The best time to prepare for a hurricane is long before one is named. The second-best time is now. Once a storm is on the map, stores run short on water and batteries, gas lines get long, and every decision feels urgent.
This hurricane preparedness checklist is organized by time: what to do at the start of the season, what to do when a storm is a few days out, and what to do in the final hours before it hits. If you already know you'll need to leave, our emergency go-bag checklist covers exactly what to pack, and our hurricane and wildfire evacuation checklist walks through leaving the house and documenting it for insurance.
One rule above all: follow your local emergency officials. If they tell you to evacuate, go.
Before the season (or right now)
The Atlantic hurricane season officially runs June 1 through November 30, but storms can form outside it. These are the things that take time, so they belong in a calm week, not a storm week.
Know your risk
- Find your evacuation zone. Your county or city emergency management website will have a lookup. Zones are based on storm surge, not just distance from the beach.
- Know your flood risk. Many people who flood don't live in a high-risk flood zone.
- Sign up for local alerts from your county or city, and make sure phones have emergency alerts turned on.
Make a family plan
- Decide where you'd go if you had to leave: a friend or relative inland, a hotel, or a public shelter. Plan two routes.
- Pick an out-of-area contact everyone can check in with. After a storm, long-distance calls and texts sometimes get through when local ones don't.
- Plan for every family member: kids, older relatives, anyone who uses medicine that needs refrigeration or equipment that needs power, and pets. Many shelters have rules about pets, so check ahead.
- Write the plan down. In a stressful moment, nobody remembers phone numbers.
Check your insurance
- Read your homeowners or renters policy and note your hurricane or windstorm deductible, which is often different from your regular deductible.
- Standard homeowners policies usually don't cover flood damage. Flood insurance is separate, and NFIP policies typically have a 30-day waiting period before coverage starts, so you can't wait until a storm is coming.
- Make a home inventory now: walk through each room recording video, and save it somewhere off-site, like cloud storage.
Build your supplies
- Water: Ready.gov recommends at least one gallon per person per day for several days, for drinking and sanitation. Many coastal emergency managers suggest more for hurricanes.
- Food: several days of shelf-stable food that doesn't need cooking, plus a manual can opener.
- Flashlights, extra batteries, a battery or hand-crank radio, and phone power banks.
- A first aid kit, and a supply of prescription medicines (ask your pharmacist what's possible).
- Pet food, water, carriers and records.
- Copies of important documents in a waterproof bag, and digital copies in secure cloud storage.
- Some cash. Card readers and ATMs need power.
Prep the house
- Trim trees and clear gutters.
- Know how to shut off electricity, gas and water, and keep any needed tools by the shutoffs.
- If you have shutters or plywood, check you have everything to install them, and label the boards by window.
When a storm is a few days away
The National Hurricane Center issues a hurricane watch when hurricane conditions are possible, usually about 48 hours before tropical-storm-force winds are expected, and a hurricane warning when they're expected, usually about 36 hours ahead. Tropical storm watches and warnings work the same way for weaker storms. Don't wait for a warning to start these:
- Restock water, food, medicines and batteries.
- Fill your car's gas tank, and keep it full.
- Charge phones, power banks and laptops.
- Get cash.
- Refill prescriptions if you can.
- Bring in or tie down outdoor furniture, grills, trash cans and anything that could blow around.
- Move important papers and valuables to a high, dry spot, or pack them to take with you.
- Check on neighbors and relatives who may need help getting ready or getting out.
- Pack go-bags for everyone, including pets, even if you plan to stay.
In the last hours before it hits
If you're told to evacuate
- Leave as early as you can. Roads get crowded and conditions get worse.
- Take go-bags, documents, medicines, pets and chargers.
- If officials advise it, turn off utilities before you go.
- Tell your out-of-area contact where you're going.
If you're staying
- Install shutters or board windows if you haven't.
- Set your fridge and freezer to the coldest setting so food stays cold longer if the power goes out.
- Fill bathtubs and large containers with water for washing and flushing (not for drinking).
- Pick an interior room on the lowest floor that isn't likely to flood, away from windows, as your safe spot.
- Keep your radio and phone nearby and stay tuned to local officials.
- Never run a generator, grill or camp stove indoors or in a garage. Carbon monoxide can build up quickly and you can't see or smell it.
After the storm
Stay put until officials say it's safe. Stay out of floodwater, watch for downed power lines, and photograph damage before you clean up. Our evacuation and home inventory article covers returning home and starting an insurance claim.
Keep it all in one binder
A plan only helps if you can find it when the power's out. Print your evacuation plan, contacts and checklists, put them in a binder or a waterproof bag, and keep it with your go-bag. For the medical part, get the free ER-Ready Kit: the one-page Emergency Health Summary, the "Where should I go?" guide and interpreter wallet cards, in English and Spanish.
To keep your family's full medical information together, the Family Health Binder: Fillable + iPad Edition ($29) keeps medicines, allergies, conditions, doctors and insurance in one binder, every page in English and Spanish.
Prefer a quick score first? Take the free 2-minute Readiness Score quiz.
The Ambos Health team
General information, not safety, legal or insurance advice. Always follow local emergency officials, and check your coverage with your insurance agent.