Hurricanes can cause billions of dollars worth of damage through their strong winds, heavy rains, and storm damage. Only this year, hurricanes have caused more damage than almost any other natural disaster in the past few years. The risk to your home and belongings can be very high, and if you live in a hurricane-prone area, you should really think about getting insurance to cover hurricane damage. In addition to insurance, there are other things you can do to prepare for hurricanes and reduce the damage they can do to your property and the risk they pose to your family.
Since the Atlantic hurricane season starts in June and lasts until the end of November, there are a lot of months when you should be aware of hurricane threats in some way. Some of the things on this list will be required by your insurance, but even the ones that aren't will help you and your family. Some of them might even lower the cost of your insurance because the company will see that you are safer than you would be otherwise and are less likely to file a claim.
Be ready.
First, you should know what your insurance policy says and what plans they have for being ready for and responding to disasters. These will help you if something bad happens or if you need to make a claim.
If you think you might need to leave your area, you should talk to the right people ahead of time to find out what you need to do. You should make a plan ahead of time, and if there are shelters nearby, you should know where they are and how to get to them.
Keep things like food, water, gas, portable radios, and batteries in a safe place so you can use them in case of an emergency. There should be a number of flashlights with extra batteries. Copies of important identification and insurance documents could also help to speed up the application process if a large-scale disaster happens. Aspirin and painkillers without aspirin, antacid, bandages, gauze, and disinfectant are also good to have.
Even though insurance is a very important step you should take to protect your belongings and family in case of a disaster, there are many other things you can do as well.
