The Best Hurricane Preparedness Supplies and Strategies for 2025

The goal for home hurricane preparation, according to Louisiana State University’s Claudette Reichel, is to “possibly avoid some damage to your home and maybe make it so you can move home and restore your life quicker than you could otherwise.” You can take care of some preparations in the days before a storm, but the best and most effective preventive measures, such as proper tree pruning, should be ongoing, months and even years before a storm hits.

According to Reichel, the most important measures are what she calls “the five S’s”: shingles, shutters, soffits, seals, and surroundings. The catchy five-S concept originates with Safety Insurance (PDF), and in our independent research, these five items continually surfaced as the major areas to address.

Shingles: ”The number one source of damage resulting from hurricanes is loss of roof shingles and the water damage associated with that,” Reichel said. Once the wind gains purchase underneath the first row at the edge of a roof, “it’s kind of a domino effect from there” and it can blow shingles off or severely compromise them. To protect against this, Reichel’s advice is to put three 1-inch dabs of roofing cement under each shingle tab to prevent them from flipping up in a high wind. This video from the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety recommends gluing down every shingle, but Reichel told us the most crucial are those on the edge. The adhesive takes anywhere from eight to 24 hours to dry, but because humidity can increase that length of time, you should take this step well in advance of a storm.

Shutters: If you’re in a high-wind zone, meaning a Category 3, 4, or 5 storm could reach your house, you should consider storm shutters—covers that you install over your home’s windows and door openings to protect against heavy gusts (regular old decorative shutters don’t cut it). Storm shutters are “not about saving the window, it’s really about preventing a big hole,” Reichel told us. Once there’s a giant hole in a house, the wind can “come in and add to the load the house is experiencing on the outside and lead to structural damage,” she said.

Let’s debunk one common myth: Do not tape your windows. It doesn’t protect the glass at all. In fact, it can make a broken window worse because the tape can pull large, dangerous assemblies of shards out of the window frame. Hurricane experts have been saying, in unison, not to tape windows since at least 2012, in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene. This was the message coming out of a 2012 conference involving officials with the National Hurricane Center (and that was before superstorm Sandy devastated the heavily taped-up windows in the New York region).

The most cost-effective way to protect windows from an impending hurricane is to use storm shutters fashioned from plywood. But this method has significant downsides: “It’s a huge project. It’s time consuming, [and plywood is] heavy and bulky to store,” said Reichel. If you choose this route, Home Depot has general information and advice on how to do it.

Other options range from durable fabric sheeting to translucent plastic panels. Permanent shutter upgrades can be costly, but once you’ve set them up, they’re typically a lot quicker to install than plywood and a lot easier to store. When you’re choosing storm shutters, Reichel recommends, look for those that have been tested to a state or national code. IBHS has a complete assessment (PDF) of available styles of storm shutters, including the specific codes to look for, general pricing information, and the pros and cons of each. (By the way: If you would like us to look into shutters further, let us know in the comments.)

If you already have storm shutters, Michael Orfanedes recommends giving them a once-over well in advance of any hurricane: “I know it’s tough to put panels up just to check them out, but make sure you’ve counted them and you know you’ve got everything you need.” He added that any leaves or debris found stuck inside the tracks should be cleared out.

Soffits: A soffit is the visible underside of the roof along the outside wall; it presents an easy place for a strong wind to enter a house and do damage. Reichel told us the problem is that “lots of homes have flimsy vinyl perforated soffits underneath that are … not really fastened to anything.” She has even seen ceilings collapse from wet insulation resulting from a blown-off soffit. Her recommendation is to do what you can to fasten them to the framing of the house using a combination of stainless steel screws and a good construction adhesive.

Seals: This is an easy one. Just look around the house and seal any cracks or penetrations that you see with a high-quality sealant like Loctite’s PL Window, Door and Siding Sealant. Any little gaps around doors and windows, or where pipes or conduits run through the exterior wall, can let water in, after which it dampens your floors, walls, or insulation. Wet insulation not only loses its effectiveness but, in a wall, can also cause hidden mold and rotted framing. Water-damaged wood floors typically need expensive repairs.

Surroundings: Examine your home for anything that could become airborne when winds pick up—and then remove the hazard. According to Orfanedes, this means: “Pool and patio furniture need to be secured, certainly kids’ toys, anything that the pet might have lying around in the yard.” Also be on the lookout for objects that could hold water and become a breeding ground for mosquitoes once the storm has passed. These items, Orfanedes said, “should be turned over, secured, or also brought inside.” He listed kiddie pools, tires, and birdbaths as examples.

Also survey the trees on your property. “If trees are properly maintained and not impacting the structure, they can actually help protect the home,” Orfanedes said. Going in and removing dead branches is a start, but “paying attention to the structure of the tree is super important and probably one of the most overlooked things.” A well-pruned tree “does make a difference and probably saves you money in the long run because you don’t have to remove and replace.” The goal is to attain a “dominant strong trunk and lots of smaller, well-attached limbs and branches.” Following this approach means playing the long game, and as such it requires dedicated annual attention and likely consultation from an arborist.