Hurricane Preparedness Week: Strengthen Your Home & Yard

5/25/2021 (Permalink)

Get the exterior of your home ready for hurricane season with these tips!

Hurricane season starts June 1st - is your home and business ready? Today’s hurricane season preparation tips are all about ways you can strengthen your property in advance of the heavy rain, falling trees, and strong winds that we typically experience during summer storms in our region.

1. Inspect the trees around your property or business for dead limbs and trim them. UF IFAS has tips for preparing trees for hurricane season and choosing landscaping specific to our North Central Florida region. Preventive maintenance of trees and landscaping can minimize flying debris or tree limbs falling onto roofs. Gainesville has been deemed a “Tree City of the World”, but all those trees also create potential for storm damage and roof leaks even though we aren’t near the beaches. 

2. Check the drainage in your yard. Heavy rainfall is not uncommon in our area, so make sure gutters and storm drains are clear.

3. Make room in your garage to store outdoor items that may become projectile during a storm. 

4. When a storm is close to approaching, you can also take these steps:

• Cover your windows if necessary
• Secure loose outdoor items such as patio furniture, trash cans and recycling bins, and children’s outdoor toys.
• Move vehicles to a safe location
• Bring potted plants and yard decor inside.

You can also check out our blog post on exterior home maintenance to prevent water damage, which will help your home during the rainy summer even if we don't have a busy hurricane season.

At SERVPRO, we have been helping homeowners and businesses with storm and water damage restoration in the Gainesville/Alachua County area for over a decade, so we are prepared to help you with whatever the 2021 hurricane season brings our way.