When hurricane season is approaching, you need to make sure that you are doing everything in your power to make sure that your home—and your family—are ready. Thankfully, hurricane preparedness is not complicated as long as you follow some basic steps to make sure that your home, family and finances are ready for the upcoming season. Let’s take a closer look at how you can check your home and even your insurance policy before hurricane season arrives.

How to Keep Your Home Prepared for a Hurricane

The most important thing to do before hurricane season is to make sure that your home is prepared and that you have the right supplies on hand to help your family get by during and after a hurricane.

Before the season starts, make sure that you have a stash of non-perishable emergency supplies which include:

• Battery powered lanterns/flash lights with extra batteries
• Candles or fuel lamps
• Matches in an airtight container to keep them dry
• NOAA weather radio
• First aid kit with fully stocked supplies
• Non-perishable food items
• At least 3-day supply of drinking water
• Prescription drugs (if you can get extra prescriptions to keep for emergencies)
• Tools for emergency home repairs (hammer, wrench and other basic tools; along with plywood and thick plastic sheets)
• If applicable, diapers, baby formula and other essentials for children

Another way to make sure that your home is prepared for hurricane season is to take an inventory of your home. An inventory will help you in case you need to file an insurance claim. A typical home inventory can include photos or ideally, a video of the various objects in your house including but not limited to: electronics, valuables, clothing, furniture and other objects that you can receive compensation for in case of loss or damage due to a hurricane.

How to Prepare For Possible Insurance Claims

Your home isn’t the only thing that you will need to have prepared before hurricane season starts; it’s very important that you understand what, exactly, is covered in your insurance in regards to hurricanes. Before the season starts, take a look at your policy and examine just how much it will cover in the event that a hurricane damages or destroys your home and personal property.

One thing to consider with your insurance policy is whether or not it covers water intrusion and flood damage. Some insurance policies may contain technical loopholes, such as only covering flood damage due to the hurricane itself rather than flood damage caused by—for example—a pipe which burst, even if it burst due to the hurricane-force winds. For this reason, you should go over your insurance policy with a fine tooth comb to figure out exactly what is covered and what you need to do to make sure that you won’t be financially left in the dust after a claim.

Preparing for hurricane season is an essential facet of life when you live somewhere with regular hurricanes. Make sure you, your home and your finances are ready well before hurricane season starts.