How To Prepare Your Community Association For A Hurricane:  Important Preparation Checklist

In hurricane prone South Florida, it is important to be prepared for storms. A condo and homeowners association should work with vendors and a management company to ensure that their property will be readied for any storms during hurricane season.

Compiled here are a few hurricane readiness tips for your community or HOA. We’ve included some important considerations for your residential community during storms.

We believe that safety is the number one goal, so we’ve included a quick community hurricane preparation checklist of some simple steps to prepare your community for a hurricane so it is safe through the hurricane.

Have a Plan For Your Community Association

This seems simple, but we find many communities are under prepared during the storm season. Have a basic strategy to prep your property for a hurricane by securing the physical property outdoors and consider public spaces like streets, sidewalks, parks, pathways.

There may also be indoor spaces like club houses that need to be prepared for a hurricane.

Where will outdoor furniture or items be housed? Are public facilities and objects properly secured? What happens with landscape debris? Are there loose trash cans?

Think through an actual hurricane scenario and consider what on the physical property needs to be addressed.

The one positive of hurricanes is that we get advanced notice of their arrival. Use this to your advantage by preparing your community so it will be safe throughout and after a storm.

Good Communication With Your Community Association

Hurricane preparation on community property means instructions, expectations and policies are well communicated. There should be multiple levels of communication in which residents are well informed of what they are individually and collectively responsible for hurricane preparations.

Management companies should express what steps are being taken to prepare the property and an estimated timeline of events.

Management companies can also provide emergency contact information to homeowners and residents in advance of the hurricane for a variety of emergency situations. Good communication with residents about hurricane preparedness is key to a safe and well preserved community.

Follow the Rules Of Your Community Association

Extremely important during hurricane and other emergency situations is to follow all rules and regulations. This means that within the neighborhood it is important to continue to observe the HOA policy and any relevant hurricane clauses.

Following local and statewide ordinances is also important during storm situations. Abide by the rules and follow the instructions of emergency responders. Safety is the priority.

Quick Community Association Hurricane Preparation Checklist

-Landscape debris should be picked up and discarded

-Dangerous or precarious debris should be removed

-Outdoor furniture should be stored inside

-Trashcans, park equipment, and other items that are not secured should be

stored inside

-Hang window shutters over exposed windows

-Electric based fences and gates should remain open

– Sprinkler systems and fountains should be turned off

-Residents should bring unsecured items inside

As a property management firm in Boca Raton, Florida…

We know how challenging it can be to prepare a residential neighborhood for a hurricane.

With these important considerations and quick community hurricane preparation checklist, you should have a better idea of how to prepare your HOA property for a hurricane. Safety is the number one goal. If we can learn from hurricanes, it is to be prepared for anything.

It is better to be safe than sorry, so take the proper steps to prepare your south Florida community during hurricane season.