When Hurricane Helene hit Asheville, N.C., last fall, causing extensive damage and flooding, many residents were taken by surprise. Nestled in the Blue Ridge mountains, 300 miles west of the Atlantic coast, Asheville wasn’t thought of as an area prone to hurricanes and flooding, and fewer than 1% of homeowners in the area had flood insurance.
As severe weather becomes increasingly common in unexpected places, people across the country need to take different steps to protect their homes and finances from natural disasters. “We’re seeing weather events happen outside of the time of year and the places we typically associate with these events,” says Dan DePodwin, senior director of forecast operations for AccuWeather. “No matter where you live, there is some risk of a natural hazard.” For example, AccuWeather forecasts that 1,300 to 1,450 tornadoes will occur across the U.S. in 2025, with the highest risk expected in the Mississippi and Tennessee valleys rather than the traditional tornado alley across Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.
The rise in severe weather is happening in part because of climate change, says DePodwin. Temperatures as a whole are increasing, and warmer air holds more moisture, so “there’s a greater opportunity for heavier rain events,” he says. In early April, extreme rainfall and tornadoes in the central U.S. caused estimated damages of up to $90 billion. “People think of tropical systems and hurricanes causing significant flooding, but you can get flooding from a small, localized thunderstorm, too,” he says.
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Disaster costs are also increasing because of where people are choosing to build homes. Runoff patterns change with new development, and houses situated on the coast and perched on mountains can be exposed to extra risks. “With steep terrain and a lot of mountains, it only takes a few inches of rain in a couple of hours to have significant flooding,” says DePodwin.
Hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, and AccuWeather predicts three to six direct storm impacts in the U.S. this year, with Texas, Louisiana, western Florida and North Carolina facing higher-than-average risks.
Wildfire season, which had been mostly in spring and summer, has also expanded, and fires have become more widespread and expensive. In January, the Palisades fire, near Los Angeles, caused as much as $131 billion of damage.
“Traditionally, the West has been thought of as wildfire country, but we’re seeing more drought in more places,” says Rachael Gauthier, a meteorologist with the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS). Drought conditions combined with high winds can lead to the uncontrolled spread of fires from building to building, she says.
Construction costs have been increasing, making it much more expensive to rebuild your home if it’s destroyed in a natural disaster. Even if you have insurance, it may not be adequate to cover these rising costs.
Protect your home
No matter where you live, you can safeguard your home. Clean out your gutters and trim trees away from your house, especially limbs hanging over your roof, says Gauthier.
Merrie Meyers splits her time between her home near Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and her home in the mountains of western North Carolina, near Boone. She was in North Carolina when Hurricane Helene hit. “The runoff was rushing down my road like whitecaps, and I see the road basically coming apart,” she says. “All of a sudden, I hear this loud crash, and 250 feet of trees, mud and rock came down between the houses.”
She and her neighbors were trapped in their homes for several days after the landslide wiped out the mountain road. But miraculously, her house wasn’t damaged, which she credits to her storm-prep experience as a Floridian. She had trees cut away from her house the summer before the storm, which she believes saved her home.
Other steps to protect your home may vary depending on the type of disaster. The IBHS has disaster guides with steps for protecting your home from hurricanes, severe thunderstorms, wildfires and more. And the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes provides personalized disaster guides based on your location.
Before you perform any exterior home improvements, check with your insurance company. You may get a discount for using certain designs or materials, such as special roofing materials to protect your home from windstorms and hail. Your state may also offer resources, grants and other assistance to help with disaster mitigation. For example, Florida residents can check for assistance through the My Safe Florida Home Program, and California residents can check the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection website and app.
Here are a few ways to shield your home from specific perils.
Hurricanes. Inspect and repair your roof before hurricane season each year. Use silicone caulk to seal leaks around your skylights, chimneys and vents. Add weather stripping under doors, and seal gaps and cracks around windows with caulk, says Gauthier.
If you need a new roof, consider getting one that meets the IBHS Fortified standard, which can protect your home and may also get you a discount on your insurance. A Fortified roof has a sealed roof deck, which can prevent rain from entering through gaps or cracks in the decking. It also uses ring-shank nails, instead of smooth nails, to keep the roof deck attached to your home in high winds. To find a professional in your area who specializes in installing Fortified roofs, visit https://fortifiedhome.org/roof.
Hurricane windows and doors or hurricane shutters are standard protection in windstorm-prone areas, and getting a wind-rated garage door can make a big difference because it’s usually the weakest opening in your home. “If your garage door stays intact, your roof is more likely to stay intact,” Gauthier says.
Severe thunderstorms and hail. Many of the same safeguards for hurricanes can also shield your home from wind-driven rain and hail. Seal leaks that can let in rain. Consider installing impact-resistant shingles on your roof, which can protect your roof from hail and could also earn you an insurance discount. When you get a new roof, seal the roof deck, which creates a barrier against leaks. Check your garage door’s mounting brackets to ensure they’re in good condition, and add more if you only have three or four on each side, recommends the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes. Even better, consider getting a wind-rated garage door.
Wildfires. Clear out dry brush, mow your grass regularly, and remove overhanging branches and other items that could ignite near your house. “I’ve seen stories where people have done this well, and when fire rips through their neighborhood, their houses weren’t damaged at all,” says DePodwin.
Create a defensible space in the five feet surrounding your home, says Gauthier. “No plants, lawn furniture or woodpiles — move it all five feet out from your house.”
Prevent embers from entering your house through vents in your home and attic. Cover vents with one-eighth-inch mesh, because most embers are larger than that. Caulk and plug gaps greater than one-eighth inch around your garage doors, door frames and exposed rafters.
Review your homeowners insurance
One of the most important ways you can protect your finances from natural disasters is to make sure your insurance coverage is adequate. In high-risk states such as Florida, insurance is a critical factor to consider when you’re buying a property or weighing whether to stay in your house or sell it, says Mari Adam, a certified financial planner in Boca Raton, Fla. Homeowners insurance costs have been rising throughout the country, with average premiums increasing 8.7% faster than the rate of inflation from 2019 to 2022, according to a U.S. Department of Treasury study. As you review your homeowners insurance policy, check these three key components.
Dwelling coverage. Also called Coverage A, dwelling coverage pays to rebuild your home. Let your insurer know about any significant home improvements that add to replacement costs. You may also need to adjust the coverage to account for rising construction costs, which increased by 55% from 2019 to 2022 and continue to go up, says Mark Friedlander, senior director of media relations for the Insurance Information Institute. Many homeowners who have not updated their policies have shortfalls when it comes to replacement costs, he says.
Talk with your insurance company or a local contractor about the cost per square foot to rebuild your home, says Derek Ross, an independent insurance agent and president of Kulchin Ross Insurance Services in Tarzana, Calif. “What was $250 to $350 a decade ago is $500 now.”
Rebuilding costs tend to rise even more after a natural disaster, when people are competing for contractors and materials. Most insurers let you buy extended replacement cost coverage, which will increase your limit up to 125% or 150% of the dwelling coverage you purchased if the cost to rebuild your home exceeds it.
In case building codes have changed since you purchased your home, consider adding “ordinance or law coverage,” which will pay to rebuild your home to meet the new requirements.
Understand the deductible. In hurricane-prone areas, you may have a much higher deductible for damage from windstorms than for other types of damage — typically 2% to 5% of your total dwelling coverage for windstorms, with a lower deductible (such as $500 or $1,000) for other claims. The higher the deductible, the lower the premiums, but you may have to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket before your coverage kicks in. Read the fine print: Some policies apply the higher deductible only to named hurricanes, while others apply it to all windstorms, says Karyn Roeling, president of Seibert Insurance Agency in Tampa. Keep enough money in an emergency fund to pay your deductible.
If you have separate structures on your property, such as a detached garage, fences or a pool screen enclosure, check your “other structures coverage” limits, also known as Coverage B. The typical limits, which start at 10% of your dwelling coverage, may not be enough.
Personal property coverage. Called Coverage C, personal property coverage applies to your possessions. It’s often 50% or 75% of your dwelling coverage, says Roeling, but it may have lower limits — such as $1,000 to $2,500 — for specific types of items, such as jewelry, guns and artwork. You can buy a separate rider to cover specific valuable items based on their appraised value.
Additional living expenses. People don’t realize the value of this coverage until they have to live outside of their home for weeks — or months — after a natural disaster. The coverage may have a dollar limit and/or a time limit. “Is the limit a year or two years, or does the coverage last as long as you’re out of your home?” says Ross. Residents of Los Angeles’s Pacific Palisades area, where wildfires tore through earlier this year, could be out of their homes for well over two years.
Create a disaster plan
Even if you don’t live in a high-risk area, you should have a disaster plan. “No place is immune from disaster,” says Mitchell Freedman, a certified public accountant in Los Angeles who has helped many clients whose homes were damaged by wildfires and earthquakes. “You should have a plan in place so you’re not looking for things and trying to make decisions when you’re under extreme pressure.”
You usually need to provide evidence of the personal possessions you lost when you have an insurance claim, so one of the best steps you can take ahead of time is to have an up-to-date home inventory. With your smartphone’s video camera, record an inventory of everything you own, and narrate it as you go, says Ross, the Tarzana, Calif., insurance agent who had about two dozen clients with claims from the January wildfires. Save your video in the cloud, and record a new one every year or two.
Having lived through years of wildfire threats nearby, Ross also understands the importance of communication when the regular channels aren’t available. He purchased a high-quality home battery system that gives him access to power if his electricity goes out. He also bought two-way radios and battery-powered scanners so he can stay on top of communication from his local fire department and sheriff’s office during an emergency.
Download your insurance company’s app, which is the quickest way to file a claim, says Roeling. After a disaster, you can upload pictures and tell the insurer about damage to your property. She recommends filing the claim as soon as possible, even if you can’t access the site of the damage yet, then take pictures and put up tarps when you can. “After a storm, we encourage customers to take photos of all damage and have temporary repairs made to prevent further damage, but only if it’s safe to do so. Customers should keep their receipts for reimbursement,” says Justin Tomczak, a State Farm spokesperson.
Think about where you’d go and what you’d take with you if you had to leave your house quickly, says Stephanie Joines, a real estate agent in Dunedin, Fla. Talk with your family about how you’ll communicate if cell service is down or the electricity is out. Keep your car’s gas tank more than half full during storm season, and have a “go bag” ready with your important papers, medicine (for both you and your pets) and cash. “I always keep cash during hurricane season because the ATMs can go down,” says Meyers, who has also found cash handy to help pay people to remove debris soon after a storm.
Don’t forget about your cars, especially if you have more vehicles than drivers. If a storm is headed your way, you can park your extra car on a high level in a mall or airport parking garage, says Roeling.
Flood insurance: Not just for homes at high risk
Homeowners insurance has a significant gap: It doesn’t cover flood damage. It will cover wind-driven rain that enters your home from the top down — through a hole that wind ripped into your roof, for example. But it won’t cover water that comes in from the ground up, such as storm surge or overflowing rivers and streams. For that, you need a flood insurance policy.
Mindy Rankin, a certified public accountant in Panama City, Fla., says her parents’ house was damaged by both wind-driven rain and flooding during Hurricane Michael in 2018, and both types of coverage kicked in.
Only 6% of homeowners have flood insurance, says Mark Friedlander, of the Insurance Information Institute. They’re primarily people who live in coastal areas and whose mortgage lenders require the coverage. But homes throughout the U.S. can sustain damage from flooding, as Asheville, N.C., residents discovered after Hurricane Helene. So a flood policy is worth considering even if you don’t live in a flood zone.
Depending on your location, you can buy flood coverage from the federal government’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) or a private insurer. Lisa Sharrard, owner of Choice Flood Insurance in Wrightsville Beach, N.C., gives clients quotes for both NFIP and private coverage, when available.
NFIP in low-risk areas may cost just $500 to $600 per year. However, NFIP has a dwelling limit of $250,000 and a $100,000 limit for personal possessions, and it doesn’t include coverage for additional living expenses. There’s also a 30-day waiting period before NFIP coverage begins. Private policies can have a shorter waiting period, higher limits and coverage for living expenses while you’re out of your home.
A big mistake that Sharrard sees homeowners make is dropping flood insurance after they’ve paid off their mortgage. “What part of the flood risk changed because you paid your mortgage off?” she says.
Note: This item first appeared in Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine, a monthly, trustworthy source of advice and guidance. Subscribe to help you make more money and keep more of the money you make here.
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