Hazard · Atlantic & Gulf coasts
The disaster you can see coming.
Hurricanes are the rare hazard that announces itself five days out. The job isn't reacting. The job is using the warning. Here is what to do with it, in plain order.
FROM THE FIELD
Hurricanes give more warning than any other hazard on this site, and survivors consistently describe wasting most of it. The pattern holds across Harvey, Ian, and Katrina: families watch the track models shift for days, convince themselves the storm will turn, and begin preparing after the window has functionally closed. The households that came through best treated the first watch as the starting signal, not the forecast cone.
What this hazard looks like
Where, when, and how the warning arrives.
Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30, peaking between mid-August and mid-October. A typical season produces about 14 named storms, 7 hurricanes, and 3 major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher) under the 1991–2020 climate normals.
Florida and the Gulf
Highest landfall frequency in the country. Florida averages one direct hit every two years. Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas each see multiple landfalls per decade.
The Carolinas
Long warning windows. The damage is often inland flooding more than wind, which catches households outside the official evacuation zones unprepared.
Northeast and Mid-Atlantic
Less frequent, less prepared. Sandy in 2012 and Ida's remnants in 2021 are the recent benchmarks. Storm surge in New York and New Jersey is a serious threat under-recognized by long-time residents.
How the warning reaches you: the National Hurricane Center issues a 5-day forecast cone showing the probable storm track. The cone narrows as the storm approaches. Most households get their first formal alert (a watch or warning) between 36 and 72 hours before landfall.
The two alerts that matter
Watch and warning are different jobs.
More than half the people in the path of a hurricane misread the difference. Knowing it in advance keeps you ahead of the surge of last-minute traffic, fuel lines, and empty store shelves.
01
Hurricane Watch
Conditions are possible within 48 hours.
Your job at watch:
- Finalize your shelter-or-evacuate decision
- Fuel both vehicles and the generator
- Confirm your route and destination
- Refill prescriptions and withdraw cash
02
Hurricane Warning
Conditions are expected within 36 hours.
Your job at warning:
- Execute the decision you already made
- If evacuating, leave now; the roads will jam
- If staying, install shutters and complete the house
- Move to an interior room before landfall
A note on tropical storms. Tropical Storm Watch and Tropical Storm Warning operate on the same 48-hour and 36-hour timelines for sustained winds of 39 to 73 mph. Storms below hurricane strength still produce inland flooding, tornadoes, and extended power outages. Treat them with the same discipline.
The first real decision
Shelter or evacuate. The rule is simpler than it looks.
Two rules cover most households. The third question only matters if neither rule applies.
Rule one
If you're in a mandatory evacuation zone, you leave.
Evacuation zones are drawn around storm surge, which historically causes 40 to 50 percent of all hurricane deaths. The zone exists because the ground you're standing on will be underwater. No structure prevents that.
Rule two
If you live in a mobile or manufactured home, you leave.
National Weather Service guidance is unambiguous. Manufactured housing cannot be made safe at hurricane wind speeds, regardless of tie-downs or anchors. This applies to every hurricane category, including Category 1.
For everyone else, three questions help. Answering yes to any one usually means leaving.
- Power dependency. Does anyone in the household rely on plug-in medical equipment (oxygen concentrator, CPAP, home dialysis)? Generator failures are common after major storms.
- Structural integrity. Was the home built before the local hurricane code revision? In Florida that's pre-1994. In most other coastal states, pre-2000. If yes, the building wasn't designed for current storm intensities.
- Evacuation traffic. Do you live more than 30 minutes inland from a mandatory zone? If you delay to a warning, the highways will likely be impassable.
Know yours before June 1
Evacuation zones are lettered, not zoned.
Most coastal states use letter-based evacuation zones (A through E or A through F), with A being the most vulnerable to surge and ordered out first. You can find yours by address through your state's emergency management website. Look it up in the off-season, write it on the household plan, and don't rely on memory the day of.
Two routes, not one
Identify a primary inland route and one backup. Interstate corridors flood, jam, or close. A secondary route on US or state highways is often slower in normal traffic but faster when the primary fails.
A destination, not a direction
Pick a specific town 50 to 100 miles inland. A named hotel, a relative's address, a campground, a known shelter. "Somewhere northbound" is how families end up sleeping in cars at full rest stops.
Three things people forget
- Pets. Most general-population shelters don't accept them. Pet-friendly shelters fill first. Confirm one in advance or stay with someone who allows pets.
- Prescriptions. Pharmacies in the evacuation zone close. Request 90-day fills before June 1, or use a mail-order pharmacy with an out-of-zone address.
- A paper map. Cellular networks fail during and after landfall, sometimes for days. A printed state road map costs $5 and works without batteries.
From the field · Every evacuation plan on this page assumes a vehicle. At Katrina, over half of households in poverty had no car. If your household does not have reliable transportation, your plan needs to name a specific person, neighbor, or transit option that gets you out before the roads close.
Hardening the house
Shutters or plywood. The honest comparison.
Both work. The choice comes down to cost, deployment time, and storage. Neither is a substitute for evacuation if you're in the surge zone, but for inland wind protection, the right window covering buys you a structurally intact house.
Permanent storm shutters
$20–$45 per square foot installed
- Deploy in 30 to 60 minutes
- Last 20-plus years
- Often qualify for insurance discounts
- Higher upfront cost
Worth the investment if you live in an active hurricane zone and expect more than one storm preparation per decade.
Plywood (5/8" exterior grade)
$1.50–$2 per square foot, materials only
- Low cost
- Acceptable for occasional risk
- Pre-cut and label panels in advance, or you'll be doing it in line at a sold-out hardware store
- Requires storage space and pre-drilled anchors
Reasonable for the occasional inland threat. Frustrating if you face a storm threat every other year.
The overlooked retrofit
Reinforce the garage door.
The garage door is the most common point of structural failure in a residential hurricane. Once it goes, internal pressure lifts the roof. A garage door bracing kit costs $150 to $300 and is the single most useful structural upgrade most coastal homes can make. Add it before you spend a dollar on a generator.
Power when the grid is gone
Fuel storage and the one rule that kills.
The rule
Never run a generator indoors, in a garage (open or closed), or within 20 feet of any window, door, or vent. Carbon monoxide is the leading cause of post-storm fatalities other than the storm itself.
Honest fuel math
A 5,000-watt portable generator burns about 0.75 gallons per hour at half load. That's roughly 9 gallons for 12 hours of intermittent use.
Plan for three to seven days of post-storm outage, used intermittently to keep the refrigerator cold and devices charged. A realistic household stockpile is 25 to 35 gallons.
Storage and rotation
Gasoline degrades in 3 to 6 months untreated. With a stabilizer (PRI-G or Sta-Bil), it remains usable for 12 to 24 months. Rotate annually into your daily-driver vehicle.
Store outside the home in approved metal or HDPE cans, in shade, away from ignition sources. Check your local fire code; most jurisdictions cap residential storage at 25 gallons.
For households not ready to commit to a generator, a 1,000 to 2,000 Wh portable power station with a solar panel covers the essentials (lights, phone, CPAP, a small fan) without the fuel or CO question. See the First 2 Weeks tier for the comparison.
What happens when
The five-day window, hour by hour.
From the field · The regret is always the same: people packed weekend bags and were gone for months. Grab documents and records, medications, and irreplaceable items first. Clothes can be replaced anywhere. Birth certificates and prescription lists cannot.
The forecast cone gives you a working timeline. Use it. Each phase has a job that is much harder to complete in the phase that follows.
The first 72 hours after
Mold doesn't wait for FEMA.
Mold begins to colonize wet drywall, carpet, and insulation within 24 to 48 hours of saturation. The first 72 hours after a storm decide how much of your home is recoverable. The work is unglamorous and starts before the lights come back on.
01
Safety check
Smell for gas at every point of entry. Stay clear of downed lines. Don't use the tap until your utility issues an all-clear; boil water in the interim. Avoid candles for light if you smell gas anywhere.
02
Document before you clean
Photograph and video every room and the exterior before moving anything. Insurance claims that go badly are usually documentation problems, not coverage problems.
From the field · The households that saved their homes gutted wet drywall within 48 to 72 hours, before any adjuster arrived. The ones that waited for the insurance inspector or FEMA to come first often lost the house to mold. Document everything with photos, then start tearing out wet material. The paperwork can catch up.
03
Drain and dry, fast
Pump out standing water. Pull up wet carpet and pad (they don't come back). Cut wet drywall 12 to 18 inches above the high-water line. Run fans and dehumidifiers around the clock once power returns.
04
Food and water triage
Discard refrigerated food after 4 hours without power. A freezer with the door kept closed holds food safely for about 48 hours. When in doubt, throw it out. Boil tap water until your utility clears it.
05
Insurance and FEMA
File the homeowner claim within days, not weeks. If you're in a federally declared disaster area, register at DisasterAssistance.gov for FEMA Individual Assistance. Keep receipts for everything, including hotels and meals.
06
Power and structural
If the meter or weatherhead pulled away from the house, the utility cannot legally restore power until an electrician repairs and a county inspector approves. Call both early; backlogs grow by the hour.
A note on flood insurance
Standard homeowner policies do not cover flooding. National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policies carry a 30-day waiting period before coverage begins. You cannot buy flood insurance after a named storm enters the forecast cone. Check your policy in May, not in August.
Where to find your specifics
Authoritative resources, by region.
Bookmark these before the season starts. State emergency management sites are where you find your specific evacuation zone, designated shelters, and county-level contraflow plans.
National
National Hurricane Center
Official forecasts, 5-day cones, advisories. nhc.noaa.gov
National
NOAA Weather Radio
All-hazards alerts for your county. weather.gov/nwr
Florida
FloridaDisaster.org
Florida Division of Emergency Management. Look up your evacuation zone by address.
Texas
Texas Division of Emergency Management
Coastal evacuation zones, contraflow plans, shelter locations. tdem.texas.gov
Louisiana
Louisiana GOHSEP
Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. gohsep.la.gov
North Carolina
NC Emergency Management
Coastal zone evacuation maps and ReadyNC household plans.
South Carolina
SC Emergency Management Division
Hurricane Guide, evacuation zones, lane reversal routes. scemd.org
National
American Red Cross
Find your local chapter and the nearest open shelters during an event.
Federal
DisasterAssistance.gov
FEMA Individual Assistance registration after a federal disaster declaration.
Build the baseline first
Start with the kit. Then return here.
The basics in the readiness curve cover most of what a hurricane requires. This page adds what's specific to the storm itself. The order is kit first, then hazard-specific layers.
Starting out
Build your 72-hour kit
One weekend, six pillars, the supplies that get you through the first three days of any disruption.
First 72 HoursGoing deeper
Extend to two weeks
Power outages from major hurricanes routinely run 7 to 14 days. The 2-week tier is what most coastal households actually need.
First 2 Weeks