Seeing as we’re almost two months into the official hurricane season, it’s important to know what kind of steps you need to take to stay safe.

First off, know exactly how big of an impact hurricanes have had in your area in the past. If you live in an area that has felt the wrath of hurricanes strongly in the past, keep yourself stocked up in case a hurricane decides to come through. Make sure you have lots of water, emergency food, flashlights, batteries, and things like radios, to keep you safe. Once the hurricane starts you can’t be leaving your home so you really need to be prepared at all times. You should also look into what emergency center is nearest to you, because you may need to end up leaving your home to seek shelter there, either before or after the storm.

Chances are, if you live in area prone to hurricanes, your landlord probably has some kind of shutters for your property. If this is the case, you’re set as far as windows and doors. If not, consider using plywood to board up your windows and doors to prevent the wind from breaking them and causing big damage.  Also, make sure you secure all items that are outside; bring in the things that you can, and securely tie down whatever cannot be brought inside. If you have covers your for cars, put them on! Things are going to be flying all around so you don’t want your car to be feeling the impact, too.

A lot of times your landlord may have lived in your home before renting it out to you; if so, ask them how they went about hurricane prep! They’ve lived in the home so they know how the impact will be and how to go about the situation.