15 Steps on How to Prepare Your House for a Hurricane

It's important to take the proper steps to protect your biggest investment well before a hurricane has a possibility of striking. This will give you ample time to check everything, make repairs and get everything you'll need to stay safe through the storm before any danger is imminent.

Reviewing your home insurance policy to figure out your hurricane coverage is probably the single most important item on your home hurricane preparedness list. Check to see how much you have in coverage and determine your hurricane deductible months before.

This will give you enough time to evaluate whether you need more coverage or you're well protected. It'll also give you time to contemplate your hurricane deductible, which works a little differently than a normal deductible.

Hurricane deductibles are a percentage of your home's dwelling coverage. So if your hurricane deductible is 5% and your dwelling coverage is $250,000, your out-of-pocket responsibility is $12,500 for a hurricane damage claim.

It's also extremely important to realize that flooding is not covered by home insurance. You'll need to purchase a separate flood insurance policy, which is usually a lot less money than homeowners insurance. Flood insurance takes at least 30 days to go into effect, so buying it as soon as possible is crucial.

It's also important to gather all your insurance documents and keep them in a safe place, including a waterproof and fireproof container if it's feasible.

While we hope you and your home remain safe through the hurricane season, it's important to go through your home and document your items well before a hurricane hits. This allows you to refer back to items and their value if they're damaged or destroyed in a hurricane.

We recommend taking pictures and videos of each item so you can prove you had it and the condition it was in before the hurricane. If you have receipts, take pictures of those and keep the hard copies in a waterproof box for safekeeping.

If you've lost power before, you know how terrible it can be. The lack of electricity makes everyday living essentials, like cooking and cleaning, nearly impossible. Candles will give you light, but generators will provide you with the power and essential living tools to make getting through the storm a little easier.

Buying a generator during sales will help you save money. Plus, you'll have enough time to figure out how the generator works before a hurricane hits. You'll want to turn on and test your generator a few times per year to keep it in good running condition.

If a hurricane hits badly enough, gas stations will be closed with no gas to sell. It's imperative to make sure your generator has enough gas — and gas reserves on hand — to last a few days. The average 5,500-watt generator can typically run a full eight hours with 5 gallons of gas.

If you have impact-resistant windows and doors, you may be able to skip this step. They're designed to hold up against heavy winds, but they may not be able to stop flying objects from breaking through.

The best way to prepare your windows and doors is to purchase and install storm shutters. They can be expensive, though, so opting for a plywood alternative is going to be much cheaper. If you're going the plywood route, make sure you buy marine- or exterior-grade plywood at least five-eighths of an inch thick.

Sump pumps and drains can be the primary level of defense against those intruding flood waters. It's imperative to make sure all your home's drains and sump pumps are working properly to deter water from entering your home.

Keep in mind that this kind of flooding is usually not covered by home insurance, so you may want to look into buying a flood insurance policy or adding water backup coverage to your home insurance policy to err on the safe side of the storm.

The roof is the most vital piece to protect the rest of your home. If it has leaks or is in bad shape, a hurricane could make things a lot worse very quickly. Make sure all the shingles or tiles are firmly secured and staying in place.

If you need to replace your roof, it's better to do it months before hurricane season begins so that it's completed and ready to go when the storm hits.

The foundation of your home is the most likely place to allow flood waters to seep in and damage everything on the ground level of your home. Walk around your home and check for any cracks or damage in the foundation. If you find any, seal them with the proper materials.

If you live in Florida, your home was probably constructed with roof straps. If you live in another hurricane-prone state, adding metal roof straps could be a vital piece of your home's protection.

If you can go inside your attic, check to see if there are metal roof straps attached to the beams. If there are, you're likely good to go. You may still want to check the structural integrity of each. If you don't have roof straps, you can add them easily, which will pay dividends to make your home more secure.

If an evacuation order is in place, you should evacuate. You can replace your home and belongings if they get damaged or destroyed, but you can't replace your life.

Knowing how many days in advance you'll evacuate, where you'll go, which route to take and what you'll bring with you is crucial. Everybody's evacuation plan is likely a little different, so be sure to create one and discuss it with family and friends months before a hurricane.

This plan includes all of your pets. If you have pets, take them with you. You can either find a shelter outside of a hurricane zone they can stay at while you remain evacuated, stay at pet-friendly accommodations or take them with you to a friend or family member's home.

Creating a hurricane essentials inventory is crucial if the power goes out for days or weeks. This inventory includes a stockpile of water bottles, canned and non-perishable foods, a first aid kit, batteries, candles, flashlights and many more items.

Check out our hurricane preparation checklist for a more detailed look at everything that should be on your list. You should try to buy these items months or many weeks in advance because they're the first things that are sold out within days of a hurricane strike.

While preparing your home for a hurricane begins months before landfall, there are certain things you may have to wait to complete until you know exactly what dates the hurricane could hit your area.

While this task should be one of the first things you do when you move into your home, it's especially important to do in the days and weeks leading up to a hurricane. If the power goes out, you'll need to switch each off to make sure the storm doesn't surge and damage them. Also, if you plan to evacuate, remember to shut off all of these before you leave home.

If you're taking this list to heart, then you've already purchased storm shutters by the time you get to this point. This is the part when you put on those storm shutters or cover your windows, doors and garage door with that strengthened plywood you bought.

Trimming trees and shrubs, especially those that hang over your home or are within falling distance of your home, is an extremely important task. This will prevent large limbs from falling on and damaging your roof. It'll also prevent your gutters from getting clogged with leaves and limbs.

If you can, tie down any small trees in the days leading up to the hurricane's arrival, too. This will help prevent the trees from being ripped out of the ground by their roots.

Clogged gutters can cause costly leaks through the walls of your home. Cleaning and unclogging the gutters weeks or even days before a hurricane is set to hit can be one of the easiest ways to prevent damage to your home.

A hurricane doesn't have to be extremely powerful to whip leaves and twigs around, drop tons of rain and clog gutters. It's imperative to make sure your gutters are pristine and spotless before a hurricane hits.

Chances are good that you have patio furniture and many more things nonchalantly sitting outside of your home. Smaller, lighter objects should be moved indoors and larger, heavier items should be tied down or anchored outside to prevent them from moving and, potentially, flying through your home's windows.

This is more of a hack that not many people realize. Turning your refrigerator and freezer to the coldest settings possible will help keep your food for longer if you lose power. If you can, try to open them as little as possible while the power is out. This helps keep the cold air secured inside and makes your food last longer.