Summer Storm

How to Prepare Your New Hampshire Home for Hurricane Season

A practical New Hampshire guide to hurricane season prep: trees, roof, sump pumps, generators, and securing your home before the storm hits.

How to Prepare Your New Hampshire Home for Hurricane Season

New England does not get hurricanes the way Florida does, but we get them. The 1938 hurricane carved through the region and killed hundreds. Irene flooded inland towns and washed out roads in 2011. Tropical storm remnants drop heavy rain and gusts on the Seacoast and inland just about every year. Atlantic hurricane season runs roughly August through October, so hurricane season preparation is something every New Hampshire homeowner should handle before the first big storm shows up in the forecast.

The good news is that most of the work is straightforward. You do not need to bunker down like the Gulf Coast. You need to deal with wind, water, trees, and power loss. Here is how to get your home ready.

Deal With Trees and Power Lines First

Trees are the number one cause of storm damage in New Hampshire. We are a heavily wooded state, and saturated ground plus high wind brings down limbs and whole trees onto roofs, cars, and power lines.

Walk your property and look up. Dead limbs, split trunks, and branches hanging over the house or driveway are the ones that fail first. Anything leaning toward your home or a power line is a job for a professional arborist, not a weekend with a chainsaw.

Never touch a tree or branch that is near a power line. Call the utility. In a serious storm, downed lines and blocked roads are what keep crews from reaching neighborhoods for days.

Check the Roof Before the Wind Does

Your roof takes the brunt of any storm. Loose or lifted shingles, popped nails, and worn flashing around chimneys and vents are where wind gets underneath and water gets in.

Do a ground-level look with binoculars, or have someone check from a ladder if you are comfortable. Look for missing shingles, sagging spots, and debris piling up. Clean your gutters and downspouts too, because clogged gutters back up fast in heavy rain and push water under the roof edge.

If your roof is older or you spot real problems, get it looked at before the season ramps up. A reputable a local roofer can flag weak points and make repairs while the weather is still calm. Waiting until a storm is in the forecast means you are competing with every other homeowner who waited too.

While you are at it, secure anything that flexes in wind. Loose siding, fascia, and soffit panels turn into bigger problems once a gust catches them.

Protect the Basement From Flooding

Heavy rain is the part of hurricane season New Hampshire homeowners underestimate. Inland flooding from tropical systems has done more damage in our state than wind in plenty of storms. A few inches of water in a finished basement is an expensive mess.

Test your sump pump now. Pour a bucket of water into the pit and make sure the pump kicks on, moves the water, and shuts off. If it is sluggish or silent, replace it before you need it.

Because storms knock out power, a sump pump on a regular outlet is useless during the exact event you bought it for. Consider a battery backup sump pump or a water-powered backup so the pit keeps draining when the grid goes down.

Also check that your downspouts and grading carry water away from the foundation, not toward it. Move stored items off the basement floor and onto shelves or pallets. Keep anything important in waterproof bins.

Plan for Power Outages

Outages are the most common storm headache here, and they can last from hours to several days after a major event. Lines come down, crews work through backlogs, and rural and inland towns often wait the longest.

If you have a generator, test it before the season and run it on the fuel you plan to store. Stock fresh fuel and keep it in approved containers. The single most important rule: never run a generator indoors, in a garage, or near windows. Carbon monoxide from generators kills people every storm season. Keep it well away from the house and pointed so exhaust drifts off, not in.

If you do not have a generator, a standby unit wired in by an electrician is worth considering if outages hit you hard. At a minimum, keep flashlights, batteries, a battery or crank radio, and a phone power bank ready.

Fill water jugs ahead of a storm if you are on a private well, because no power means no well pump and no running water. Have a cooler and ice plan for medication and food.

Secure Outdoor Items

Anything loose in the yard becomes a projectile in a high wind. Patio furniture, grills, trash cans, umbrellas, trampolines, and kids' toys all need to come in or get tied down before the storm arrives.

Walk the yard and stow what you can in the garage or shed. Tie down what is too big to move. Take down anything hanging, like flags, planters, and wind chimes. It only takes one airborne chair to break a window and let wind and rain into the house.

Have a Simple Storm Kit Ready

Keep a small kit so you are not scrambling when a watch turns into a warning. Bottled water, a few days of non-perishable food, a manual can opener, a first aid kit, medications, flashlights, batteries, and copies of important documents cover the basics. Charge your devices when a storm is forecast, and keep your gas tank above half so you are not stuck if stations lose power.

The Takeaway

New Hampshire hurricane season preparation comes down to a handful of jobs you can knock out in a weekend: clear the dangerous trees, check the roof and gutters, test the sump pump and add a backup, get your power outage plan in order, and secure the yard. Do the inspections now, while the weather is calm and contractors are available. The homeowners who get hit hardest are almost always the ones who waited until a storm was already in the forecast. Handle it early and the season becomes a lot less stressful.