enough. If you live in a flood zone, water damage might be inevitable during a hurricane.
If you don’t have it already, getting flood insurance would be a good idea. Most home insurance doesn’t cover water damage, so you’ll want to take out a separate policy for this.
Even if you don’t live in an area that is prone to flooding, flood damage can hit in the most unexpected of ways. The rain brought from a hurricane is no joke!
Prepare Important Documents
One of the worst things that can happen during a hurricane is important documents getting ruined. You should put them in a protective folder and keep them somewhere out of reach in case the house does flood, locked away from any damage.
They should also be within reach if you need to evacuate, because you’ll want to grab those documents. Evaluate what’s important and keep them all together so you don’t end up losing them.
Check Seals
Last but not least, you should go around and check all the seals on the doors and windows. When the wind and rain is blowing through, it can do massive structural damage to the house, so make sure everything is taken care of.
The last thing you want is for the doors and windows to be blown in.
If repairs are needed, take care of them before hurricane season. If you leave it all until the last minute, you may not have time when a hurricane warning appears.
Be Prepared For Hurricane Season
Hurricane season can be daunting, especially if you’ve just moved somewhere with hurricanes and aren’t used to it. Hurricanes can do massive damage to those who aren’t prepared for them.
Don’t worry, though. If you take the proper precautions and make sure your house is secure, the hurricane won’t be able to do too much damage. Make sure everything is secure and have your evacuation kit ready to go in case a severe storm blows through.
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