Living in Brevard County means sunshine, beaches, and golfing on a Tuesday afternoon in December. It also means hurricane season, which runs from June 1st to November 30th every year, and the part of it we watch most closely falls right about now.
If you’re new to owning property in Florida, or you’ve been here a while and have never quite got around to it, here’s what actually needs doing. Most of it is one afternoon of work, and you only have to do it once.
Start with your evacuation zone, because everything else depends on it
This is the one people skip, and it’s the one that matters most. Evacuation orders in Florida are issued by zone, not by neighborhood or by how close you feel to the water. Two houses on the same street can sit in different zones.
You can look yours up in about a minute at Know Your Zone, run by the Florida Division of Emergency Management. There is also a Brevard County evacuation map if you would rather see the whole county at once.
Write the zone down somewhere you will find it again. When an order comes, it will name zones, and you don’t want to be looking it up then.
Then sign up for AlertBrevard
AlertBrevard is the county’s own notification system, run by Emergency Management along with Utilities and Fire Rescue. It covers evacuation orders, weather watches and warnings, wildfires and boil water notices, and you can choose to get them by phone call, text, e-mail, or all three.
It takes a couple of minutes. If you have questions about it, the Emergency Management Office takes them at (321) 637-6670.
One thing the county says plainly on that page and it is worth repeating: this should not be your only source. Keep an eye on the Brevard County Storm Center too, and a NOAA weather radio is not a bad thing to own.
Outside the house
Anything that can be blown away needs to come in or be tied down. Patio furniture becomes a projectile in serious wind, and it’s the easiest thing in the world to move. Same goes for pool supplies, large potted plants and lawn decor. If you have a shed or outdoor storage, check it is properly anchored. Covering your air conditioning unit shields it from flying debris, and in Florida you very much want your air conditioning.
Prune loose branches while the weather’s fine. Nobody wants part of their tree coming through the living room window in the middle of a downpour. If you are replanting anything, it is worth thinking about what will and will not shatter a window.
If you have a pool, do not drain it
This one surprises people, so it’s worth spelling out. When heavy rain raises the water table, hydrostatic pressure builds underneath the pool. An empty pool can pop out of the ground, or the pressure can push a vinyl liner off the floor. The weight of the water is what holds it in place. Leave it full.
Shut the filter pump off at the breaker as the storm approaches, and if you’ve got a gas heater, shut the gas off at the meter.
Bring in everything around the pool that is not bolted down. Toys, skimmer lids, poles, all of it. And do not throw things into the pool to keep them from blowing away, which people do suggest. Anything with metal in it, even small screws, will stain the pool surface very quickly.
Windows, doors and the garage
Most Floridians come around to storm shutters after their first serious storm. They’re not the look anybody’s going for when they are house hunting, but you will be glad of them. Extra latches or hooks on the garage door and any outward-facing doors are worth doing at the same time, because a garage door that goes is often how a roof follows.
The documents you forget exist until you need them
Birth certificates, marriage license, social security cards, insurance policies, the deed. Put them somewhere safe and somewhere you can grab them in one movement on the way out of the door. A waterproof folder or bag is the usual answer.
Your storm kit
If you’ve never built one, the idea’s simple. It should cover you for a couple of days, either sheltering at home or at a local facility. A reasonable starting point:
- A flashlight and spare batteries
- Bottled water and food that needs no cooking
- A battery or hand-crank radio
- A first aid kit
- Prescription medication, for people and for pets
- A change of clothes, and a pillow if you are heading to a shelter
- Cash, since card machines need power
Fill the car with fuel and charge your phone before the weather turns, not after. And plenty of people around here keep plywood on hand rather than joining the queue for it.
Know where your shutoffs are
Find your electric and water shutoffs now, while it’s calm and light and you’re not in a hurry. Show whoever else lives in the house. It’s a five-minute job that’s genuinely miserable to do for the first time in a storm.
Where to get the official word
These are the sources worth having bookmarked. Everything above is preparation. These are for when something is actually coming.
- Brevard County Storm Center, for evacuation orders, shelter openings, closures and recovery information
- National Hurricane Center preparedness guide, from NOAA
- The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, so the category actually means something to you
- The Red Cross hurricane safety checklist, a printable one-page version
And then it is over
Hurricane season ends on November 30th, and then it’s back to sunshine and Tuesday afternoon golf. Getting it done once, properly, is what lets you stop thinking about it for the rest of the year.
If you are buying or selling in Brevard and want to talk about how any of this affects a particular property, insurance, shutters, flood zone, elevation, I’m happy to walk through it. Misty Morrison, 321-574-8119.
