It happens every year, just like tax day and any other bad news thing you can think of, like appointments for colonoscopies and stuff.
The Atlantic Ocean hurricane season runs from June through November every year. In recent years, our area has seen several significant landfalls. Hurricanes are interesting in how they affect us. You might have escaped unscathed, might have had trees or limbs in the yard, or could have even lost your roof. However, your neighbor might have experienced just the opposite.
My own experience with the last few hurricanes to hit our area is that the nearby yards flooded, and I lost a few shingles each time. No windows were broken by flying debris, but we had an advantage with clear Lexan hurricane panels over all the openings.
Here’s a few things I would recommend to prepare for hurricane season to help get you and your family ready.
I urge you to do it now so you have less stress and less to worry about during an evacuation or a landfall.
1. Put together a disaster box. Here’s a link to a great inventory list for a disaster box- https://www.ready.gov/build-a-kit. Once you get it packed, just throw it in the closet or a corner in the garage and hope you never need it.
You can go further and pack Get Home Bags and Bug Out Bags, but the disaster box is a bare minimum. The link is to an online class I teach about preparing these, but if you need one-on-one help, just get in touch. I used to do contract work for FEMA, and one of our jobs was helping people assemble these.
2. Protect your home. You need to install some type of protection for all the openings in your home, to include all doors and windows. Our company installs several different types, so get in touch if you don’t have this. The most important things to consider for this are that you have the work done before a named storm and know how to use it.
I mention ‘named storms’ because most insurance companies will not help you out if you wait until after there’s a named storm in the Atlantic. Also keep in mind that most insurance companies provide discounts for various types of opening protection, like our Lexan panels, and the state of SC offers a tax deduction as well. I can help you with those forms.
3. Have a plan. Decide beforehand under what circumstances you will evacuate. Don’t wait on the storm and then decide. In addition, decide where you’ll evacuate and what you will take with you. For any storms that you will shelter in place and not evacuate, plan for that as well, to include water, food, and lighting.
4. Upload a good weather app on your phone. I would recommend two different ones. Find a good generalized weather app you like, such as the Weather Channel, and also a dedicated hurricane tracking app. This way you can check on either general stuff or specific storm-related activities.
5. On Facebook, find and like several weather stations, news stations, and your local and state emergency operations centers. The EOC for SC not only puts out great news, but their social media team is hilarious with their posts.
6. If you have window opening protection already, get it out, clean it, and make sure it’s still in proper shape. This way, you have time to repair anything that needs it. This is a good time to also make friends with someone to help you install it.
7. Go around the house and make plans for stray items, furniture, grills, etc. This way if you plan on leaving them outside instead of bringing them into a room or the garage, you can go ahead and buy rope or straps to secure them with.
8. Clean out your garage so you have room for your vehicle if not already. Most people don’t use their garage for vehicles, but if you plan on sheltering in place, I would recommend you pull your car in.
9. Buy any needed supplies now. I’m talking about bottled water, non-perishable food, gas and gas cans, batteries, and anything else you might want during a storm. This stuff runs out fast when a storm is approaching. This will also help you avoid the craziness and lines at the stores.
10. If you’re home at the beach isn’t occupied all the time or you might be gone during a storm, set up a plan with a neighbor, friend or family, or a company like ours to secure your home if a storm is coming.
I hope all this helps. My goal is to keep you safe and ready for disasters.
Your storm guide,
David Powers
You can find us at…
Ocean Breeze Exterior Remodeling – 843-238-4798 – www.oceanbreezeexteriors.com
Our showroom is located at 739 Sandy Lane in Surfside Beach, SC
