Hurricane Season Prep 2019, Part 2: Indoors  

Hurricane Season Prep 2019, Part 2: Indoors

As Florida hurricane season draws closer, you can move forward with hurricane prep to help protect your home and property from the effects of severe weather events. This blog series from Olympus Insurance continues with more helpful tips for storm preparation and loss prevention.

Doors and Windows

Check seals around doors and windows (use a hair dryer to check for small gaps by blowing hot air around the seal and asking someone standing on the other side to feel for hot air movement). You can adjust the door threshold for a tighter seal, and add new weather stripping if needed. Use a weather and water-resistant urethane-based outdoor caulk on the frames outside, and an indoor caulk to close any tiny cracks or gaps on the inside.

Make sure window glass is secure, and have tape ready in advance of a weather event. A heavy duty window film can also be used to help hold window glass together in case of breakage. Install deadbolts on doors to increase their resistance against being blown open, and check your garage door as well to see if it needs repairs or reinforcing.

Power Safety

Know where all of your breaker boxes are as well as the main cutoff for the house. If flooding occurs, you’ll need to be able to safely power down your home. Consider having a generator and fuel to get you through a prolonged power outage. Prior to a big storm making landfall, turn refrigerators and freezers to their maximum cold settings to extend the length of time they can keep food cold in the event of an outage.

If a storm is about to hit, turn off gas-powered appliances and unplug electric ones. Elevate appliances or move them up onto a stair landing if there is a flood risk, to reduce the risk of corrosion. Make sure all of their doors are closed so pets can’t become trapped inside.

Keeping Things Dry

Keep your most valuable belongings on the second floor if you have a multi-story home. Expensive furniture, rugs, and other prized possessions can be moved up out of potential flood heights. Shelving on lower floors can provide protection for other items, and waterproof containers can help protect important papers or other valuables.

Fire, Chemical & Gas Leak Safety

Make sure you have fire extinguishers on each floor, and that everyone knows how to properly use them. Move any chemicals out of the home and garage, and onto high ground so there’s less chance of a contaminating spill if there is flooding. Check batteries in smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to ensure they are working.

These tips can help you protect your home and personal property from damage if there is a severe weather event or flooding. Next week we’ll look at the important documents you should have gathered together and safely stored in one place for reference, just in case you experience a hurricane.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not form a part of, replace, change or amend any terms, conditions, provisions or language within your Olympus Insurance policy. We encourage you to read your entire policy.