Prepare for a Hurricane

Before choosing supplies or deciding where to stay, understand the hazards that could affect your location.

Consider:

• Storm surge
• Inland flooding
• Hurricane-force wind
• Tornadoes
• Falling trees
• Extended power outages
• Extreme heat
• Damaged roads and bridges
• Water and sewer interruptions
• Isolation from emergency services

Know your evacuation zone and learn whether your home is vulnerable to flooding, wind damage, or access problems.

The category of a hurricane does not describe every hazard. A storm can produce dangerous flooding, tornadoes, power outages, and storm surge far from its center.

Check your evacuation zone through your county emergency-management office and learn how storm surge, flooding, wind, tornadoes, and extended outages could affect your location.

Then prepare for both possibilities: remaining home when conditions are safe and leaving quickly when officials issue an evacuation order or the home can no longer support your household safely.

Every household should prepare for both sheltering at home and evacuating.

The final decision may depend on the storm, evacuation orders, the home’s construction, medical needs, available transportation, and the reliability of essential utilities.

Remaining home may be reasonable when:

• The property is outside an ordered evacuation area.
• The structure is appropriate for the expected hazards.
• Flooding is not expected to make the location unsafe.
• Everyone’s medical and mobility needs can be supported.
• The household can manage an extended power outage.
• Officials have not instructed residents to leave.

Use Home Preparation to protect the property and prepare the interior.

Use Bug In Preparation to plan for water, food, sanitation, heat, refrigeration, power outages, and daily life without normal services.

Prepare to leave if:

• Officials issue an evacuation order.
• The home is in a storm-surge evacuation zone.
• The building is a mobile or manufactured home.
• The structure cannot safely withstand the expected conditions.
• Flooding could block access or trap the household.
• Essential medical equipment cannot operate through an outage.
• Someone requires care that will not remain available.
• The home may become dangerously hot without air conditioning.
• You do not have a safe way to remain self-sufficient.

Use Evacuation Planning to select destinations, routes, departure times, and backup options.

Keep Bug Out Bags ready for every household member.

Complete Vehicle Preparation before transportation becomes urgent.

A storm forecast can change. So can evacuation zones, shelter availability, road conditions, medical needs, and the ability of a home to remain safe.

A strong plan allows the household to remain home when conditions permit but leave quickly if the risk increases.

Do not wait for certainty before preparing transportation, supplies, medication, documents, pets, and a destination.

Your preparation should cover four basic functions: protecting the home, remaining safely at home, leaving when necessary, and maintaining transportation.

Home Preparation covers:

• Roof, window, door, and garage-door protection
• Drainage and flood precautions
• Outdoor objects and landscaping
• Utilities and shutoff procedures
• Apartment, condominium, rental, and manufactured-home considerations
• Interior safe areas
• Property inventories and documents
• Final preparation before impact

Complete structural repairs and exterior work before a storm threatens. Do not remain outside to finish preparation once wind, lightning, or flooding makes conditions dangerous.

Bug In Preparation covers:

• Drinking water
• Shelf-stable food
• Refrigeration
• Cooking without normal utilities
• Sanitation
• Florida heat
• Backup power
• Medical needs
• Children and pets
• Living safely through an extended outage

Plan for more than the storm itself. Utility restoration, debris removal, road access, fuel availability, and supply shortages may take much longer.

Bug Out Bags should contain the items needed to leave quickly and safely.

Prepare bags around realistic destinations and transportation methods. A bag intended for driving to a relative’s home may look different from one needed for a shelter, hotel, public transportation, or travel on foot.

Include identification, medication, communication equipment, water, food, clothing, hygiene supplies, necessary medical items, and household-specific needs.

Vehicle Preparation covers:

• Maintenance and reliability
• Fuel or vehicle charging
• Tires and battery condition
• Emergency equipment
• Vehicle documents
• Route planning
• Cargo organization
• Heat and flood risks
• Traveling with children, pets, older adults, and medical equipment

Do not treat the vehicle as an afterthought. It may become the link between your home and a safer location.

Preparedness becomes more dependable when essential household systems have backups.

Identify what must continue operating during an outage.

Priorities may include:

• Medical devices
• Refrigerated medication
• Phones
• Emergency alerts
• Refrigerators and freezers
• Fans
• Pumps
• Mobility equipment
• Flashlights and lanterns

Use Power and Lighting to estimate electrical needs, compare backup options, plan emergency lighting, and operate generators safely.

Never operate a fuel-burning generator inside a home, garage, carport, shed, enclosed porch, or other enclosed or partially enclosed area.

Prepare for health and household hazards before emergency services become difficult to reach.

Use Medical and Safety to organize:

• First-aid supplies
• Prescription and over-the-counter medication
• Medical records
• Backup power for medical equipment
• Refrigerated medication
• Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms
• Fire extinguishers
• Protective equipment
• Emergency contacts
• Plans for urgent medical care

If someone relies on electrically powered equipment, mobility assistance, refrigerated medication, or routine medical treatment, develop a backup and relocation plan before hurricane season.

A communication plan should continue working when normal methods fail.

Use Communications to prepare:

• Emergency alerts
• Household contacts
• An out-of-area contact
• Weather radios
• Phone power
• Written telephone numbers
• Offline maps
• Meeting locations
• Check-in procedures
• Backup communication methods

Everyone should know who to contact, where to meet, and where the household plans to stay.

A generic household plan may not meet everyone’s needs.

Use Family and Pets to prepare for:

• Infants and children
• Teenagers
• Older adults
• Disabilities
• Access and functional needs
• Caregivers
• Pets
• Service animals
• Emotional and behavioral needs

Assign responsibilities based on what each person can safely do. Do not build a plan that depends entirely on one person being available.

Educational guides explain what to consider. Checklists help track what has actually been completed.

Use the Home Prep List to inspect the property, assign responsibilities, prepare utilities, protect important belongings, and complete a final walkthrough.

Use the Vehicle Prep List to track maintenance, fuel, emergency equipment, documents, charging supplies, and evacuation readiness.

Use the Evacuation List to confirm destinations, routes, medication, documents, pets, transportation, communication, and final departure tasks.

Review each checklist before hurricane season and again when a storm may threaten your area.

Do not begin by purchasing random emergency products.

Start by identifying:

• What the household already owns
• Which hazards are most likely
• How many people and animals must be supported
• Which medical needs cannot be interrupted
• Whether the plan involves staying, evacuating, or both
• How supplies will be stored, carried, maintained, and replaced

The Essentials Kit provides a foundation for households beginning their preparation.

It focuses on the practical supplies needed for water, food, lighting, communication, first aid, sanitation, documents, and basic emergency functions.

The Compact Kit is designed for households with limited storage, smaller vehicles, apartments, condominiums, or a need to keep equipment lightweight and manageable.

The Elite Loadout Guide covers a more comprehensive and layered system for households that want additional capacity, redundancy, and longer-duration support.

The Vehicle Loadout focuses on evacuation travel, roadside emergencies, cargo organization, communication, hydration, recovery equipment, and remaining mobile during disrupted conditions.

Choose supplies because they solve a documented need. Test equipment before depending on it.

Use the Gear section when you are ready to compare equipment categories and product recommendations.

Protect physical and digital copies of information the household may need during evacuation, insurance claims, medical care, and recovery.

Consider:

• Government identification
• Insurance policies
• Medical information
• Prescription details
• Property records
• Mortgage or lease information
• Vehicle documents
• Pet records
• Emergency contacts
• Account information
• Contractor information
• Household inventory
• Photographs of the property and valuable belongings

Store physical copies in a waterproof container. Maintain a secure digital backup that can be accessed away from the property.

Keep a reasonable amount of cash available because power outages may interrupt card processing and cash machines.

Hurricane preparation also involves physical ability, decision-making, stress management, and recovery.

An evacuation may require lifting supplies, loading a vehicle, climbing stairs, walking farther than expected, assisting another person, or remaining seated in traffic for long periods.

Use Fitness for Evacuation to improve practical strength, mobility, balance, endurance, and heat awareness within your abilities.

The emotional effects of a hurricane can begin before impact and continue long after public attention has moved elsewhere.

Use Recovery Mindset to prepare for stress, disrupted routines, decision fatigue, cleanup pressure, financial uncertainty, grief, and the emotional needs of children and other household members.

Preparation cannot eliminate every hardship. It can reduce avoidable decisions and give the household a clearer path forward.

If the entire preparation process feels overwhelming, begin in this order:

1. Learn your evacuation zone and local hazards.
2. Decide where you could evacuate.
3. Make a household communication plan.
4. Address medication and medical-equipment needs.
5. Store drinking water and shelf-stable food.
6. Prepare flashlights, charging equipment, and emergency alerts.
7. Complete essential home repairs and protection.
8. Prepare the vehicle and keep fuel or charge available.
9. Assemble bug out bags.
10. Build backup power and longer-duration supplies.
11. Prepare important documents and a household inventory.
12. Practice the plan and correct what does not work.

The correct order may change when someone has urgent medical, mobility, housing, transportation, or financial needs.

Complete the most serious vulnerability first.

As a storm approaches:

• Monitor the National Hurricane Center and local emergency management.
• Review your evacuation zone and local instructions.
• Confirm the home remains an appropriate place to stay.
• Fill prescriptions.
• Fuel or charge vehicles.
• Charge phones, batteries, lights, and power stations.
• Test backup power.
• Install shutters or approved window protection while conditions are safe.
• Bring outdoor objects inside.
• Store drinking water.
• Prepare refrigerators, freezers, and coolers.
• Place medication and documents together.
• Confirm destinations and routes.
• Prepare children, pets, and service animals.
• Tell your designated contact where you expect to be.
• Leave early when evacuation is necessary.

Do not delay evacuation to finish protecting property.

A plan should be understood by more than one person.

At least once each year:

• Update contact information.
• Review evacuation zones.
• Confirm destinations.
• Inspect stored food and water.
• Replace expired medication and supplies.
• Charge and test batteries.
• Test smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.
• Operate backup-power equipment safely.
• Inspect bug out bags.
• Review pet and service-animal arrangements.
• Photograph the property.
• Check insurance information.
• Practice household communication.
• Discuss what would cause you to evacuate.

Update the plan after a move, medical change, new vehicle, new pet, household change, or major equipment purchase.

Preparation gives your household options. The next steps depend on the storm and the conditions around you.

Use Evacuation Planning to choose where you will go, how you will travel, and when you will leave.

Use Real-Time Maps and Alerts to monitor official forecasts, evacuation information, road conditions, and changing hazards.

Review the Evacuate hub for complete evacuation guidance.

Use the Recover hub to prepare for safe reentry, cleanup, insurance claims, community assistance, and long-term recovery.