Hurricane Harvey Preparation Guide

Hurricane Harvey is the first major hurricane to hit Texas since 2008 (Hurricane Ike, category 2). It’s scheduled to make landfall on Saturday and expected to bring enough rain to overwhelm bayous and flood large swathes of land. Texas, particularly Houston, is flood-prone and no stranger to the many scenarios which may occur this weekend, but we have four tips to help you and your insureds in Texas make it through the weekend with slightly less panic.

Hurricane Harvey Preparation Tips:

Tip #1: Download the FEMA app. Do it now, before you need it. In the worst of the storm, it will have the best information.

Tip #2: Top up. Purchasing food essentials, especially non-perishables, can help to ensure that you’ll make it through during power outages. Speaking of power, don’t forget to charge your electronics and secure batteries. Homeland Security has some additional tips here.

Tip #3: Secure your items.  Items that are light or outdoors should be secured and strapped down when possible. Likewise, placing items (don’t forget important items such as passports, deeds and birth certificates) into waterproof containers and moving them to higher locations. The Red Cross has great information, especially for what to do after the storm.

Tip #4: Locate your insurance information. Find the name and contact for your insurance provider and take pre-storm pictures of your valuables.

Be safe out there. Be sure to keep sites such as noaa.gov at hand and consider searching social media sites such as Twitter with the hashtag #hurricaneharvey for updates.