Part of your hurricane preparedness plan should include:

1. Cleaning your drains

   Hurricanes can bring significant rainfall on land and flood parking lots. Check your drains at the start of hurricane season for any debris and clean them if necessary.

2. Trimming trees and landscaping

   Use this as an opportunity to clean up your landscaping. Remove any dead plants or fallen branches to help reduce the likelihood of projectiles.

3. Identifying areas without protection

   This is a good time to purchase plywood or set up a plan to put up hurricane shutters if there’s an impending storm. Wood can be harder to find and at a premium if waiting until the last minute.

4. Securing any loose or fallen signs and posts

   In addition to their general maintenance and upkeep, securing signs and posts will also help reduce the likelihood of them tipping over.

5. Testing emergency lighting and servicing existing generators

   If you’re sheltering in place, emergency lighting is important should your property lose power during and after a storm. Check your existing generators for any functional issues, or stockpile new generators and gas cans to help be prepared for any prolonged power outages.

Disaster recovery

Once it is safe to be outside when the storm has passed, the next step is disaster recovery and restoring your property. Call your licensed general contractor to assist and make any necessary repairs. Depending on the damage, the general contractor team can come in to help with the following:

1. Clearing the parking lot and removing debris from drains

2. Repairing asphalt and concrete pavement, as well as sidewalk or curbing damage from uprooted or toppled trees

3. Repairing fences

4. Replacing and resetting traffic signs

5. Checking for leaks and repairing other areas of damage

6. Updating your hurricane preparedness plan with lessons learned