Florida experiences hurricane season between August and October, and when it comes to safety during hurricane season, preparing in advance is always going to make a difference. If you have decided to make Florida your home after traveling, you shouldn’t wait until the first day hurricane season hits to take the right steps to protect yourself and also help others. Planning in advance for any way you can help during this destructive time is always going to be beneficial.
Here’s how to best react to an imminent hurricane season.
Know How You’re Going to Evacuate
Although it isn’t guaranteed that you’ll ever need to evacuate, it’s still essential to know how and where you’re going to evacuate should you need to. That way, you can safely evacuate with a pre-planned route, which will help you to stay safe and calm during the worst.
Evacuation planning ahead of time is especially crucial for those who live closer to the coast, or who are more vulnerable to the elements.
Keep a Stock of Emergency Supplies
It’s better to always have on hand a stock of emergency items that you might need in the event of a hurricane. This will save you having to urgently shop for anything you desperately need — especially when there’s an increased risk of shelves being empty if everyone is panic buying.
Your emergency hurricane supply store should include items such as:
- First-aid supplies
- Candles or other backup light sources
- Spare Batteries
- Water
- Any medication that you take regularly
- Canned food, or food which does not require cooking and will not go out of date
Consider Making a Regular Donation
A regular hurricane relief donation is going to help enormously during these difficult times. When you contribute a hurricane relief donation, it means that more people are protected and assisted during this time. You can help provide relief for struggling communities, and also supporting those charities designed to help yourself, too, should the worst happen to your own property or way of life. Regular hurricane relief contributions are an excellent way to prepare as a community as a whole.
Take Out the Right Insurance Policy
You need to protect yourself against damage ahead of time, for both your property and your personal belongings. The right insurance policy can help to cover all damage costs, which may arise as a result of a hurricane.
It’s also a good idea to see if your policy covers any assistance with services you might need after a storm. Since you’ll need to clean up your yard following a storm, you may need the assistance of roofers, fencing contractors, tree services, or many more. Knowing that you can get protection for any financial issues you might run into in the process of rebuilding can give you piece of mind.
Be sure to take the time to understand the most significant risks applicable to your specific property so that you can find a policy that covers all necessary areas.
Take a Risk Assessment of Your Property and Take the Right Measures to Secure
It’s a good idea to thoroughly inspect your property and identify any risks which could occur during a hurricane. This is especially important for any external features which are completely exposed, such as items of furniture in your garden. This can help to reduce damage done if a storm throws things around or if they are moved and smash into your property or other parts of your garden. It can also speed up the time to bring things back to normal in the event you look to get an Emergency Storm Damage Clean-Up performed at your property.
Where possible, store away any items which need to be secured or protected. Consider installing shutters over your windows and any glass doors, or those that pose the most risk if you cannot install shutters completely (such as sets of large, glass patio doors). You should also anchor down anything which can be secured.
