11 Ways to Hurricane Proof Your House

Jess @ homevolution Thanks for sharing these tips! I hope all the east-coasters are staying safe & dry out there! We're not doing too bad here in Northern Virginia (at least so far!).

http://homevolution.blogspot.com/

kennedytarheel Wish I'd seen your article last week! Even though we did most everything we could do that is suggested in your article...nature had some different ideas here near DC!

Bud Dietrich, AIA Mother Nature does have a way of letting us know who's the boss. Hope you made it through the storm without to much inconvenience, kennedytarheel.

JAN MOYER Batteries!!! %$&* I went to nine places for D cell batteries two days in advance of Sandy, and there was not ONE to be had. Lesson learned! I still have a land line phone, will ALWAYS have a land line phone. PS to that is: Keep an antique princess phone to go with the land line princesses.!The cordless that must be plugged into electricity to even operate, will do you no good in a power failure.

catclawrose The "ideal" structure to weather a hurricane here on the Texas Gulf Coast, is a Quonset style building. Not the prettiest thing(s) around, but think about it-when you're inside, you can't see what the outside looks like ! The quonset style is super wind friendly, with no overhangs or corners to attract wind, it just flows over and around. My dream house ! The roll-up/crank-down metal shutters are great, too. We did an estate sale in a home,(not a Quonset, but a traditionally built house), that had these, and, when the shutters are,(manual ones, don't forget about power outages !), down, the house was tight as could be. And, it has weathered many storms, since the 1960's, with no ill effects, save losing a few shingles. One of the "reccommended" shapes for the beach areas here, the geodesic domes, fared terribly during our last storm, none survived. But the homely quonsets are still standing, looking no different than they did pre-hurricane !

mcgrathinnola I would also suggest a windup radio and forgo the battery kind. Use the batteries for lighting, not candles. And place your refrigerator foods in tied up trash bags in the freezer and fridge...if power out for days in warm weather, easy cleanup, won't have smelly fridge....i usually don't stock up on "fridge" foods during hurricane season..weekly purchase. Some tips from bayou land!

All Property Solutions Wow. Timely, indeed. Thanks, Bud.

JAN MOYER Regarding those lowly land lines? Today.......
http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/31/fcc-sandy-fallout/

Bowden Carroll Design My Dad is 93 and is currently without power in New Jersey, but he feels that as long as he has a supply of Jack Daniels for his evening drink, he's doing ok! With regard to your 1st point, I saw these shutters on a trip to Cape Town and although they're probably there for security reasons, they might do the trick in a storm as well.

Contempo Space Hurricane season definitely seems to be getting longer around NJ/NY. A few years ago, we didn't really have a "hurricane season" here.

Here's a public domain photo of Lavalette, NJ yesterday (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Mark C. Olsen/Released).

Looks like the ocean and beach covered the entire area.

2011mine Keep a backpack in the closet with: checklist, hand cranked radio, Hard candy, batteries, Gal bag pet food, pkgd "camping" meals, matches, baby wipes, 1st aid kit. Also: Pup tent & tarp.

Dolores Stewart Very sound advice.

judyg Very good and timely suggestions. Need my generator and (not Jack Daniels) tequil, salt and a good mixer.

patscats2 All very good recommendations, but one thing I want to increase on and that is the number of days you should have supplies for. As you've seen with Sandy and as I have seen with Katrina, more like 10 or more days should be the norm. No 2 storms are the same. We just went through Issac this year, a very small weak storm. Problem was it came in so slow and stayed around so long, it caused massive flooding and power outages. We were without power for 5 long hot days. In Katrina we were without any utilities, no water, no electric, no gas and no sewrage for 10 days. One thing you cannot keep enough of is water, gallons and gallons of water. We went through 5 gallons a day between drinking, bathing and the animals drinking water. Don't ever think a storm is "small" or "weak" and ignore what you should do. Always prepare for the worst and pray for the best.

debbietorres really good info and ideas

clinnyc Great advice - thank you and everyone's comments are helpful as well.
I don't have the answer, but many people realized too late that putting the generator in the basement or ground floor was not a good idea when flooding is a possibility. Also, many back up generators didn't work because they weren't checked recently, so running a check on your back up generator on some sort of schedule is a must.

ddouglass Bourn and raised in South Fla this is SOP for all of us. There isn't much you can do if you are in the path of a cat 4 or 5 but leave. Water, gas ( propone for the grill and gasoline) food, gas your cars up before and get some cash out . board up the house and keep all your pixs, important documents in plastic boxes. Visqune plastic, duct tap, trash bags, candles, bug spray, generator if you can afford one. Ice chests , turn up the refg to as high as you can , block ice last longer so put a few in the freezer keep the door shut. Have a plan for all your family and friends. Sit tight wait until the storm goes by or better yet leave !!! I worked for the electrical utility for 30 + years and the most our customers were out was just a few weeks but some special circumstances were longer ( Andrew !) . The best advice is be responsible for yourself and be smart. Hope this helps

Dave

alamgir_ag I really like the fact that Hurricane resistant house manufacturers use their resources wisely. That is something that the majority of builders just can’t do. For more information you may visit http://modulararchitecture.com/hurricane-resistant-homes

lotus3323 Be careful where you run a portable generator. I recall some carbon monoxide poisonings of people who were running their generator in their garage - the fumes made their way into the home.