Ensure that your community association is as ready as can be for hurricane season by creating an HOA hurricane preparedness plan. By making an action plan with your manager and sharing it with residents, you will keep everyone as safe as possible.

1. Make Your HOA Hurricane Preparedness Plan

Working with your community association manager can offer the board support and guidance. They have experience in creating a plan to address hurricane preparedness essentials. Take into account on-site resources, insurance coverage, and safeguarding of important documents.

Before the storm:

• You should have a list of HOA vendors who may need to come before and after the hurricane.
• Prepare the common areas, turn off irrigation, secure pool furniture, and possibly cut trees.
• Buy plywood to protect HOA property as early as possible.
• If you have any elevators, ensure that you have generators and that they’re working
• Additional resources for making a plan, including a free downloadable Model Homeowner Association Disaster Plan, can be tailored to meet the needs of different HOAs.

If you have on-site staff then they should help create the plan, and know the protocols on how to evacuate.

2. Communicate with Residents

You should communicate the Board-approved HOA hurricane preparedness plan to residents in the spring. This gives them a chance to clarify any questions well in advance of an approaching hurricane. The board needs to give members a copy of the HOA’s plan, a tip sheet, and a guide for individual homeowners. This can go a long way to preserving and reassuring the community as a whole. You should be clear about the board and management’s responsibilities.

The board should also encourage residents to use free downloadable plans for making their own household hurricane preparedness plans.

The HOA should also make sure they have residents’ up-to-date information and emergency contacts. The board of directors and property managers should also keep in mind any residents with a disability or who may need extra assistance if the community is forced to evacuate. You can use your resident portal and website to communicate with residents about the plan and post documents they need.

3. Arrange for Standby Personnel

Vendors or trained volunteers can provide the expertise when a storm is coming and in the post-hurricane stage. Problems like pool flooding, irrigation systems issues, removal of trees, and lake drainage are important to consider. If you have a good vendor, they should be able to address these issues efficiently.

You should check with the vendors in advance that they do provide this service, as not all do. You should also coordinate with them to see when they can come and inspect any damage after the storm. If they can’t visit, you can message them pictures and they should be able to advise you over the phone.

4. Update Files and Insurance Schedules

Important documents related to all of the Association’s assets and insurance schedules should be updated. Make sure they are easily accessible for post-hurricane assessment. They should be placed in water-tight storage that is easily accessible in case of flooding, or a power outage. You could give a copy to your property manager, who should have a safe place to put them.

We also recommend keeping a copy online. Using an online HOA software solution, such as Neigbrs by Vinteum you can upload all your community documents to a secure cloud-based system. This ensures that you know exactly where the community’s most important documents are. It also makes sure that all board members, your manager, and residents can have easy access to important documents.

5. Perform Preventative Maintenance

To minimize site damage to common areas make sure that you are doing regular preventative maintenance. That means that you check lights, walls, drains, and roofs even if there isn’t an issue yet. So when there is a hurricane or storm, you have already caught potential issues early and they are less likely to become very large, expensive problems.

Before a storm hits, associations can remove large hanging light fixtures. You should take down tennis court windscreens, pool furniture, and anything else that isn’t necessary. Make sure you leave the electricity to self-priming pool pumps on.

To reduce debris that a hurricane might leave, keep your trees and large shrubs well-groomed, this should decrease the number of branches that fall. The association should have emergency lighting, ensure it’s working, and install any new bulbs or batteries where needed. You should also check the fire safety equipment and replace it as needed.

6. Plan for the Worst

When you create your HOA hurricane preparedness plan, you should plan for the worst. Consider what you would do if you can’t access the property after the storm. Who should be the first person on-site? You also need to think about what would happen if officials close off access to your HOA.

The board needs to be able to have an emergency meeting if necessary. Your manager should be able to help you create this plan as they should have experience in disaster planning.

Wrapping Up: HOA Hurricane Preparedness

Creating an HOA hurricane preparedness plan is not an easy task. You need to consider how to keep properties and people safe. That’s why you shouldn’t have to do it alone, the board should consult with their manager. They should then share their plan with all of their owners, and tenants.

Find out how Neigbrs by Vinteum can help you create and store your action plan and communicate with residents before, during, and after a storm.