Summertime means summer storms, including thunderstorms and hurricanes. To get your house and family ready to deal with severe weather, you need to prepare now.

Start by checking to make sure you have the right insurance to protect you from severe weather—including wind damage, fire caused by lightning, and water damage from flooding.

When a storm or hurricane is approaching, remove or tie down any loose items, such as garbage cans and patio furniture. Cover windows with 5/8” plywood, approved PVC panels, or special fabric storm panels.

To provide electricity for your home during a storm or other power outage, consider installing a whole house standby generator, such as those from Generac, which turn on automatically whenever the power goes off.

Generac portable generator in front of house.
Generac portable generator.

If you have a portable generator, only use it outdoor in an open, well ventilated area. Do not run a generator in a garage, storage shed, or near windows or doors.

Don’t overload a portable generator, and turn it off and allow the generator to cool down before refueling.

Read Prepare Now for Hurricanes and Severe Weather to find out more.

Watch the video above to find out more.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Danny Lipford: Hi, Danny Lipford here. Summertime means summer storms, and to get ready takes a little bit of preparation. Start out by talking to your insurance company and making sure you know exactly what type of insurance coverage that you have.

Also, a great time to have a little family meeting and tell everybody in the family what you need to do in the event of some severe weather. Another great idea if you have a standby generator—a whole house generator—tune it up and make sure it’s ready to go. If you don’t have one, you might consider it—a lot cheaper than you might think and a lot smaller.

This one from Generac is big enough to furnish all of the power to a 2,000-square-foot house or more depending on the electrical service. And it has an automatic transfer switch that’s available that as soon as the power goes off it will turn on, you won’t even be without power at all.

Now, if a storm is coming your way, you want to clean up everything. Get all of the garbage cans and tables and chairs out of the way—make sure that’s good. Gas up the car, because you never know when you might have to evacuate, that’s always a good idea.

And if you know you’re in the path of a severe storm, like a hurricane, go ahead and board up those windows with plywood, or you can use a PVC panel. Or you can also use a type of fabric that’s made out of the same material that bulletproof vests are made out of.

But if you’re in the storm and you do have a problem there, the aftermath is very important to be very, very careful. You’re going to have power lines down, you’re going to have trees down.

And, if you’re using a portable generator—and a lot of people have portable generators these days—here’s a few safety tips from Generac. You want to make sure that when you’re using a portable generator, do not use it in a garage or inside your house. It needs to be in a well ventilated area and away from any window or door.

Also, don’t overload it. And when you’re filling it up with fuel, make sure that you allow it to cool down a little bit—turn it off, cool it down, and then you’re able to pour the gas in.

All of these things will keep you and your family safe. And more information is available at TodaysHomeowner.com


Further Information


Editorial Contributors
avatar for Danny Lipford

Danny Lipford

Founder

Danny Lipford is a home improvement expert and television personality who started his remodeling business, Lipford Construction, at the age of 21 in Mobile, Alabama. He gained national recognition as the host of the nationally syndicated television show, Today's Homeowner with Danny Lipford, which started as a small cable show in Mobile. Danny's expertise in home improvement has also led him to be a contributor to popular magazines and websites and the go-to source for advice on everything related to the home. He has made over 200 national television appearances and served as the home improvement expert for CBS's The Early Show and The Weather Channel for over a decade. Danny is also the founder of 3 Echoes Content Studio, TodaysHomeowner.com, and Checking In With Chelsea, a décor and lifestyle blog.

Learn More