If your house is in a hurricane-prone area, being prepared is always the safest option. After all, prevention is better than cure. Your home is usually your largest investment, and you must be prepared to protect your home from hurricanes and minimize damages.
If you watch the local news channels frequently, you will probably have a rough idea about what weather to anticipate in your area. While being aware is a significant step, it is not enough to protect your house. Here we have a list of things that you can do to prepare your home for hurricane season.
1.) Keep your yard under control
Hurricanes usually arrive at colossal speed and have the ability to send things flying towards your house and shattering the doors and windows.
Keeping the trees well pruned will not only break the force of the wind by creating vacant spaces in between but can also prevent loose branches and twigs from flying towards your house. If branches of the trees are stuck in your roof, chances are that they can pull out parts of your roof during the hurricane.
It is always a good idea to trim the trees and shrubs in your yard. It is also advisable to keep your patio furniture, trash cans, cloth hanging racks and plant pots in a safe space to prevent them from flying around as well.
2.) Prepare your house
The doors, windows, and roofing of your home are the elements that should be high on your priority list while preparing for hurricane season. If your doors, windows, and roof are not strong enough, they will not be able to resist the high wind speed of hurricanes. As the name suggests, impact windows and impact doors have high resistance to forceful winds, which minimizes the damage.
You can get your old doors and windows replaced by impact doors and impact windows or opt for low-cost options. For this, you can hire professionals to install hurricane shutters or storm screens to protect the glass of windows, roof clips, and lateral anchors. This will prevent your roof from flying away. Door braces will prevent the doors from crashing down due to the wind forces.
If there are any loose tiles on your roof, fix them immediately. Inspect your doors and windows for any leakage and have these areas resealed to prevent water from entering the house.
3.) Clean out your gutters
Hurricanes are usually accompanied by a lot of rain, which can clog up your drains and gutters. Clear out any build up or debris to keep the water flowing away from your house. Clogged up drains and gutters can result in the rainwater flowing backwards and getting into your roof and attic.
4.) Safely store important insurance documents
Keep your insurance documents handy and store them in a clean and dry place for ready availability. You can use your insurance to seek assistance to recover from the aftermath of the hurricane and cover the cost of rebuilding your house in case of extreme destruction. To be on the safer side, since hurricanes usually bring about a lot of flooding, you can get flood insurance.
5.) Have a backup power source
Long power cuts are unavoidable when a hurricane hits. Thus, it is advisable that you keep your power sources handy. You can do this by storing batteries and flashlights in water-resistant boxes to have them in a working condition during an emergency.
A generator will support essential appliances like the refrigerator or light bulbs in case of long power cuts. To minimize food wastage, keep your refrigerator set to its lowest temperature. This maintains coolness for longer durations even after the electricity is cut off.
When a Hurricane hits it can be an unexpected event. Being prepared ahead of time can help mitigate any issues that can arise unexpectedly. If you have any questions on how Door Depot of SW Florida can help with hurricane protection for your home, please give us a call anytime at (941) 412-1883 and any one of our agents can help you get your home prepared for this upcoming hurricane season.
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