Whether this is your first hurricane season or your 50th, getting prepared is easy when you know what you're doing.
The time to prepare for the worst is right now. Physically protecting your property and your family requires quite a few steps, but each step is straightforward, and most of them can be done slowly over time. Waiting until the last minute costs you more time and money, and it causes unnecessary panic.
Take every possibility into consideration here. Don't just go to Walmart and stock up on essentials. Consider other methods of protecting your property. Have an evacuation plan ready to go. Make sure your family, friends, and neighbors are ready for a storm. Gather your emergency contacts.
There's more to preparation than just purchasing nonperishable food, and it's important to keep all that in mind before a storm hits. Fortunately, the main purpose of this article is to put it all in one place so you don't have to remember everything off the top of your head.
This step-by-step guide to hurricane preparation has everything that we personally recommend. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it should cover most of the needs of the average Florida family. If your family or property have special needs, this newsletter probably won't cover them. You know your household better than anyone else; add anything else you need as you need it, and trust yourself to prepare properly and safely.
Step #1 – The hurricane kit.
Get your hurricane kit in order! You can check out our article detailing the ultimate hurricane kit for the 2022 hurricane season (which goes into much more detail than we can cover here), but the general gist is to consider everything you use on a daily basis. Do what you can do to ensure that as little of your life gets interrupted by a storm.
Related article: The Ultimate Hurricane Kit - 2022 Edition
Here’s a quick guideline for what you’ll find in a standard hurricane kit:
First aid kit (with any prescription medications)
Flashlights and lanterns
Pocket knife/Swiss army knife
Family planning materials (unless a hurricane baby is
the plan)
Waterproof storage container (for holding cash/important documents)
Boards games, puzzles, and/or playing cards
Books and magazines (anything you want to read)
You can also read a comprehensive one-page hurricane kit checklist right here (or download it at the bottom of the article)! You can print it out, put it on your fridge, use it however you’d like to guide you in your preparations.
Step #2 – Protect your home.
In terms of your protecting your home, shutters or plywood for covering your windows is a must. These protect your windows from impact and prevent light from getting inside. Impact is self-explanatory, but if your AC goes out during the storm, you'll be thankful that your shutters are reducing the amount of light and heat coming from outside.
Closing your curtains can also prevent light from coming in. (And while they're not exactly bulletproof, curtains can function as a last-resort barrier to stop or slow down any debris that breaks through the glass.)
Make sure that your trees, bushes, and shrubs are trimmed before the hurricane. Falling branches can crash into roofs or fly like javelins in high winds.
You should clean out your gutters regularly anyway, but doing this during hurricane prep makes them less likely to back up or clog due to heavy rainfall.
Step #3 – Emergency contact list.
We have an entire article on creating an emergency contact list which details exactly how to do this. You can’t guarantee that you’ll have electricity during the storm, so if you lose access to your phone, you lose access to your contacts.
Related article: Create An Emergency Contacts List
Keep a physical list of important phone numbers so you can make calls from any phone.
Here is a list of contacts you should consider having in writing in a safe location:
Family
Friends
Neighbors
Out-of-town contact
Doctor/pediatrician
Veterinarian
Bank
Boss/manager at work
Coworker(s)
Kids' schools
Industry professionals:
Roofer
Window contractor
Water remediation contractor
Mold remediation contractor
Fire remediation contractor
Electrician
Public adjuster
One that many people don't consider is an out-of-town contact in case you need to evacuate and know a place you can stay. If a storm forms so fast that you can't react and hotels book up too quickly, having that phone number written down can be the difference between a bed and a crowded shelter.
You should also have some industry professionals in case your home gets damaged. Your roof could leak, a window could shatter, a phone line could start a fire, there are a ton of things that could happen. Having a physical list of those numbers means that you'll be prepared for any damages that occur.
Step #4 - Food and drink.
We also go into more detail on this in our ultimate hurricane kit article, but stocking up on food and water is essential to your annual storm prep. Get enough bottled water and non-perishable food to last at least five days. (You shouldn't need more than two week's worth.) Have one gallon of drinking water per day for each person in the household.
Most people know which non-perishable foods they'll need for themselves and their families, but don't underestimate the value of snacks in a storm. Try to avoid snacks that go stale (like most snacks with carbs) or that melt (like power bars or certain granola bars). Fresh fruit is a great snack that will last a few days, but canned fruit lasts a lot longer. Use your best judgment here.
You should also avoid bulk bags of chips or pretzels. Humidity can destroy snacks in open packages. Opt for individual snack packs; they may be more expensive, but you only open one at a time and minimize risk of snacks getting ruined. (This applies to bread as well. Bread can get moldy after a few days, so consider individually-wrapped stacks of crackers instead.)
A good way to extend your frozen food's life is to fill your extra freezer space with Ziploc bags filled with water. Create your own large ice packs before the hurricane. (This also stores more drinking water.)
Some people need coffee in order to survive. Without electricity, your best option for brewing actual coffee is a percolator you can heat on a gas grill or portable stovetop. Instant coffee and nondairy creamer also work, as does iced coffee.
Preparation for food is also key. Wash all your dishes before the storm hits. If you lose water or the lights go out, washing dishes becomes a luxury you can't afford. Washing beforehand mitigates that worry. (Stocking up on paper plates and plastic silverware also circumvents this issue.)
Step #5 – Gas and cash.
Make sure your car tanks and generators are filled up with gas in case you need to evacuate or your home loses power. Most people wait to buy gas until the last minute, and if gas stations run out early, you're in trouble. However, there will be more than enough gas for you and everyone else so long as you act quickly and rationally; just get to your nearest station early, buy what you need, and don't use more than a reasonable amount.
While you're filling up at the gas station, top off your air pressure. It's usually free and only takes a few minutes. (It's often the small things that come back to bite us.)
Withdraw some extra cash from an ATM. The ATMs may be inaccessible during and after the storm, so get some cash and keep it someplace safe, like a waterproof container.
Step #6 – Final preparations.
The time for final preparations is 24 hours before the storm is scheduled to hit. Try to bring inside everything that isn't tied down or attached to the ground, like outdoor furniture, decorations, and garbage cans. (Heavy items like grills can stay outside but should be brought directly next to your house.) You may have room in the garage, living room, or a spare bedroom. If it's outside and not tied down, it can become a deadly projectile.
Charge your phones, laptops, eReaders, portable chargers, etc. and put them on battery saver mode if possible. Turn off Bluetooth, and if you have unlimited data, turn off WiFi. (Bluetooth and WiFi drain your battery faster.)
Do all of your laundry! If you run out of clean clothes with the power and water out, you'll have to get creative with your fashion choices.
If the hurricane looks like it will be really bad, fill your bathtub and large containers (like food storage containers) with water. Use this water for washing and flushing only, and reserve bottled water for drinking.
Turn your fridge temperature down so you have a few extra hours of chilling if power goes out. After power's been out for four hours or more, move drinks and snacks to a cooler with ice packs if you have one. NEVER taste food to determine if it's safe to eat. When in doubt, throw it out.
Finally, bake cookies! During the last-day prep, this makes the house smell good, and you have a tasty treat to share with the family during the initial winds and rains. We highly recommend snickerdoodles, but you should bake your family's favorites
And now we wait.
2020 and 2021 were each record-setting years for the Atlantic hurricane season, but the majority of Florida was barely affected. Hopefully Florida gets lucky again this year, but slacking on preparation could be a costly mistake if a major storm heads our way.
In the event that we get slammed this year, you should feel confident that you’re prepared for whatever the winds and seas throw your way.
Find below a comprehensive one-page hurricane kit checklist that you can print out and reference while you’re getting ready for storm season. You can also find our 30-page newsletter for the 2022 hurricane season, which discusses everything from hurricane prep to handling the aftermath.
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