Hurricanes or storms can be incredibly destructive and potentially destroy your home’s integrity. Most homeowners take preventive measures year-round as it is much more challenging to deal with property damage. When it is about surviving a hurricane, you may already know where it will make landfall and can choose to evacuate. Your home, however, will remain in the storm’s path regardless and need to weather it. So, thus, it is vital to properly protect your home and, for that, preparations must be made well in advance.
It will take research and a little investment to upgrade your home, to safeguard it before the next storm. Let’s check some of the tips to help your home to withstand these potential catastrophes and fortify your home against them –
Install extra protection to windows and doors and ensure proper sealing
In times of strong winds, windows and doors of a home are the most vulnerable parts that can get damaged easily. It can even wreck the interior of your home structure and even shatter the glass panels. So, it is advisable to use storm windows or shutters to prevent the force of storms and to fly debris from entering inside and ensure safety to both the property and your family.
Additionally, you can even use resistant windows that add another layer of protection to your home and reduce the likelihood of injuries and losses.
Reinforce your roof in tip-top condition
The roof is an integral part of your home, and during hurricane weather, it is extremely important to prevent your roof from flying off. So, in this case, ensure to repair and fix your roof trusses or rafters to the studs of a load-bearing wall to help reinforce its strength and attach direct straps or clips to it. Remember, the precaution of your safety is in your hands, so with the help of experts, conduct a thorough inspection of your roof and identify any issues in advance to repair it thoroughly before posing a threat to your roofing system.
Designate a safe room to store your valuables
While you already know that your home is affected by harsh storms, prepare yourself early by ensuring to keep all your valuable personal belongings away from windows. You can keep them in a safe closet or in a safe room in your basement to avoid being damaged.
It should also contain a first aid kit and necessary items like a flashlight and batteries to handle the overwhelming crisis. By early preparing, you don’t have to rush during a severe storm to keep your valuables safe. Alternatively, you can even document and insure them to keep it more secure.
Cut or trim your trees regularly
Keeping your trees and plants trimmed can be included in preventive care because, in severe storms, they can force the branches of these trees to fall on your home roof and further lead to structural damages. So, take time to prune your trees occasionally and support your roof tiles from any cracks.
Sometimes in extremely adverse circumstances, these trees can even be responsible for causing damage to your vehicle or compound walls, so regular trimming is an excellent habit to protect your family members and property from all types of damages.
Secure copies of important documents
Keeping your important documents safe poses a real risk when you’re dealing with a tornado. So in advance, keep these copies of documents that may consist of insurance papers, property documents, bank account details, passports etc., in a safe location of your home to protect it during any disaster. You can even load it in the cloud or keep it in a bank’s safety deposit to ensure maximum safety.
Equip yourself with a generator
During the unpredictable weather of storms, it is often seen that electrical lines are easily damaged, and for most of the time duration, you have to face power cuts at your home. It can even lead to lightning strikes or blow up your electrical transformers. So, in that state, it is often recommended to install a surge protector and a generator that can offer protection from unexpected voltage spikes and can also give an alternative power source for your electrical devices in the event of major power outages.
It can significantly help your household appliances from serious damage and go a long way towards ensuring you live well until power is restored.
Conclusion
With some of these quick and easy precautions, you can increase the odds to keep your home safe from the direct hit of a hurricane and guard your family and assets against these events. While we can’t control the havoc of Mother nature or natural calamities, you can protect your home from significant damages with these tips in such times of uncertainty. So, prepare everything within your limits to keep your property safe and minimize its impact.
