Hurricane season prep — do it in May
Annual · typically May · weather can move it up
Why it matters
Living in your county means hurricane season isn't an if — and everything that actually protects your house happens in the calm months, not in the 72-hour panic window. When a storm is named, the plywood is sold out, the installers are booked into next year, and the generator aisle looks looted. May-you is the only version of you who can prepare; October-you just executes. We'll still alert you when a real wind event approaches — but that alert should trigger a checklist you've already staged, not a shopping trip.
What skipping it costs
$5,000–$100,000
The difference between a prepared house and an unprepared one in the same storm is routinely the difference between an insurance claim and a total loss. One unprotected window failing pressurizes the house and can take the roof. And the uninsured version of neglect is paperwork: no photo inventory means fighting your insurer from memory, and homeowners without flood coverage discover — after — that hurricane policies don't cover rising water.
Two ways to get it done
Do it yourself
You'll need: Phone camera, Drill/driver if checking shutter hardware, Ladder for gutter/soffit check (or skip and note it), Plywood or rated panels if you don't have shutters (buy in May, not the day the cone appears), Water (1 gal/person/day × 7), Batteries, flashlights, battery bank.
- Document the house today. Walk every room and the exterior with your phone video, narrating. Open closets. This 20-minute video is the single highest-value item on this list — it's what your insurance claim stands on.
- Review the policy in May: hurricane deductible (it's a percentage of dwelling coverage — do the math in dollars), and whether you have flood insurance at all. Flood is a separate policy with a 30-day waiting period — which is why this is a May task.
- Opening protection: confirm every window and door has a plan — shutters that still work, panels labeled by opening, or plywood cut and drilled NOW. Test-fit one. Garage door matters most; it's the biggest opening in the house.
- The yard walk: anything that can fly — furniture, grills, potted plants — gets a designated stow spot you can execute in an hour. Note dead limbs overhanging the house; that tree work is a June hire, not an October one.
- Water and power: 7 days of water per person, batteries, a way to charge phones. If you have a generator: run it, rotate the fuel, and know it lives OUTSIDE, 20+ feet from openings — carbon monoxide kills more people after storms than wind does.
- Stage documents: insurance declarations, ID copies, the inventory video backed up off-site (cloud counts).
Hire it out
$200–$600National fair range — local labor moves this number.
Shutter installation or panel fitting runs $200–$600 for typical service visits; whole-house impact protection is a five-figure project with real insurance-discount offsets — get the discount quote from your insurer alongside the install quotes.
Generator wiring (interlock or transfer switch, $400–$1,200 installed) is licensed-electrician work, full stop. And the post-storm rule, worth saying twice: after a storm, you call contractors — anyone who knocks on YOUR door, asking for cash, in a truck with out-of-state plates, is part of the second disaster.
Ask the tech
- Are these panels/shutters rated for wind-borne debris (look for a Miami-Dade or Florida Building Code approval), or just plywood by another name?
- For a generator quote: interlock kit or transfer switch — and is the permit included?
- What's your lead time in October? (The honest answer is 'weeks.' That's why we're talking in May.)
Red flags you're being upsold
- Post-storm door-knockers offering roof or tree work for cash up front. After every named storm, the same trucks make the same rounds — money first, work never.
- 'Hurricane-proofing' packages sold on fear with no product ratings attached.
- Generator installs quoted without a transfer switch or interlock — backfeeding a house kills line workers, and any installer skipping it is telling you who they are.
Second opinion time: Any impact-window whole-house quote — it's a $15,000–$50,000 decision with wild quote spreads; three bids minimum, and check the opening-protection insurance discount math while you're at it.
The call
DIY the prep list in May, every year, on purpose. The only parts to hire are shutters/impact protection and generator wiring — and both have to happen months before you need them.