Hurricane Season Is Here—Are You Ready?

As the summer months draw near, South Florida residents are all too familiar with the anticipation and anxiety that accompany the approaching hurricane season. With its location along the vulnerable Atlantic coastline, South Florida has experienced its fair share of devastating storms.

It’s crucial for residents to prepare ahead of the hurricane starting and staying informed to ensure their safety and protect their property. South Florida hurricane prep is essential, so if you’re a new resident of South Florida, or looking for the best way to prepare you, your family, and your home for a hurricane, then the Broward Impact team has you covered.

Understanding the Hurricane Season

While hurricanes can form at any point of the year, they’re most likely to occur from June 1st to November 30th every year. This is due to several environmental variables such as pressure, desert winds from Africa, and more coming together to develop these powerful storms.

South Florida is a prime target of these storms, being directly in the path of several devastating storms throughout history. That’s why meteorologists and experts do everything they can to monitor and predict upcoming storms to aid in your hurricane prep.

What Makes a Hurricane?

To ensure effective hurricane prep, you first need to know what you’re up against. The reality is: hurricanes are a bit more complex, having various types and levels. As hurricanes develop and grow, they gain different classifications. Today, all Atlantic hurricanes are categorized by their wind speeds:

Tropical Disturbance: The very start of a hurricane’s life cycle. It keeps its core structure together for over 24 hours with wind speeds hovering at around 23 miles per hour.

Tropical Depression: This occurs when a tropical disturbance begins to form more packed winds and rains, with its wind speeds hovering anywhere between 23 mph and 38 mph.

Tropical Storm: A tropical depression that has kept its form while increasing wind speeds and size. Its wind speeds are upwards of anywhere between 39 mph and 73 mph. Tropical storms have caused significant damage and havoc throughout South Florida and aren’t anything to be laughed at. Torrential downpours and high speed winds are enough to cause damage in its wake.

Hurricanes: The tropical storm takes the next step and powers up into a hurricane once it surpasses a sustained wind speed of 74 miles per hour. It has achieved the structural integrity of all hurricanes. As hurricanes continue to speed up, they take on new categorical names:

• Category 1 Hurricane: wind speeds between 74 mph and 95 mph
• Category 2 Hurricane: wind speeds between 96 mph and 110 mph
• Category 3 Hurricane: wind speeds between 111 mph and 129 mph
• Category 4 Hurricane: wind speeds between 130 mph and 156 mph
• Category 5 Hurricane: wind speeds at or above 157 mph

Creating an Emergency Plan

Developing a comprehensive emergency plan is essential to navigate the hurricane season successfully. Start by identifying potential evacuation routes and nearby emergency shelters in the event of a massive storm. Discuss and rehearse the plan with your family to ensure everyone knows what to do in the event of an evacuation order. Compile a list of emergency contacts, including local authorities, family members, and friends outside the affected area. Highlight where key items are located across your house in the event of an emergency.

Assembling an Emergency Kit

Preparing an emergency kit in advance is a vital step towards readiness. The kit should include non-perishable food, bottled water, batteries, flashlights, a first aid kit, necessary medications, personal hygiene items, important documents (stored in a waterproof container), and cash. It’s advisable to have enough supplies to last for anywhere between seven to ten days for everyone living in your home.

Staying Informed

During the hurricane season, staying informed is paramount to your hurricane prep. Monitor updates from local news outlets, emergency management agencies, and reliable weather sources. Utilize smartphone apps that provide real-time storm tracking and emergency alerts. Sign up for community notification systems to receive important updates directly to your phone or email. It’s important to remember that in the event of a major storm, it’s likely that power and phone lines go down, leaving you without the ability to access the internet. Offline methods such as hand crank radios can be the difference between staying informed following a storm and sitting in the dark.

Safeguarding Your Home

Protecting your home against potential storm damage is crucial. It’s an essential part of hurricane prep for South Floridians, and it’s vital that your home is outfitted properly. A well defended home can be the difference between ensuring your home’s safety shattered windows or worse. Some common forms of South Florida hurricane defense include:

• Nothing
• Tape
• Wood Planks
• Accordion Shutters

Both no defense and tape should be avoided at all costs, as they leave your home most open to damages and threats. Wood planks were commonly used from the 80s through the early 2000s before many homeowners made the switch to accordion shutters. Although accordion shutters are a cut above, they don’t compare to the technology, defense, and benefits offered by hurricane impact windows.

Impact windows are an excellent addition to any South Florida home due to their numerous benefits and positive impact on both safety and energy efficiency. These specially designed windows are constructed to withstand high winds, flying debris, and other extreme weather conditions that are prevalent in the region.

Impact windows are engineered to withstand the forceful winds and flying debris associated with these weather events, capable of holding strong against wind speeds upwards of 160 miles per hour. They are designed with multiple layers of strong glass and a durable frame that can resist the impact of debris, reducing the risk of shattered windows and subsequent damage to your property. The superior strength of these windows helps maintain the integrity of your home during a storm protecting you, your family, and your belongings. No matter what is going on outside, you and your family are safe and protected inside.

Hurricane Prep With Broward Impact Windows

As the hurricane season rapidly approaches South Florida, it’s essential that you and your family get started on their hurricane prep. If you’re interested in learning more about impact windows for your South Florida home, contact Broward Impact—your source for the highest-quality impact windows at wholesale prices. With decades of experience in the South Florida market, we’re confident we have the solutions, expertise, and experience to help you find the perfect windows for your home and get them installed as quickly as possible.

Give us a call today at (954) 922-0606 to learn more or get a free quote!