Typically, the hurricane season in the Atlantic Basin—consisting of the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea—begins on June 1 and runs through the end of November with the peak of the season generally being mid-August through mid-October. The National Weather Service names September 10 as the climatological peak; a secondary peak in mid-October mainly affects the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.

 So, when you live in areas where hurricanes hit, it’s important to know how to react. To help, we’ve put together this home hurricane preparedness guide that helps you to know how to prepare your home for a hurricane.

#1 Create an Evacuation and Shelter Plan

Although the rest of these hurricane preparedness tips for homeowners largely focus on the home itself, the most important strategy is to have a way to get your family to safety when a hurricane is looming. You’ll want to sign up for alerts on the FEMA app and pay close attention to the statuses of alerts.

Depending upon the specifics of the storm and your unique situation, you may end up evacuating or hunkering down. The American Red Cross recommends that, if you’re told to evacuate, you should do so immediately, heading to a safe place. If evacuating, additional tips include these:

• Know your safe place to go, routes to get there (choose a primary one and a secondary one), and specific locations where you can stay. Make sure you have enough gasoline in your vehicle. 

• Create an emergency evacuation plan, and share your emergency plan with your family, posting it in a prominent place. Put your FEMA-described hurricane readiness kit together. This kit can be used when you're sheltering in place in your own home. 

• If you’re in a flood-likely place, ensure that your safe location is on higher ground. 

• Make sure that your designated shelter is built for high wind conditions.

If you’re in a place that isn’t ideal and aren’t leaving/can’t leave, head to a small, lower-level room in the home’s interior (which is, therefore, without windows) that is less likely to flood. 

If you have pets, that adds another layer of preparation. The Food and Drug Administration provides a video with useful tips to help you prepare for their safety.  

If you stay home during a hurricane or if you return after evacuating before all is restored, mentally prepare to live without power, phone, water, gas, and the internet for an undetermined amount of time. 

#2: Install Storm Shutters

The rest of this home hurricane preparedness guide will mostly focus on tips for the house itself, starting with protecting your windows. Quality storm shutters can help to protect your windows in your home, ideally keeping them from breaking. If you need to prepare quickly and don’t have hurricane shutters, fit plywood panels to the size of your windows, nailing them to window frames when a storm is imminent. 

The Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Laboratory’s hurricane research division shares additional information on storm shutters. When choosing yours, consider the cost, ease of installation, and levels of protection. Steel panels, for instance, offer strong protection but are more expensive than other choices and can be more time-consuming to install. Aluminum ones, meanwhile, are lighter and easier to install but don’t provide as much protection. Check your building codes to see what’s required for where your home is located. 

Even the best storm shutters are only as effective as the installation’s quality. If you don’t yet have hurricane shutters, don’t wait for a hurricane watch to try to install them. Be proactive. Plus, note that installation companies can be quite busy, especially near the start of the new hurricane season, so plan appropriately. 

At the start of each hurricane season, test your shutters. If they are permanent installations, shut them to make sure that they smoothly close and lock effectively. For panels, make sure that the shutters and the hardware are in good shape. Then, attach them early enough in the hurricane watch-warning stages.

FEMA also suggests proactively protecting your window panes themselves by using laminate window glass or impact-resistant glazing. Note: although shatter resistant glass can be helpful, it’s not a substitute for hurricane shutters because it protects the glass but not the window frames. 

#3: Protect Your Doors

If the home doesn’t already have hurricane-rated exterior doors, get them and install them. FEMA says that these doors should have at least three hinges as well as a deadbolt lock of an inch or more in length. Plenty of Florida homes have sliding glass doors to take in beautiful views. These, however, are significantly more vulnerable to hurricane winds than other door types. So, make sure that yours are constructed of tempered glass. When a storm is predicted, cover them with shutters or plywood.

When preparing your home for a hurricane in Florida, don’t forget about garage doors. Check to see if yours are approved for wind pressure and impact protection. If not, replace the doors and their tracks with hurricane-approved choices. If the wind gets into your home via a large opening like a garage door, this can have a serious impact on your home, particularly your roof.

#4 Ensure Roof Security

Proactively have a professional inspect your roof. Hurricane winds can peel off shingles, especially if they aren’t effectively secured or the tab adhesive has worn down. Ask what improvements need to be done and follow through. State Farm offers numerous suggestions as part of your hurricane preparedness tips for homeowners:

• At the studs and rafters, attach hurricane clips.

• Ask a professional to apply polyurethane sealant between walls and trim where soffit panels are placed. 

• As another way to anchor soffits, they could apply caulk or use stainless steel screws.

When you have a new roof installed, request that the roofing experts use additional roofing cement beneath shingles for added protection during hurricanes. Also ask them to use a secondary water barrier below the roof covering and use impact-resistant materials throughout the process. 

#5: Secure Outdoor Furnishings, Pools, and Outbuildings

If you can, bring patio furniture, potted plants, and other outdoor items indoors to prevent them from turning into projectives in the wind, damaging your home or that of others. Even consider bringing your garbage cans, bikes, and more into a secure indoor spot. Secure gas grills and propane tanks outdoors. Also protect sheds, carports, and so forth like you would with your main home. 

USA Today says that, even though you may read a set of hurricane home preparation tips that includes putting your patio furniture into your pool before a storm, pool experts advise against this unless you have no other options. Patio furniture can rust and damage your pool’s bottom. 

Although it might seem to be common sense to put a pool cover over your swimming pool or hot tub, this can become another heavy object that can turn into a projectile in the wind. Instead, lower the level of your pool water by a foot; proactively consult with a pool service if you aren’t sure about the best way to accomplish this.

#6: Examine Your Landscaping

With our next of our hurricane preparedness tips for homeowners, Florida Division of Emergency Management notes how weakened trees or ones with loose limbs could cause problems during strong winds. So, check your trees for cracks in the trunks or major limbs, paying close attention to trees that are already leaning. Look at branches that overhang your home, can touch power lines, or have obvious signs of decay and bug infestations. 

Before a storm becomes problematic, prune back trees appropriately, removing dead, damaged, or diseased portions. When buying trees to plant, choose varieties that are less prone to storm damage. You can ask government officials, garden centers, or landscapers for recommendations to maximize hurricane protection for homeowners. Also reduce the use of rock and gravel landscaping that can become projectiles, instead using fire-treated mulch.

#7: Keep Fire Safety Front of Mind

The best hurricane safety tips for homes also consider the risk of fire with First Alert offering these suggestions:

• Create an exit plan and a place where your family will meet up again. 

• Have fire extinguishers handy to take care of small fires on each floor of your home along with the kitchen and garage. Multi-rated fire extinguishers can make sense to take care of a broad type of fires; know how to use them. 

• Don’t use candles. Instead, use flashlights if you lose power, ensuring that you have enough, know where they are, and possess enough batteries. 

• Run outdoor generators as a power source in a well-ventilated area (not your garage). Keep them fifteen feet away from windows and doors, and have carbon monoxide detectors with fresh batteries in your house.

• If you use a portable space heater for warmth when power goes out, make sure there are no frayed cords. Never leave them unattended.

#8: Ensure Access to Safe Water, Food Supplies, and Medications

Hurricane home preparation tips also include stocking up with John Hopkins recommending that you buy plenty of backup water supplies because piped-in drinking water can become contaminated through floodwaters. So, secure enough commercial water, storing it in food grade containers, for three to seven days for each member of your household. Keep extra for children, nursing mothers, and people with illnesses.

Make sure you have non-perishable foods for everyone for that same time period. These can include cereals, ready to eat canned foods (have a manual can opener!), granola bars, dried fruit, and other foods requiring minimal preparation. As needed, have enough infant formula and pet food on hand.

Finally, make sure you have all of your medications in sufficient quantities: prescription and over the counter.

#9: Know What to Do When Returning Home

If you’ve evacuated, the best hurricane safety tips for homes will include those that tell you how to most safely return. Just like you do when a storm approaches, listen to official sources for updates on when it’s safe and what instructions you should follow.

When home, wear protective clothing as you conduct cleanup efforts. If there is mold, wear a mask; if you or others in your family suffer from asthma, another lung condition, or have an immune suppression situation, stay out of the home if there is visible (seen or smelled) mold— even if a specific allergy to mold does not exist. Don’t clean up alone, and don’t have children participate in disaster cleanup situations.

VERY IMPORTANT: If you are standing in water or electrical equipment is wet, do not touch the equipment. If you can safely do so, turn off the electricity in your home at the fuse box or main breaker so you don’t suffer from electric shock. If there is standing water, do not wade through that. Downed or underground power lines can charge the water with electricity. Plus, the water can contain disease-causing pathogens, waste, chemicals, and more.

Although you’ll understandably want to check in with others to ensure everyone’s safety, use text messages or social media apps, saving phone calls for true emergencies. Phone systems (if not down) can be busy, post-disaster. 

Be sure to photograph any property damage as documentation for your insurance company. Contact your insurance company to find out how they want you to proceed with claims.

#10: Choose Your Next Home With Hurricane Preparedness in Mind

As a final (perhaps more long term) consideration in our hurricane preparedness tips for homeowners, when you buy your next home in a hurricane zone, consider choosing one that is constructed with hurricane protection for homeowners in mind to make preparing your home for a hurricane in Florida more seamless. When looking to buy your dream home on Amelia Island, we invite you to connect with one of our knowledgeable and passionate real estate agents. Our professionals will have insider insights into which homes meet your requirements and desires. So, when the time is right for you, please contact us!