Hurricane Season Home Inventory Prep for Florida Homeowners
Every June, Miami Beach hardware stores sell out of plywood while the cheapest, most useful piece of hurricane preparedness — proof of what you own — goes undone. A hurricane home inventory costs nothing but an afternoon, and after a storm it's the difference between a documented claim and a memory test. Here's how Florida homeowners should approach it, question by question.
Why do Florida homeowners need a home inventory before hurricane season?
Because hurricane claims are settled on documentation, not memory. After a major storm, adjusters are stretched across thousands of files at once, and homeowners who can show photos, values, and receipts move through the process with far less friction. An inventory made in calm weather is more complete — and more credible — than a list reconstructed in a damaged house.
The days after landfall are not a filing-friendly environment. Power may be out, roads are blocked, your insurer's phone lines are jammed, and you're being asked to list damaged property, with values, while standing in the middle of it. Most people can recall the television and the couch. Almost nobody remembers the contents of the garage shelves, the kitchen drawers, or the closet under the stairs — and every forgotten item is money left unclaimed.
There's a quieter risk an inventory exposes, too: being underinsured without knowing it. When University of Colorado Boulder researchers surveyed households after Colorado's 2021 Marshall Fire, they found 74% were underinsured — and 36% severely so, with coverage below 75% of their home's replacement cost. That was a wildfire, not a hurricane, but the lesson travels: most people discover the gap between what they own and what they're covered for only after a loss. Adding up an inventory is how you find out beforehand — our guide to whether your personal property coverage is enough walks through the math. What the right coverage amount is for you is a question for your insurer or a licensed agent; the inventory just gives you real numbers to bring to that conversation.
When should I make my home inventory?
Ideally before June 1, when hurricane season begins. But if it's already July — and it usually is when people get around to this — start today. An imperfect inventory made this weekend beats a perfect one you never finish, and it beats anything assembled from memory after a storm has a name.
The Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30, and the busiest stretch historically falls from late August into October. Documenting your home before a hurricane is even on the map means working under no pressure, in good light, with time to dig out receipts and serial numbers. Once a watch is issued, the last 48 hours belong to shutters, fuel, water, and the evacuation decision — nobody catalogs their kitchen while the cone is on TV.
Flood insurance teaches the same lesson about lead time. NFIP policies typically have a 30-day waiting period before coverage takes effect, so a policy bought when a storm appears on the forecast maps likely won't be in force when it arrives. Hurricane prep in Florida rewards the early mover across the board, and the inventory is the cheapest piece of it: no waiting period, no premium, just an afternoon. Work room by room with our home inventory checklist and the whole house is done in a weekend.
What do hurricane claims require that other claims don't?
Hurricane damage often splits across two policies: wind under your homeowners policy, and flood under a separate flood policy. That can mean two claims, two adjusters, and two sets of paperwork. Florida hurricane deductibles are also typically a percentage of your dwelling coverage, so more of the early loss lands on you.
Wind and flood are separate policies. Standard homeowners policies exclude flood damage, including storm surge; flood coverage comes through a separate NFIP or private policy. And under the NFIP, contents coverage is its own election, separate from building coverage — having "flood insurance" doesn't automatically mean your belongings are covered. When a hurricane sends water in through a failed roof and up from the street at the same time, you may be filing two claims with two different adjusters, each needing to know what was damaged and how. One thorough inventory supports both files.
Hurricane deductibles are percentage-based. In Florida, hurricane deductibles are typically calculated as a percentage of your dwelling coverage, not a flat dollar amount. A percentage of a dwelling limit is usually a much bigger number than the flat deductible on an ordinary claim, which makes documenting the full extent of a loss — contents included — matter more, not less.
The aftermath is chaotic in ways other claims aren't. Roofers and contractors book up within days across an entire region. If your home is unlivable, additional living expenses generally have to be backed by receipts — hotels, meals, laundromats. A claim that starts with organized documentation tends to stay organized; one that starts with a shrug tends not to.
What should I document outside the house?
Everything the wind reaches first: the roof from all four sides, fences and gates, the screened enclosure or lanai, sheds and their contents, pool equipment, the AC condenser, landscaping near the house, and your vehicles' current condition. Dated pre-storm photos are what separate fresh storm damage from old wear in an adjuster's eyes.
A quick exterior pass to repeat at the start of every season:
- Roof: wide shots of each slope from the ground, plus close-ups of shingle or tile condition where you can get them safely. No ladders you're not comfortable on — the photos aren't worth an ER visit.
- Screened enclosures and lanais: among the first things Florida wind takes, and policy treatment varies. Photograph the full structure now and ask your insurer how yours is covered.
- Fences, gates, and sheds — open the shed and photograph what's inside it, too.
- Outdoor equipment: pool pump, AC condenser, generator, grill, patio furniture, bikes, kayaks.
- Trees and landscaping near the house, which helps establish what fell versus what was already down.
- Vehicles: a slow walk-around of each car, inside and out.
The reason condition evidence matters: adjusters have to distinguish storm damage from deferred maintenance, and a July photo of an intact roof is strong evidence in a September wind claim. Last season's photos are weaker than this season's, so re-shoot the exterior each June. For technique — angles, serial numbers, receipts, how to cover a whole room in minutes — see how to document your belongings for insurance.
What goes in my evacuation "insurance folder"?
Your policy declarations pages — homeowners, flood, and any separate wind policy — plus claim phone numbers for each insurer, your agent's contact, your home inventory as a PDF, receipts for high-value items, and cloud backups of all your photos. If you evacuate, you may need to open a claim before you can get back home.
The full folder, kept both on paper in a zip-top bag and in cloud storage you can reach from any phone:
- Declarations pages for every policy on the house
- Claim-reporting numbers for each insurer, and your agent's cell
- Policy numbers written on a single sheet, so you're not digging through documents on hold
- Your inventory as a PDF you can email or print
- Receipts, appraisals, or serial numbers for high-value items
- This season's exterior photos, backed up to the cloud
This is where the inventory has to be portable, not just thorough. It's a big part of why we built Hometric here in Miami Beach: you photograph each room and its contents before a storm, the AI identifies items and suggests approximate replacement-cost ranges, and you export a documented PDF that travels with you — to a relative's couch in Orlando if that's where you end up filing from. It's a free download on the App Store for iPhone, with a 1-month free trial.
What should I do as a storm approaches?
Walk every room with your phone recording video, narrating as you go — open closets, drawers, the garage. Confirm the video and your inventory are backed up to the cloud, and put the insurance folder in your go-bag. Afterward, photograph all damage before making temporary repairs, and keep every receipt.
In the final day or two before landfall, once shutters and supplies are handled:
- Shoot a final walkthrough video. Ten minutes, every room, closets and cabinets open. Your phone timestamps it automatically, and it becomes the "moments before" record that complements the detailed inventory you made earlier.
- Back everything up to the cloud and confirm the upload actually finished before the power situation gets uncertain. Documentation that only exists on a phone in a flooded house helps no one.
- Take the folder with you if you evacuate — and even if you shelter in place, keep it somewhere high, dry, and reachable.
After the storm, the order of operations matters. Photograph and video all damage first, before tarps go up or debris gets hauled — insurers expect reasonable temporary repairs to prevent further damage, and they'll want to see what those repairs covered. Keep receipts for everything: tarps, plywood, fuel, hotel nights, meals away from home. Then set your pre-storm inventory next to the damage photos and start the claim with a before-and-after story instead of a blank page. That hour you spent with your phone in July is worth more than a week of arguing in October.