Hurricane Season is Underway: Are you Prepared?

With hurricane season underway, it’s only a matter of time before another devastating storm strikes somewhere. What have you done to prepare? Sadly, even with the destruction of Florence, Michael, and Dorian in recent memory, for most of us the answer is, “very little.”

I worked in the television news business for 14 years and covered a lot of natural disasters. The haunting, common theme in each of them was the look in people’s eyes as they came to realize that they had lost everything, or had a long road ahead to get back to normal.

The other common theme I saw in the aftermath of weather-related disasters was that the homeowners had done little to prepare.  When we were filming the documentary, The Last House Standing, we visited Mexico Beach and Panama City, Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael. It has been almost two years since Michael struck them, and many residents are still far from recovered.  

George Washington University Professor Joseph Barbera, an expert in crisis emergency and risk management, says, “Look very closely at what the actual risk is where you’ve decided to live, because there are a lot of things that you can do to address some critical elements of the risk.” Those risks can include flooding from storm surge, structures that are older and below the current codes, and neighborhoods that have had problems in the past but haven’t yet been corrected.

When it comes to protecting your property, Professor Barbera suggests asking yourself, “What can I afford to lose?”  He says you need to understand your risk tolerance.

So what can you do to get started?

1. Check your insurance policy to make certain you have enough coverage.

2. Have a home inspection to find out what your vulnerabilities are. It might be time for upgraded windows, spray foam in your attic, hurricane shutters, or hurricane fabric for certain doors and windows.

3. Consider getting a backup generator.

4. Know your evacuation route.

5.  Be certain to have the right supplies in your home including a flashlight and extra batteries, a first aid kit, a wrench or pliers if you have to turn off utilities, bottled water, and non-perishable food.

6. Cut back any trees that may cause damage to your home by falling over or by becoming a projectile.

7. Take pictures of your items for insurance purposes.

8. Have a “go box” ready with a list of important belongings you want to gather if you had to evacuate your home quickly. This includes things insurance can’t replace like family photos or items passed down over generations.

There are many resources available on our Last House Standing website to help you understand the weather-related risks in your area and how best to prepare for them.  In many instances, we seal our fate when we decide where to live.  While there is nothing we can do to stop a hurricane, there is a lot we can do to increase our chance of surviving it.