Hurricane season started in Florida a few days ago and runs through November. Are you ready? This is Beth Helvey with Compass Real Estate. Let’s talk about it.
So hurricane season this year is expected to be more active than in the past couple of years because we are expected to get two to three more named storms. Last season was pretty quiet and we’re going to see how this one turns out. One of the things that you’re going to want to do, especially if you’re new to the area, is make sure your hurricane preparedness kit is ready.
There are some basic things you’re going to want in there. For example, the biggest thing you’re going to want to want is a lot of water. So when you go to the store and when you go to Costco, buy a case of water wouldn’t hurt to have three or four on hand just in case.
Depending on how many people are in your family, you can also buy jugs of water. Buying both sides is advantageous and I’ll tell you why in a minute. You’re also going to want to have a flashlight and besides having multiple flashlights throughout the house, because the chances of us losing power are pretty good, make sure you have extra batteries for those flashlights. You’re going to want to make sure that your first aid kit is fully stocked. Check it before the storms roll in and make sure you have everything you need. Make sure you’ve got all of your medications, your children’s medications, your pet’s medications, and anything else you think you might need in there. Disinfectant, whether it is something like Clorox wipes or spray bleach and towels, make sure you have that on hand because if we do lose power and it is wet and muddy outside and you have any kind of cleanup to do, you’re going to want to have disinfected on hand know where you have to go.
If you are in an evacuation zone and you are not going to ride the storm out, make sure you know where you’re going to go. There are certain areas of Florida, especially on the coastline, there are mandatory evacuation zones. If you are in one of those mandatory evacuation zones, make sure you know where you have to go. If you have special needs, such as you need to be near someplace with air conditioning or someplace with electricity because you have health issues, make sure you know where you need to go there if you are bringing your pets. Not all shelters take pets, so have all of that sorted out so you know where you have to go, should you have to get evacuated. Now, I’ve been in Florida a long time and there are certain things that I can tell you that you should do.
One of the things you’re going to want to have is non-perishable food and something to eat it on, something that’s easy to get into, something that’s easy to open, stuff that you don’t have to put back in the refrigerator. Have three or four days worth of food on hand and donate your snacks early because you’re going to be sorry. Make sure you have plenty of water to drink, or if you’re going to be drinking juices or shelf milk, whatever it is. One of the things that you can do is you’re going to take that bottled water and you’re going to suck it in your freezer and then take those cold bottles and put ’em into your refrigerator after they’ve frozen and then put more in your freezer. This will help keep your refrigerator cool. The trick is to not open your refrigerator too much, but with any luck, you won’t lose too much food or you’ll lose very little food. Also, make sure that if you do stay home, you know how long your electricity was out, should you lose it, and then you’ll know if you have to throw your food out.
There’s also the quarter trick. There are people who will take a glass of water or a bowl of water and they will freeze the water. They will put a quarter on top of it, and then when they get home, if the quarter is still on top of the water, then they did not lose electricity. If the quarter has sunk the bottom and the water has refrozen, then they know they’ve lost electricity and there’s a chance that the food has gone back, so pay attention to that. Start gating your water and your other supplies. Now, once we get the notification that a hurricane is coming, there will be a mad dash to the store, so when you go to Publix or Costco, grab a case of water and stow it in your garage or your closet or wherever you’re going to keep it and make sure you have it on hand. That is the best thing to do because you don’t want to be scrambling for water at the last minute.
Make sure you’ve got plenty of paper products on hand as well. One of the things you’re going to want to do is wash all of your clothes leading up to it. If you are out of power for a week or two weeks or even just a few days, you don’t want to have to deal with dirty clothes. Make sure you wash everything when you’re done washing your clothes, fill that washing machine up with ice. That will either, you can put you some cold store items in there, some waters, anything that needs to be cold, and that will help you there, and then of course it keeps it in there and will just drain out when it’s done. Fill your bathtub with water. No, you’re not going to drink it. You’re going to use it to flush your toilet or to wash things down the sink.
That is really important to do. You’re also going to take all of your battery backup chargers that you have for your phone, make sure all of them are charged because you may not be able to charge your phone if you lose electricity and you may not be able to do it in your car, so make sure all of your backup charger, battery packs are fully charged so that you have those to use. Close your drapes and your blinds before the hurricane hits because you’re going to want to keep the sun out as much as you can because the first day is going to be on the cool side after a hurricane, and then it’s going to get hot and muggy right away, and you’re going to want to keep as much cool air in the house as you can. Turn your AC down, don’t turn it down so far that you freeze it out, but turn your AC down.
Get your house as cool as possible with all of your drapes and your blinds closed. It’ll hopefully help keep your house cool, should you lose electricity. Put your docks in a safe place. Any documents that are important for you to have, whether they’re medical to do with your house, your children, your car, anything like that, put them in a safe place, whether it’s in a plastic container that you can put in your car.
There are people who will put things like that in their washing machine because the washing machine is supposed to be watertight. Make sure you have them all together and you have them in a safe place that you can access them should you need them. Gas up your car, make sure you have it because you don’t know if you’re going to have to evacuate. If that storm turns at the last minute, then you may have to evacuate. You may not have any choice if you’re out of power for a week and just can’t state it anymore, and then the hotels start to open back up. You’re going to want to be able to get into your car and go to a hotel if you can. Make sure you have all of your pet stuff available, their food, their medications, their toys, you know where their leash.
The bags to clean up after them. Make sure you have all of that handy because you’re going to want to take your pet with you, and these are just a few things that those of us that are local know what to do. If you have shuts on your house, it is best now to find someone that can put your shutters up because trust me, those things are heavy and you’re going to want to make sure that those are up if you want to use them.
This is Beth Helvey with Compass Real Estate. I’ll put some of these lists in the comments below, and if you have any other questions, feel free to reach out to me. Bye.
