Hurricanes and hurricane warnings are stressful events but being prepared can help.  Here are some basic steps to help:

Prepare Learn your communities emergency plans, warning signals, evacuation routes and shelter locations. Identify hazards around the home and figure out how to protect or secure them before the hurricane arrives.  Know how to turn off the electricity in case of standing water, fallen trees or prior to evacuating.  Secure unstable building materials. Get a fire extinguisher and make sure your family knows how to use it. Locate and secure imporant papers such as insurance policies, wills, licenses, stocks. Post emergency phone numbers or know how to easily locate them. Special needs should be reported to the local authorites.  These include the elderly, bedridden or anyone with a disability. Make plans to ensure pet safety. Essential Emergency Supplies Secure several large clean containers, large enough for 3-5 days of supply or about...

Has your mortgage carrier force-placed flood insurance on your property? This can happen for various reasons but if you are like many people, the flood insurance rate maps in your area have changed and you are now in a 100 year flood plain. When a property that carries a mortgage is located in a flood zone, the mortgage company is required by law to do the following: Verify if the property owner has a flood insurance policy in force, give proper notification if a flood policy does not exist, and then if the notification period lapses with no proof of flood insurance, place flood insurance on the property. Mortgage force-placed flood insurance is almost always very expensive, so make sure that you call us for a quote. Also, if you were not in a flood plain prior to the change we can likely grandfather you into the original flood zone and save you more money on your flood insurance.