Hi, this is Mark Tobert with Hernando County Emergency Management in this segment we’re going to talk about how to secure your home in the event of a hurricane approaching.
Some of the things that you need to start thinking about before hurricane approaches is to inspect your roof, windows and doors for possible leaks or for any signs of obvious ware or deterioration. When checking windows and doors make sure that they close properly and there are no defects at the glass in closing and opening mechanisms. When checking your roof make sure that they shingles are intact and that all the shingles are in place. When checking the outside of your home before hurricane season make sure that the trees have been cut back and the shrubs are well maintained. This will keep flying debris from flying into your house when the winds pick up. In order to keep damage minimum to your house during a storm make sure all of your lawn furniture and loose items that out in your yard are secured before the hurricane arrives. This will limit the amount of flying débris and missiles that may enter your house.
When staying at your home during a hurricane make sure you identify a safe room. Safe room is an interior room with the maximum number of walls between you and the outside part of your house. Check your home owners policy for flood insurance, flood insurance is very important during a hurricane a lot of home owners insurance policies do not include flood insurance.
Make sure that you're insurance policy includes flood coverage. One of the most important things you can do before storm is protect your windows and door for flying debris. Ones the air pressure inside your home builds the entire structure will fail. When protecting your windows there are several different layers of protection. Duck tape as many people think is not a level of protection and does not protect your windows at all. Plywood is probably the least expensive option for you and that it is easily installed with the screws or bolts on the outside of your home.
You can buy plywood at a hardware store when installing plywood to cover your windows and doors make sure you cut the plywood to overlap the windows at least by one inch. Or you can invest in commercially available hurricane shutter while commercial shutters maybe more expensive they may offer the best amount of protection to your home.
Another option available to you well covering your windows or doors is a glass laminin product. Window film that’s available commercially, hurricane window film products will protect your glass from impact from flying debris however they are susceptible to repeated impacts and my fail at a certain point. Plywood and commercially available shutter are a better option for covering your windows. This completes the segment on how to secure your home prior to the storm. Next step, is what to do if you evacuate or you stay at home.
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