Hurricane preparedness checklist.

Before the season (May)

• Photograph and video every room, closet, and exterior wall. Store on the cloud. This is what your insurer will ask for.
• Get a written homeowner's and separate flood insurance quote — standard policies do not cover surge or flooding.
• Trim trees, remove dead branches, and identify anything within 30 feet of the house that could become a projectile.
• Confirm shutters, hurricane straps, and impact glass are functional. Cut plywood covers for every opening if you don't have shutters.
• Brace the garage door — the single most common structural failure point in a Cat 3+.
• Refresh the supply kit: water, food, meds, batteries, cash, weather radio.
• Print your evacuation route and identify two inland destinations at least 100 miles apart.

72 hours before landfall

• Fill vehicles with fuel and cash-out an ATM. Both go scarce fast.
• Refill prescriptions.
• Charge every device and battery pack.
• Move valuables and irreplaceable documents to the highest floor or take with you.
• Decide, in writing, when you'll leave if a mandatory order is issued — before the roads gridlock.

24 hours before landfall

• Install shutters or plywood. Brace the garage door.
• Bring in everything from the yard — furniture, planters, grills, kids' toys, trash cans.
• Turn the fridge and freezer to their coldest settings.
• Fill the bathtub for non-drinking water; fill jugs for drinking.
• Turn off propane tanks. Consider shutting main gas and water if a direct hit is forecast.
• If evacuating, go now.

During the storm

• Shelter in an interior room on the lowest floor above surge level — usually a bathroom or closet without windows.
• Do not open doors or windows to "equalize pressure" — this is a myth and puts you in the debris field.
• Stay off the roads even if the eye passes over. The back wall is often more destructive than the front.

After the storm

• Do not walk through standing water — energized lines and displaced wildlife are common.
• Photograph every damaged area before you clean up. Your insurer needs this.
• Call your carrier and open a claim immediately — claim volume dictates adjuster order.
• Watch for carbon monoxide from generators. Keep them at least 20 feet from windows.
• Boil water until the utility issues an all-clear.

Know your address-level exposure

Wind rating, surge zone, and inland flood exposure vary block by block. Two houses on the same street can be in different surge categories depending on elevation. Run your address through the ArchipelAI homeowner demo to see your wind, surge, and flood scores together, along with a 20-year outlook as warmer oceans push more Cat 4 and 5 systems into the record. Also see our natural disaster risk by address and home insurance and climate change guides.