If you live in an area that is prone to hurricanes then you will need to know how to prepare your home for a hurricane. Hurricanes can be very destructive, reaching up to 40,000 or 50,000 feet into the sky and presenting with wind speeds of up to 200 miles an hour. Preparing your home for a hurricane is very important having the knowledge is imperative to protecting yourself and your family should you encounter one of these storms. Here are a few ideas for how to prepare your home for a hurricane.
Pre storm preparation
First of all, all your preparations and protection methods should be done before you ever even hear of hurricane watch being issued. If you wait until then, then you will be to late. You’ll probably see people rushing around taping windows and storing garbage cans and lose items in the yard but the truth is, in that short amount of time you won’t be able to protect your house very well so the best thing you can do is hide behind a turned over table. However, if you take the time to protect your home now, then you won’t have to worry when the storm hits, as long as you have protocols in place where everyone knows their job and can run to close the shutters and protect the home, efficiently.
Roll down storm shutters
Sometimes hurricanes can hit quite suddenly and you will need something to protect your windows at a moment’s notice. You can hurricane blinds or hurricane window film, but roll down shutters are actually the fasted way to close up your home and protect it against a storm. All you have to do with these is to unfasten the clip that holds them open and let them roll down and clip them closed. Blinds need to be rolled and film affects your windows that rest of the time when the hurricane isn’t going on but shutters are the perfect balance of allowing your house to breath and be open when there isn’t a storm but quickly adding protection when necessary. Let’s look at some other ways that could answer how to prepare your home for a hurricane.
Basement
You should always have a basement or an area that your family can safely retreat to in the event that the hurricane is particularly bad. It’s a good idea to keep canned food and water and supplies for several days or even weeks in this area in case you get stuck there for awhile. This can seem a little scary but if you are prepared for it then living in the hurricane safe area can be quite cozy and a relief to get out of the dangerous part of the storm. The entrance to your basement should have a closure that cannot be torn open by the windows. Being flush with the ground is the best idea because there won’t be any parts that can be picked up by wind or debris and ripped open right in the middle of the storm.
Insurance
Other than physically preparing your home, you want to make sure that your insurance policy covers everything that it needs to in the event of a storm, including flood damage. Review your policy to make sure that it covers any changes or renovations you may have made recently. This way, if something is damaged, then you won’t have to worry about the cost to repair and replace or even rebuild if necessary. Having an inventory of your home can be helpful when dealing with insurance companies. The inventory should be taken before a storm, however, so that it can be proven that you aren’t making up extra items. There are other physical things that you can and should do to your home to protect it. Your insurance company can probably help you with coming up with protection ideas. They don’t want to pay for your home repairs as much as you don’t want to have to have any home repairs.
Make sure you know how to prepare your home for a hurricane physically and with insurance way before the storm is even seem in the distance. This will save you time, money as well as trouble.
