NOAA’s Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30 — six months out of every year when a named storm can put your address in its forecast cone with as little as five days’ notice. Most of the damage isn’t done by people who didn’t know a storm was coming. It’s done by people who knew, and still didn’t have water, fuel, cash, or a decision made before the lines at the gas station started.
This is the checklist to fix that. Read it in June, not while you’re watching a spaghetti model on the news.
Know What You’re Actually Facing: The Saffir-Simpson Scale
Hurricane categories measure sustained wind speed — nothing else. A Category 1 storm with catastrophic storm surge and rainfall can do more damage to your specific property than a Category 4 that tracks inland fast and dry. Don’t tune out a storm just because the category number looks low.
| Category | Sustained Winds | What It Means For Your House |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 74–95 mph | Shingle and siding damage, downed branches, power outages of hours to days |
| 2 | 96–110 mph | Major roof and siding damage, snapped trees, outages of days to a week+ |
| 3 (Major) | 111–129 mph | Structural damage to homes, near-total power loss, outages of a week to weeks |
| 4 (Major) | 130–156 mph | Severe structural damage, most trees down, outages of weeks to months |
| 5 (Major) | 157+ mph | Total roof failure and wall collapse possible, area uninhabitable for weeks |
7 Days Before Landfall: The Watch Period
Once your area enters a hurricane watch (storm conditions possible within 48 hours) or the forecast cone includes your county, start moving — don’t wait for the warning.
- Fill your vehicle’s gas tank and top it off again every day the storm is tracking toward you. Gas station lines and outages start days before landfall, not hours.
- Withdraw cash. Card readers and ATMs go down with the power grid. $200–$500 in small bills covers gas, ice, and supplies when nothing digital works.
- Photograph your property and possessions for insurance — every room, the roof, your vehicles, serial numbers on electronics. Email the photos to yourself or upload to cloud storage so they survive even if your phone doesn’t.
- Review your insurance policy. Confirm flood coverage specifically — standard homeowner’s policies typically exclude flood damage, which is the #1 source of hurricane losses.
- Charge every battery-powered device and power bank you own, every single night, starting now.
- Top off your stored water and emergency food. See our grid-down water guide for exactly what to fill and in what order once the countdown gets tighter.
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72 Hours Out: Make the Evacuate-or-Shelter Decision Now
This is the decision that matters most, and it has to be made before the highways clog and the shelters fill.
Evacuate If:
- You’re in a designated evacuation zone (check your county emergency management site, not just the news)
- You live in a mobile or manufactured home — these are not safe in hurricane-force wind regardless of category
- You’re in a storm surge zone or near a coastline, river, or floodplain
- Local officials issue a mandatory evacuation order — these exist because the data says you need to leave
- Anyone in your household depends on electricity for medical equipment and you have no backup power plan
Shelter In Place If:
- You’re well inland, above flood elevation, in a structurally sound home
- No evacuation order has been issued for your zone
- You have the supplies on the checklist below and a hardened safe room
If you’re evacuating, your 72-hour bug-out bag should already be built and by the door — this is exactly the scenario it exists for. If you’re sheltering, the next section is your supply list.
The Hurricane Supply Checklist
Build this before hurricane season starts, not when the cone appears. Hardware stores sell out of plywood, batteries, and generators within hours of a watch being issued.
- Water: 1 gallon per person per day, minimum 2 weeks on hand (see our water storage breakdown for exact container math)
- Food: 2 weeks of no-cook or minimal-cook shelf-stable food per person
- NOAA weather radio with battery backup (not just a phone — cell towers go down)
- Portable generator or battery power station — see our generator buyer’s guide and battery power station guide before you buy
- Carbon monoxide detector — mandatory if you’ll run a generator near the house at any point
- Plywood or hurricane shutters pre-cut and labeled per window, ready to mount in under an hour
- Flashlights and headlamps with spare batteries — one per family member, plus extras
- First aid kit stocked for lacerations, punctures, and burns (see our emergency medical kit guide)
- Cash in small bills, $200–$500
- Full tank of gas in every vehicle, plus stored fuel for a generator if you own one
- Important documents in a waterproof container: ID, insurance policies, deeds, medical records
- Chainsaw or hand saw for clearing downed trees and debris afterward
- Tarps and heavy-duty tape for emergency roof and window repairs
- Coolers and ice for medication and food preservation during extended outages
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The Night Before: Final Walkthrough
- Bring in or tie down anything that can become a projectile in high wind: patio furniture, grills, planters, trash cans, decorations
- Mount shutters or board windows
- Park vehicles in a garage if possible, or away from trees, with full tanks
- Fill bathtubs and large containers with water for sanitation use (not just drinking)
- Set refrigerator and freezer to coldest settings — a few extra hours of cold buys food safety time during the outage
- Turn off propane tanks at the source if a direct hit is expected
- Charge everything one final time and unplug sensitive electronics in case of power surges when the grid comes back
During the Storm
If you’re sheltering in place: stay away from windows and exterior walls, retreat to the lowest, most interior room without windows, and stay there until officials confirm the storm — including the calmer eye, if one passes directly overhead — has fully cleared your area. The eye is not the end of the storm; the wind returns from the opposite direction once it passes.
After the Storm: The First 24–72 Hours
This is where the second wave of preventable injuries and deaths happens — not from the storm, but from the cleanup.
Generator Safety
Run generators outdoors only, at least 20 feet from any door, window, or vent — never in a garage, even with the door open. Carbon monoxide poisoning from improperly placed generators is one of the most common causes of post-hurricane death. Our winter survival guide covers CO safety in more depth, and the same rules apply here.
Water Safety
Assume tap water is contaminated until officials issue an all-clear, especially if there’s been flooding. Use stored water or purify what you have using the methods in our water purification guide.
Downed Lines and Debris
Treat every downed power line as live, even if the area has been without power for days — lines can become energized when crews restore service elsewhere on the grid. Stay back, and report locations rather than moving lines yourself.
Food Safety
A full freezer stays safe for about 48 hours without power if left unopened; a half-full freezer for about 24 hours. A refrigerator holds safe temperatures for about 4 hours unopened. When in doubt, throw it out — foodborne illness on top of a hurricane recovery is exactly the compounding problem you’re trying to avoid.
The Bottom Line
Hurricanes give you more warning than almost any other natural disaster — five to seven days, sometimes more. That window is the entire advantage. People who use it are filling gas tanks and reviewing insurance while the people who didn’t are standing in a three-hour line for plywood the night before landfall.
Build the supply list above before June 1. Make your evacuate-or-shelter decision rule now, in writing, so you’re not negotiating with yourself at 72 hours out. And once the storm passes, treat the cleanup with the same caution as the storm itself — that’s when most of the truly preventable injuries happen.
Prepared is better than scared. Especially when the forecast gives you a week’s notice to prove it.