by Carl Paulino

Created on: December 21, 2008   Last Updated: December 24, 2008

The Best way to prepare your house for hurricane season is to prepare your house before hurricane season! Now is the time! Hurricane season starts in June. If you begin to prepare your house now, the costs can be defrayed over several months. Moreover, the prices on materials and services needed to prepare your house are less costly before hurricane season arrives.

One of the primary causes of hurricane damage (aside from wind and water damage) is falling trees or branches. Therefore, one of the best places to prepare you house for hurricane season is outside of your house. It is a good idea to assess the trees near your house every year, before hurricane season starts. Cutting down trees or branches can be very costly (especially during the hurricane season), so the more time you have to save for this expenditure, the less impact it will have on your family.

Look carefully at the trees near your home. Take notice of those that could possibly reach your house if they fell. Determine the strength and stability of the surrounding trees and remove those that are weak and dying or present a high risk to your home. If you are not comfortable in making that determination, you can call a tree removal company in your area. Remove all the dead branches from all the trees around your house.

Inspect and secure any flagpoles, light poles, statues, structures, electrical or plumbing equipment, or anything that could become a projectile or moved in high winds. Many of these things can be strapped or anchored down for added stability. Poles and the like can be secured by cement around the base and in the ground. Be aware that some things may need to be removed or replaced.

Another measure that can be taken to prepare your house for hurricane season is purchasing a gas powered generator and an Electrical Transfer Switch. These two items can cost anywhere from several hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars, depending on the wattage of the generator and what you want to keep running while the power is off.

A generator can be very handy by itself, but you would have to run cords to the appliances you want to power up. A transfer switch eliminates the need for extension cords running throughout your house and allows you to keep designated circuits (not just appliances) on at the flip of a switch.

While we are on the subject of electricity and power loss, a great idea to prepare your house for hurricane season is to install Emergency Lights. Emergency lights are powered by a battery

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