How to Prepare Your Car During Hurricane Season

Protecting your home and family during a hurricane is your number-one goal—of course, once you’ve established your emergency plans, stocked up on essentials and secured your home’s doors and windows, you may be wondering, how can I protect my car, too?

There are a few simple steps you can take to safeguard your car from the storm. Just read on to learn more.

Fuel up

If you’ve been through the hurricane routine before, you probably already know this step pretty well! Fueling up your vehicle in advance of an approaching storm is a key step, since it will allow you to travel post-storm even if gas stations are not yet functional.

Take photos of your car

As a recommended step for insurance, be sure to take some photos of your car (in addition to other important belongings) so that you can easily provide documentation in case you need to file a claim later on. It’s a practical step that is sure to grant you some much-needed peace of mind as you wait out the weather.

Remove essential items

We all know to travel with important documents like our insurance and registration, but you’ll want to remove these from your car before a storm. Put them wherever you’re keeping your other sensitive documents, such as birth certificates, medical information, and more (you can pick up a watertight document box made specifically for this purpose at many stores).

Fortify your home (and car) with a garage door brace

If possible, the best place to store your car during a hurricane is, of course, your garage, as this will provide the best protection from the elements outside. If you have a garage, you will want to fortify its door with a high-quality garage door brace to keep it as sturdy and secure as possible throughout the storm. This is an important step even if you don’t plan to store your car in your garage.

Consider a carport

Not everyone has a garage (or a garage that’s large enough to fit your car or cars), and that’s okay! Getting your car to high ground, if possible, is another helpful step. The second-best thing to do with your car is to outfit it with a car cover, which is helpful against superficial damage from debris, and place it under a carport. Even though water, wind and debris can still affect your car here, the carport may be able to help provide a greater degree of protection. Plus, when you install a carport with White Aluminum & Windows Sarasota, we can actually add a gutter for rainwater management, too!

The best thing about a carport? Even if you’re fortunate enough to not need it during hurricane season, it can still benefit you all year long by keeping your car in the shade. This is especially helpful on those hot Florida days when you don’t want to step into a car whose buckles and buttons are hot to the touch. And when your car is not parked underneath, your carport can serve as a great spot for outdoor projects or fun with the kids!

We hope that these tips help you prepare your car in the event of a potential hurricane. In addition to carports, Sarasota homeowners can call White Aluminum & Windows Sarasota to learn about a wide variety of storm protection solutions such as shutters, impact windows and more. With 60 years of experience, we’re especially equipped to handle your needs. Call us today and find out how we can help!