The hurricane season has so far been a busy one, with five named storms already formed and a good chance for a handful more before the end of the year. The best time for hurricane preparation for your home and your family is when there is no hurricane predicted—being proactive can actually save you time, money, and sanity.
Hurricane Preparation for Your Family:
- Assemble a disaster supply kit with items such as flashlights, batteries, cash, first aid supplies, bottles of water, nonperishable food, and copies of any critical information needed if you need to evacuate
- Know where to go in case of an evacuation and make plans ahead of time for a place to go with your family
- Sign up for your city’s text alert system, such as Fort Lauderdale’s Alert FTL system
- As the storm nears, pack clothing and toiletries for your family for evacuation
Hurricane Preparation for Your Home:
- Trim up tree limbs and remove any damaged limbs or trees to lessen the amount of damaged caused by hurricane winds.
- Check and secure any loose rain gutters and downspouts—this is also the perfect time to clean your gutters and remove any debris to allow for maximum water flow.
- Reinforce garage doors, windows, doors and the roof to reduce property damage (boarding up windows and unused doors, etc.)
- If you don’t already have one, purchase a generator and have it prepared and ready for use.
- Keep generators at least 20 feet away from windows and doors outside, protected from moisture
- Never try to power the house wiring by plugging a generator into a wall outlet
Hurricane Preparation for Your Air Conditioning Unit:
- If a power outage looks inevitable, shut down your home comfort system to reduce blowing circuits and burning out the compressor when electricity is restored
- Unplug window units entirely
- Cover the outside unit to protect it from damage
- Wait to turn the unit back on after a storm/hurricane—inspect the unit and surrounding area first to ensure it’s in proper working condition
After a storm, call the experts at Lindstrom Air Conditioning & Plumbing to inspect your home comfort system to ensure it’s safe to use.
For more hurricane preparedness tips, check out Ready.gov