Hurricane Preparedness

Preparing for hurricanes before they happen is critical to surviving with your life and property intact. The best time for preparation is before a hurricane hits the coast, so it’s essential to educate yourself about what the hurricane season looks like in your area and what steps you should take to prepare your family for any potential storm. At this point, hopefully, you have flood insurance in place and do not have to think about that. Neptune Flood wants to make sure that you know how to get ready when a hurricane is looming, so here are some helpful hurricane preparedness tips.

Prepare Your Home

Here are some things you can do around your home to prepare:

1. Secure Your Windows – Ensure no large tree limbs or unsecured objects are hanging outside your home, and then fix any broken windows you encounter. Close and secure any open windows and doors as well as the garage door – some experts recommend nailing plywood over your windows as an extra precaution.
2. Buy Non-Perishable Food – If you have food that requires cooking and gas, you’ll need a backup plan. Stock up with canned goods, protein bars, and dry foods like trail mix, bread, and crackers.
3. Bring a First-Aid Kit – First-aid kits are important for any kind of emergency, especially a hurricane. They’ll come in handy for things like cuts and burns, skin irritation, and burns from flash flooding.
4. Be Ready for Power Outages – You can still have fun even if there’s no power. But if you must stay home, it’s wise to prepare your home for power outages. Make sure that you have extra batteries, flashlights, and candles. We also recommend charging your phone and battery packs in case power goes out and your cell phone runs out of battery.
5. Fill Your Bathtub with Water – In the event of a power outage, you’ll need extra stored water to flush your toilet. If the storm is bad enough, you might not have running water for several days, so having some in your bathtub or stored in buckets around the house is important.
6. Check Your Freezer – If the power goes out, your freezer might start to warm up. If that happens, you may want to consider moving frozen food to your refrigerator.

Gas Up Your Car

You can’t drive anywhere if you don’t have gas, so make sure your tank is full. Also, stock up on fuel for any generators you plan to use during the hurricane.

Take A Second Look at Your Insurance Policy

Check your homeowner’s or renter’s insurance policy to review the coverage for things like flooding and wind damage. Also, check if any loans are attached to your home and how much they are. Most homeowners policies do not cover flooding, so discover how Neptune Flood can help get you the protection you need!

Stay Informed

If you’re in the storm’s path, you should keep an eye on the news and updates from local government officials. They may give updates about whether evacuations are required.

It’s best to stay in a shelter with a hurricane approaching, but if you must go out, be sure that you avoid any potentially flooded areas.

Evacuate

If you want to evacuate, you should try to leave a few days before the arrival of the hurricane. But if you wait it out, keep an ear open in case your local government mandates evacuation. Be sure you have a disaster plan in place including evacuation routes and what certain sirens mean if you are forced out of your home.

The most dangerous places in the Hurricane’s path are the coastlines, where high tides and winds will combine to form a storm surge that could overwhelm artificial structures like levees. So, if evacuating, be sure to drive inland and away from the coast if that’s where the hurricane is heading.

Conclusion

These steps, as well as the purchasing of flood insurance, can make the event of a hurricane less stressful. By preparing ahead of time, it will be less chaotic and fewer things will be forgotten or neglected. We have additional information on the Neptune Flood blog on flood preparedness.

Hurricanes will always be a threat, but there are ways to protect yourself and your property. By following the hurricane preparedness list here, you can keep yourself and your family safe from hurricanes and their devastating effects. And with the ability to buy flood insurance in less than two minutes with Neptune Flood, why not be ready!

Content Updated January 2022