Hurricane season is here with its gale-force winds and devastatingly destructive potential. If you’re a homeowner in a hurricane corridor, this is a highly tense time, as you never know if a rogue hurricane could come by your neighborhood. If it does, is your home ready to withstand the devastation?
Thankfully, this is an easy question to answer, as decades of dealing with hurricanes have made it very clear that there are a few important key areas. Identifying and protecting those areas could make a real difference in how well you ride out these powerful storms.
First Priority: Roof
Old-timers who have lived through plenty of hurricanes will always advise you to make your roof your first priority. A well-maintained roof in good repair is your first defense against the incredible winds that a hurricane brings.
The roof of your house is always going to experience a high degree of wear and tear simply because of its function. During hurricane season, it becomes very vulnerable if it is not reinforced against the stormy weather. Some residential roofing services offer an assessment service with which you can find out if your roof is up to the task of withstanding the brunt of a hurricane.
If the cost of hurricane-proof roofing worries you, consider this: it is cheaper to replace a roof than to replace a house.
Second Priority: Windows
Does your home have impact-resistant glass windows? These high-endurance and extra strengthened windows are built to withstand everything from hail to hurricane-force winds.
Windows that are not designed for storms can shatter and allow rain, hail, and debris to quickly overwhelm your home. If the storm is bad enough, it will not only put your family in danger, but the amount of damage caused may also require you to leave your home until it can be repaired. No one wants to ride out storm season in an unfamiliar place.
Impact-resistant glass windows are a worthy investment, as they offer year-round protection. In particular, these windows are known to prevent burglaries. They are distinctly difficult to break or shatter.
Third Priority: Doors
Any point of entry is a vulnerability to your home. Every door, including the garage door, must be reinforced and prepared to withstand the destructive force of multiple hurricanes. If your doors are not impact-resistant and wind-resistant, then you will need hurricane shutters.
Though it would be better to replace them all with high-impact resistance doors designed for the exact situation of hurricane safety, this can cost quite a bit of money. It can be worth the cost if you consider that a garage door is a very large entry point to your home and therefore can be quite destructive.
Garage doors have been known to get blown off and take the roof of the garage with them.
Invest in good-quality, high-endurance hurricane shutters as soon as possible, and find out if it would be feasible to get fiberglass doors for all your entry points. Fiberglass doors are resistant to a lot of weather damage and can last for a significant amount of time.
Fourth Priority: Yard
Do you have any suspicious-looking trees in your yard? Even if a tree looks solid on the outside, you can never be sure of the condition inside it. The heavy rain of a hurricane has been known to wear down the soil around the roots of trees. This can turn what seems like a solid tree into a disaster waiting to happen.
Get a reliable professional to check your trees and the rest of your yard to identify any problem spots that may need fixing. You may want to replace any loose paving stones and clean out your gutters. It is also advisable to divert your gutters so that the run-off is directed away from your walls and foundations.
Fifth Priority: Insurance
No matter how ready you make yourself, you can never anticipate the level of destruction that Mother Nature can wreak. It is a good idea to update your homeowners’ insurance and renew any disaster insurance you may have acquired.
Insurers are always updating policies. With a little research, you could find that you have a policy that could give you peace of mind even as a hurricane rages outside your safe and warm home.
Hopefully, once you have updated, battened down, and protected the most vulnerable areas of your home, you can be spared the worst of what hurricane season has to offer.
