Hurricanes are among nature’s most destructive occurrences. One hurricane can whip millions of miles of air into a frenzy, and deposit as much as 2.4 trillion gallons of rain in a single day. As if that weren’t bad enough, hurricane winds have been shown to get up to speeds of 200 miles-per-hour, reducing homes to dust as though they were nothing.
As Florida Today points out, yet another season of these awesome storms is nearly upon us, with the official date for the start of hurricane season 2015 marked as June 1. How do you prepare for hurricanes to keep your home and your family safe? Start by following these essential steps for preparing your home for a hurricane.
Three Essential Steps to Preparing for Hurricanes
- Keep a List of the Essentials in an Obvious Place
- Prepare for an Insurance Nightmare Ahead of Time
- Educate Yourself on How These Beasts Behave
For the National Weather Service, the best answer to how do you prepare for hurricanes is a simple list. A list containing phone numbers for emergency services, essential food and survival items, and any other important info drastically reduces the time you’ll need to get ready, should one of these meteorological monstrosities make landfall over your house. Keep it in a readily accessible place — the refrigerator is a great choice — and you’ll be ready for the worst.
Finding that your home insurance doesn’t cover nearly enough is something many homeowners along the Atlantic coast have had to learn the hard way. That’s why the Mother Nature Network suggests taking a number of preemptive steps to make sure you’re made whole following one of these events. Firstly, make sure that your home insurance includes flood insurance. As a form of added protection, you might want to consider a plan which will cover displacement costs, should your home be rendered uninhabitable by Poseidon’s rage. Lastly, make sure you regularly take inventory of all the valuables in your home, and try to keep all of your receipts. Insurers are far more likely to give you money when you can prove you lost something.
If you really want to answer the question of how do you prepare for hurricanes, writes National Geographic, you need to know your enemy. One of the biggest mistakes people make is assuming that the lull in the middle of a hurricane marks the end of it. In fact, this lull usually just means the eye has settled over your area, giving you a brief reprieve from the storm. Doing your research and knowing how hurricanes act could help you avoid making this costly and dangerous mistake, ensuring you keep yourself protected until the worst is truly over.
Do you live in an area regularly impacted by these incredible storms? What tips would you give other homeowners looking for help with hurricane home preparation? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.