How to Prepare for Hurricane Season: The Complete Household Checklist

Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30, and the households that come through it well all do the same thing: they split preparation into three phases. What you do in calm June is different from what you do when a watch is issued, which is different from the final 24 hours. Trying to do all of it in the last day is how people end up in the plywood line at 9 PM.

Phase 1: June, while the sky is blue#

Supplies. Build the base you'll live on if power and water fail: two weeks of food and water per person. The full lists are here: 2-week food supply and water storage math. After a major storm, help routinely takes longer than the classic three days to arrive.

Know your zone. Look up your evacuation zone and your flood risk now, and decide in advance what category of storm makes you leave. The worst evacuation decisions are made at midnight with a storm 12 hours out.

Paper and money. Photograph your home room by room for insurance, put document copies in a waterproof pouch, and set aside cash in small bills.

The house. Trim dead branches, check roof and gutters, and know exactly where your plywood or shutters are and how long installation takes. If you own a generator, run it, and plan its placement: outside, 20 feet from the house, never in a garage. Carbon monoxide kills more people after storms than the storms' floodwater in some seasons.

The kit. Every household member gets a go-bag in case you evacuate: 72-hour kit checklist here.

Phase 2: a hurricane watch (48 hours out)#

• Fill your gas tank and keep it above half for the season.
• Charge everything: phones, power banks, rechargeable lanterns.
• Freeze water in bags and containers: it holds the freezer cold longer, then becomes drinking water.
• Do the last grocery run from your list, not the panicked shelves.
• Stage shutters or plywood while it's calm.

Phase 3: a hurricane warning (36 hours out or less)#

• Board up, bring in everything loose from the yard.
• Fill the bathtub (or a tub liner, which keeps it clean and holds up to 100 gallons) for washing and flushing water.
• Turn the fridge and freezer to their coldest settings and stop opening them.
• Put shoes and a flashlight by every bed.
• If you decided to leave: leave early. The plan you made in June is the one to follow, not the one the group chat is debating.

After the storm#

Assume lines are down and water may be unsafe until officials say otherwise. Run the fridge and freezer food safety rules before eating anything perishable, and never run a generator indoors.

The June phase is really an inventory problem#

Phase 1 is 80 percent of the outcome, and it's the phase people skip because "two weeks of supplies" is vague. Provision Planner makes it a number: set up your household, scan in what you have, and see your actual coverage in days. Then run its hurricane scenario to find the gaps in July instead of discovering them in the dark.