When a storm is coming your way, you need to find ways to protect yourself. And it isn’t all about you alone; you need to find ways to protect your home. Remember, this is the place you’ll still have to live in after the storm – you are better suited to keep the damage minimal. There are several ways you can use to protect your home in a storm. Knowing them will ensure you can keep your home and belongings inside it safe in a storm. Here are some of the ideas you can use to protect your home in a storm.
Board Up or Close Your Windows
Depending on where you live and the local weather, your home may have exterior shutters, or you can easily install them. If you don’t have any on hand and can’t buy, plywood can work in a pinch to protect your windows from flying debris.
Ensure to use heavy-duty masking tape as well. The masking tape isn’t entirely effective at protecting against wind and debris damage, but it will keep the glass from shattering if they do break. Do not use duct tape or scotch tape since these won’t be effective at holding the glass together once it cracks.
Secure Your Roof and Gutters
Don’t forget about your roof. Check your roof for loose shingles or tiles, and repair any that may be damaged. Also, make sure your gutters and downspouts are secure. Clear any obstructions from the gutters, and make sure that the downspouts are properly draining away from the house.
Ensure that all of your roof vents are also secure so that they don’t pull up in high winds. Finally, if you have a chimney cap, now is a good time to double-check that it is secured.
Protect Your Doors
Protecting your home in a storm means protecting all of its vulnerable openings. Windows are most obvious, but what about doors? They’re just as essential to protect, and luckily, they’re pretty easy to board up if you are unable to install shutters.
You can use plywood or wooden shutters, but you should ensure the plywood is the same thickness as the door or that the shutters are correctly measured. Whichever material you choose, it’s crucial to have enough of it and make sure you’ve installed it correctly to protect your house from wind gusts and flying debris.
Cover Your Air Conditioner
- ● Use plywood or corrugated metal to cover your air conditioning unit. You should be able to find these materials at any hardware store.
- Cover this with a tarp and secure it with duct tape. This will prevent the plywood or metal from sustaining damage in high winds, which could itself cause damage to the unit.
- Remove any plants or other items near it. These can also become flying projectiles during a storm and harm your air conditioner—or anyone who might be near it if gusts of wind dislodge them.
- Check that the power is off before you work on covering your air conditioner. If you’re not comfortable doing this. You can also consult an electrician or a professional who can help you with it.
- Ensure that the air conditioning unit is in good condition before covering it up. If there are any cracks, holes, or rust spots, this could allow water inside during a storm.
Bring In Outdoor Furniture and Items That Could Be Blown Away
- If you have things like patio furniture, garbage cans, and children’s toys that aren’t securely fastened to the ground, bring them inside or tie them down with some rope/twine.
- Ensure you have a secure place to store everything. If your garage is packed to the gills, consider renting a storage unit for all the items that can’t fit inside your home or shelter. Ensure they have protective measures such as Bahama shutters.
- Don’t forget about things like bicycles and lawnmowers. Keep them away since they can easily blow around and damage your or your neighbor’s property
Prepare for Power Outages
- Get yourself a battery-powered or hand-crank radio, and make sure you have enough batteries to keep it running until the power comes back on.
- Don’t forget your flashlight and extra batteries.
- Keep a list of emergency numbers near your phone to reach them if it dies, and store essential phone numbers in a non-electric address book.
- A first aid kit is another good thing to keep close by, and a car charger for your smartphone if you lose power.
Have A Disaster Plan and Emergency Kit
It’s better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. This is the mantra for emergency kits when facing a potential disaster. You may need to evacuate if the storm is rougher; a plan and a kit can be quite handy.
- Make sure you have a disaster plan and emergency kit if you need to evacuate. This can help you be ready for any situation.
- If you do evacuate, take your emergency supply kit with you.
- Have an emergency kit ready
- Plan for how to contact your family
- Prepare your home for evacuation
- If possible, stay with friends or relatives who are not in the storm’s path. Stay away from coastal areas and low-lying ground.
- If it is not safe to leave, prepare to stay at home until the storm has passed
If possible, move items such as furniture or personal belongings made of wood or metal away from windows and doors before they break open by an object flying through the air. – Close all doors, windows, and curtains to minimize damage caused by shattered glass and flying debris.
Put duct tape over the window seals to prevent wind from coming through the cracks and causing more damage inside the house. Cover up any exposed electrical wires with plastic wrap so that water does not get inside them when flooding occurs later on during this event, for example, if there’s leaking.
Conclusion
Preparation is key when a storm is on the way, but it’s also important to know what to do after the storm has passed. Keeping your home safe can also ensure your safety as you’ll likely wait out the storm in your home. These are some ideas you can use to protect your home in a storm.