With less than three months until hurricane season begins, it’s important to start planning how you’re going to protect your home. With hurricane Irma’s destruction last September came damage that set back many businesses, homes and families for months. March has just arrived and June 1st will be here before you know it. Our top tips will help you understand why it’s crucial to develop a solid hurricane preparedness plan ahead of time.
Hurricane Protection Products
Protecting your home with proper hurricane shutters is critical. Your first step should be choosing a hurricane protection product for all windows and doors of your home. We recommend AstroGuard Hurricane Fabric, a Category 5 hurricane solution. AstroGuard is the best value in many ways:
- Deployment is simple, so you may not need to hire a handyman to put up and take it down.
- It may reduce homeowner's cost.
- Folds up neatly into its own storage bags and takes up little space in attic, garage or storage unit.
Traditional aluminum hurricane shutters are not only time-consuming to install but increase of demand causes aluminum prices to rise. If you are looking for permanently installed hurricane protection, you may consider rolldown and accordion shutters. They are installed on any window, door or lanai opening and can be used throughout the year. Rolldown and accordion shutters have several benefits including:
- Complete storm protection
- Security against theft and break-ins
- Sun protection
- Noise reduction
Also, remember that with heavy winds comes a good chance of trees and limbs falling down or possibly becoming airborne, so clean up those loose branches and remove damaged trees.
Hurricane Kit Preparedness
Once you’ve selected proper hurricane protection, it’s time to put together your hurricane kit. Running around town last minute trying to go to the stores and get gas is a nightmare, especially when a storm is about to make landfall. Days before Irma arrived, many gas stations were sold out and grocery stores were struggling to get last minute shipments in. Water starts being rationed and shelves are practically empty. Your hurricane kit checklist should look like something like this:
- Water- one gallon per person per day for at least three days.
- Non-perishable food
- Battery-powered/ hand crank radio
- Flashlight(s)
- First aid kit
- Extra batteries
- Can opener
Keep in mind that if you have pets, they should have a checklist of their own and never be left behind.
Evacuation Route- Know Where To Go
During hurricane season, it is not uncommon to have to evacuate your home depending on the category of the storm. There are several steps to take if you find yourself and your family having to evacuate:
- Map out your route. Make sure you know where you’re going because you never know how traffic will be leading up to the storm.
- Make sure your car is filled with gas.
- Bring all hurricane kit items.
- If you have a pet or pet(s) never leave them behind and bring all checklist items (water, food, documents)
- Have cash handy.
Check with your local emergency management office for information on evacuation routes and always listen to local officials when they say to evacuate.
Hurricane season is approaching quickly and we recommend preparing your home and your family, as soon as possible. At Naples Shutter, we do the best that we can to help you prepare your home for whatever may come our way, but we can only do so much before we need to prepare ourselves. Help us help you by calling us in advance so that we can outfit your home with the very best hurricane protection in the industry. Your home and family depends on it.
