Knowing what to do during a hurricane turns a dangerous storm into a hard but manageable week. A hurricane is a tropical storm with sustained winds of 74 mph or more that forms over warm water in the Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, or the northeast Pacific. It brings high wind, heavy rain, and storm surge. A plan made ahead lets your family ride it out safely and recover faster.
We write from Florida, where hurricane season arrives every year. Living with storms can make them feel routine, and that is when steps get skipped. Whether this is your first season on the coast or your twentieth, the same natural disaster preparedness system works. Prepare before the season, act calmly during the storm, and recover with care after it passes.
Start by opening your supply kit and family plan this weekend, well before June 1.
Know the Season and the Scale
Your plan for what to do during a hurricane depends on knowing when storms arrive and how strong they get. That knowledge gives you a clear trigger for each step. First come the calendar and the categories. Then come the alerts that start the clock.
Hurricane Season
The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30. The Pacific season runs from late May to early November. Mark June 1 on your calendar as the date your kit is stocked and your plan is reviewed.
Wind Speed Categories
Hurricanes are among the most serious storm related threats in the United States. The National Hurricane Center ranks them by sustained wind speed on the Saffir-Simpson scale. A storm needs sustained winds of 74 mph or higher to count as a hurricane. Below that, it is a tropical storm.
Category 1, 74 to 95 mph. Expect damage to shingles, gutters, and branches, plus outages that can last a few days.
Category 2, 96 to 110 mph. Expect major roof and siding damage and outages lasting days to weeks.
Category 3, 111 to 129 mph. This is a major hurricane, with serious home damage and loss of power and water for days or weeks.
Category 4, 130 to 156 mph. Expect severe damage to roofs and walls, and some areas may be unlivable for weeks.
Category 5, 157 mph and up. Expect many homes destroyed and long outages across the region.
Storm Surge and Flooding
The category describes wind only. Storm surge is the rise in seawater that the storm pushes ashore. Combined with steady rain, it floods roads, homes, cars, and underground pipes. A slow, weaker storm can drop more rain than a fast, stronger one. Judge each storm by its surge and rain forecast as well as its category.
Hurricane Katrina in 2005 showed how far surge can push inland. Hurricane on the Bayou follows Louisiana residents through that storm and shows how the coast's shrinking wetlands once slowed the surge before it reached their homes.
Watches and Warnings
A hurricane watch means hurricane conditions are possible in your area, usually within 48 hours. Use a watch to finish your preparations. A hurricane warning means conditions are expected, usually within 36 hours. Use a warning to complete final steps and leave if officials order it. Those final steps go fast when the groundwork is already done. The signals start days earlier, and our guide to hurricane watch vs warning shows how to read each one in order.
Prepare Before the Storm Forms
Work done before the season keeps your family safe when stores are empty and roads are closed. Most of what to do during a hurricane is decided weeks earlier. You get a written plan, a stocked kit, and a stronger home. Each piece follows below in order.
Wind and water damage power lines, trees, roofs, and roads. What stands between your family and that damage is how well you prepare for the hurricane ahead of time. Many tasks become impossible once the storm arrives.
Family Disaster Plan
Write your plan down so every person knows their job. Decide where you will shelter if you stay. Pick an inland evacuation destination, a main route, and a backup route. Agree on how family members will reach each other if phones fail. Choose a meeting place in case you get separated. List emergency phone numbers on paper, since a dead phone takes its contacts with it. Experienced preppers in hurricane country keep the written plan in the same bin as the kit, so both are found together.
Run a drill once a year before the season. A practiced plan moves fast, and a drill shows you gaps while there is still time to fix them.
Elderly Family, Children, and Pets
Refill prescriptions before the season so you hold at least a week's supply. If someone uses powered medical equipment, arrange a backup power source or a shelter that offers one. Pack a familiar blanket and simple games for children to help them through a loud night. Put by pet food, a carrier, vaccination records, and a leash for each animal. A larger household has more needs, and it also has more hands to board windows and carry water.
Food and Water
Stock at least three days' worth of water per person and pet, about one gallon per person per day. Lay in non-perishable foods your family already eats, such as canned meats, peanut butter, and crackers. Keep a manual can opener with your food. If outages in your area tend to run long, build toward a one-week supply. If storage space is tight, fill clean bathtubs and pots before the storm for washing and flushing. A small pantry also keeps you stocking only what your family eats, so less goes to waste.
Power and Light
The power grid is often the first thing to fail. Stock battery-operated torch lights for each room and backup batteries to keep them running. Charge phones and power banks before the storm arrives. Keep a battery-operated or hand-crank radio so you hear official updates when cell service drops.
Cash and Documents
Withdraw enough cash for at least three days. Card readers and ATMs need power and internet, and both can be down after a storm. Seal IDs, insurance policies, deeds, and medical records in a waterproof bag. Photograph them too, so you have a backup copy.
Flood Gear
Buy knee-high rubber boots for each person, and add waders if your area floods often. In a low-lying or coastal zone, make the steps for surviving a flood part of your hurricane plan.
Your Home
Clear gutters and drains so heavy rain flows away from the house. Stock plywood cut to fit each window, or install permanent storm shutters. Label each panel by window so it goes up fast. Nail down loose shingles or seal them with roofing cement. Add hurricane clips or straps to tie the roof to the frame. Bring in patio furniture, grills, and potted plants so they stay put instead of flying.
What to Do During a Hurricane
Clear steps during the storm keep your family safe while the wind is at its strongest. Knowing what to do during a hurricane gives everyone a role, which keeps the house calm. The steps below cover leaving, sheltering, and staying ahead of rising water.
Evacuate When Told
If local officials order an evacuation for your area, leave right away. Take your kit and pets, follow your planned route, and tell your contact person where you are going. Leaving early beats the traffic. If you live in a mobile home, evacuate to a sturdier building for any hurricane, even without an order. Pick that friend's house or shelter before the season, and leaving becomes routine. If no order comes and your home is sturdy, shelter in place with the steps below.
If you have no car, line up a ride in your written plan so an order never finds you stuck. Trouble the Water follows a New Orleans couple who stayed through Hurricane Katrina without a way out, filming as floodwater rose in their Ninth Ward neighborhood and neighbors helped each other reach higher ground.
Stay Informed
Keep your radio on for updates from the National Weather Service and local officials. Updates tell you when the storm will peak, when flooding is likely, and when it is safe to go outside. Save phone battery for calls and texts.
Stay Inside
When the storm nears, hunker down at home. Finish supply runs before the wind rises, and keep the car parked until the storm passes. Bring all pets inside. A turf patch in the garage gives dogs a place to relieve themselves indoors.
When the eye passes over, the wind can drop and the sky can clear for minutes or an hour. Stay inside through the calm. The back side of the storm arrives with wind from the opposite direction.
Windows and Doors
Check your shutters or plywood one last time for gaps and loose edges. Many people tape their windows, and it makes sense that tape feels like protection. Tape does not stop glass from breaking, though, and it can make broken glass fall in larger pieces. Put that time into shutters, plywood, and your safe room instead.
Refrigerator and Freezer
Keep the doors closed when the power fails. An unopened refrigerator keeps food cold for about 4 hours, and a full freezer holds for about 48 hours. Eat from the pantry first. Fill a cooler with ice for the drinks and snacks you reach for most.
Fire and Fumes
Light your home with battery lanterns and flashlights. Candles and gas lanterns can tip over, and hurricanes can damage gas lines and cause leaks. A shut house with no A/C also has poor airflow. Run any generator outdoors, at least 20 feet from doors and windows. Its exhaust carries carbon monoxide, a gas you cannot see or smell. A battery carbon monoxide alarm gives you early warning.
Safe Room
The core of what to do during a hurricane is simple: shelter low, central, and away from glass. Basements are ideal, but they are rare in Florida, so a first-floor room works well. If the storm turns severe, gather everyone in an interior bathroom, closet, or hallway with no windows. Keep shoes, a flashlight, and the radio with you. A small home has an advantage here, because fewer rooms means you reach your safest spot fast.
Rising Water
The lowest floor is safest from wind until water comes in. Move to a higher floor when flooding starts so rising water cannot trap you. Choose a room with a window you can open. If an attic is your only high spot, bring a saw or ax so you can cut an exit.
What Not to Do During a Hurricane
Most hurricane injuries come from a short list of choices made while the storm is overhead. Each one feels harmless in the moment. Skip them and your family avoids the risks that fill emergency rooms after every landfall.
Going Outside to Watch
Stay off the beach, the yard, and the porch, however calm a lull feels. Wind turns roof tiles, branches, and lawn furniture into projectiles, and lightning comes with most storms. Swimming or surfing in storm water is the fastest way to be pulled out by surge or rip currents.
Walking or Driving Through Floodwater
Six inches of moving water can knock an adult down, and about a foot can float a car. Floodwater carries sewage, fuel, and sharp debris, and a downed line can charge it with current you cannot see. If you are caught out, turn around and find another way.
Finishing Outdoor Work
Once the wind arrives, the shutters, plywood, and yard cleanup are done or they are not. Climbing a ladder in gusts is how people fall and get hurt. Keep the work inside and save the rest for after the storm passes.
Driving Around
Do not go out for gas, food, or a last look at the water. Roads fill with debris and floodwater, and crews cannot reach a stranded car. If officials have not ordered you out, the safest place is the home you prepared.
Running Water During Lightning
Lightning can travel through metal plumbing. Skip showers, baths, and dishes while the storm is producing lightning. The risk is small, and waiting an hour costs you nothing.
Plugged-In Electronics
Power surges come with outages and again when power returns. Unplug computers, televisions, and appliances you do not need, and run the house on battery lights and a battery or hand-crank radio.
Ignoring Tornado Warnings
Most hurricanes that come ashore spawn at least one tornado, often in the outer rain bands and with little notice. When a tornado warning sounds, move to your safe room on the lowest floor, away from windows, and stay there until it expires.
Recover After the Wind Drops
A careful recovery protects your family from the injuries that happen after the storm. It gives you a safe order of tasks for the first days. Knowing how to handle the aftermath matters as much as knowing what to do during a hurricane. The steps run from the drive home to the last bag of debris.
Return Home Safely
If you evacuated, return only when local officials say it is safe. Drive slowly and turn around at flooded roads. Six inches of moving water can knock a person down, and about a foot can float a car.
Injuries
Wind turns debris into projectiles, so check family and neighbors for cuts and bruises. Call for help with any life-threatening injury. First responders will be busy, so use your first aid kit to keep people clean, dry, and comfortable until help arrives. A first aid class before the season turns this step into a skill you already have.
Damage and Outages
Once everyone is safe, walk your property. Look for broken windows and doors, roof damage, water inside, downed trees, and harm to vehicles. Take photos and video before you move anything, so your insurance claim goes faster.
Unsafe Structures and Power Lines
If you find structural damage, smell gas, or see water near outlets, leave and stay elsewhere until the home is inspected. Treat every downed power line as live. Keep well clear of it and any water it touches, and report it to your utility.
Cleanup
Start cleanup once your property and street are safe. Wear boots, gloves, and long sleeves against sharp debris. Treat floodwater as contaminated, and wash any skin it touches. Watch for snakes, fire ants, and other displaced animals. Dry wet rooms within 48 hours to stop mold. Team up with neighbors, since shared tools and extra hands finish every house sooner.
