The Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH) offers five steps that families can follow to prepare for hurricanes as part of their #HurricaneStrong program.
1. Safety: Know your evacuation zone
This step helps you answer the question, “Where will we go to weather the storm?” Suppose you are not in a storm surge zone. In that case, you may be able to safely hunker down at home if you have suitable protective devices like shutters or if you make emergency preparations like boarding up windows and doors. Knowing where to go begins with understanding the location of your evacuation zone. We offer links to each state’s maps and evacuation routes to help answer that question.
2. Preparedness: Make a plan, build a kit
Once you know where you will take shelter during the storm, it is vital to make a plan and practice it so you can stay informed and communicate with family and friends. Having a weather radio with battery backup and using smartphone apps with alerting capabilities is essential. You should also build and maintain a disaster supply kit with adequate nonperishable food, water, medicines, pet supplies, and other essentials to keep you fed and comfortable during and after the storm.
3. Resilience: Strengthen your home
Homeowners have many affordable DIY options to help their homes withstand hurricanes’ strong winds and rain. Analysis by the National Institute of Standards and Technology tells us that keeping your garage door in place is critical to preventing roof and wall damage, even in winds up to 135 mph. Focus first on openings such as windows, doors, and garage doors. You have three options for protecting your garage door. Learn more here.
The second focus area for home protection is your roof. It is more difficult to protect unless you are reroofing. Still, some DIY strategies include adding a ¼” bead premium adhesive inside the attic along the joints where the underside of the decking meets the roof trusses. Engineering tests indicate that this affordable method can increase roof uplift resistance by a factor of three. Still, you will need access to the roof-to-wall connection inside your attic.
The third area of focus is outside your home. Clean up your yard and remove any objects that may become windborne, such as toys, BBQ grills, lawn furniture, swings, and garden decorations. Secure your items with anchors and straps if they are too heavy to move indoors.
4. Insurance: Have a checkup
The most effective way to ensure you have the right amount of insurance is to have a checkup with your agent or company once per year. This will ensure you get all available discounts for your home and that you don’t have any surprises when it comes time if you have an insurance claim.
Another essential preparation step is to create or update your home inventory at least once yearly to ensure you have a current record of all your belongings. The simplest way to create an inventory is to video your belongings using your camera phone. Record all your appliances’ make, model, and serial numbers, and store your video file on the cloud for easy access from any location.
5. Service: Help your community
The final step to becoming #HurricaneStrong is one of the most rewarding. Once you prepare your family, home, and finances, you can consider how to help your neighbors and community. Reach out to elderly neighbors and offer to help them prepare. Get trained for volunteer work. Donate blood. Consider how your workplace might be able to provide support after a storm if it has a generator and can offer people a way to charge cell phones or enjoy air conditioning.
Helping others bounce back after a hurricane is one of the most rewarding activities as you and your community recover from a hurricane.
Visit HurricaneStrong.org to learn about all five steps today and access the complete inventory. Check out flash.org/hurricane to generate a custom list of retrofitting tips for your home.
