How to Protect Your Home from Hurricanes

Hurricane season begins June 1, and scientists at Colorado State University expect 2018 to be another big year, forecasting seven hurricanes—three of them major.

Heavy clouds from a hurricane hover over a city
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Hurricane season begins June 1, and scientists at Colorado State University expect 2018 to be another big year, forecasting seven hurricanes—three of them major. (In 2017, there were six major hurricanes, with Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria doing lasting damage.)

You can reduce the risk of costly damages by strengthening your home against the destructive forces most likely to affect your area of the country. By doing so, you’ll increase the likelihood that your home will survive the worst that nature throws at it. And depending on your state, municipality and insurer, you may qualify for grants or insurance-premium discounts to offset part of the cost.

More of us might be in hurricane danger than realize it. Here are steps you can take to minimize the damage from storms.

Patricia Mertz Esswein
Contributing Writer, Kiplinger's Personal Finance
Esswein joined Kiplinger in May 1984 as director of special publications and managing editor of Kiplinger Books. In 2004, she began covering real estate for Kiplinger's Personal Finance, writing about the housing market, buying and selling a home, getting a mortgage, and home improvement. Prior to joining Kiplinger, Esswein wrote and edited for Empire Sports, a monthly magazine covering sports and recreation in upstate New York. She holds a BA degree from Gustavus Adolphus College, in St. Peter, Minn., and an MA in magazine journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School at Syracuse University.