Hurricane season officially starts June 1st and lasts until November 30th.
This information has been compiled for your reference and you should consult with your own property management company and HOA regarding hurricane preparation plans, duties, and advice.
BEFORE A HURRICANE
If you live in an apartment or condominium, chances are you will be on your own to protect your property. If you live in an apartment or condo, you should buy renter’s or condo insurance. The building may not be yours to lose, but you have valuables inside. Check with your apartment’s or condominium’s management to find out whether it puts up shutters or lays down sandbags. If it doesn’t, find out whether you can. If your condo association says you cannot hang shutters, seek legal advice because such a rule may be beyond the association’s purview.
Have a plan.
You can’t call a meeting when the storm is approaching, so agree in advance on rules for storing cars and recreational equipment and securing common areas, including the pool and pool deck. If needed, install alarm and fire protection systems, emergency generators, and a defibrillator. A disaster plan should include a personal supply of emergency medical supplies, food, water, waterproof matches, a defibrillator, and an emergency generator. Tools that might be required to excavate someone from a collapsed structure might be considered.
A team approach
Choose a building captain and assemble a plan now. Designate a disaster coordinator or committee. Pre-designate the person or committee granted the authority to act on behalf of the board and the association to implement a well-conceived and orchestrated disaster plan in the aftermath of a storm. Develop and rehearse an evacuation. Have a buddy system. Power can fail before the storm, so elevators won’t work. Memorize exits and how many steps they are from your apartment or condominium, in case you have to find them in the dark.
As the storm approaches
If you’re going to ride out the storm in your unit, choose an interior room without windows or an interior hallway. Be prepared to move to a lower floor. The higher up you are, the stronger the winds. Remove loose items from porch, patio or deck. Close and lock windows, sliding glass doors and shutters. Wedge patio doors. Put towels along door tracks and window sills.
The building or structure
Have a professional engineer check the structural integrity of the building. It’s impossible to tell whether it can withstand a hurricane without an on-site evaluation. Cracks or rusting on balconies may be signs there are weak parts of the building. If you have doubts about how sturdy the building is, ask a structural engineer to look at it. Buildings constructed before 1997 weren’t required to include window protection. Talk to the residents’ association about protecting the openings. Know the whereabouts of shut-off valves and structural components.
DURING A HURRICANE
The most important point to remember when threatened by a hurricane is once you’ve prepared your apartment or condominium, evacuate from the area. If emergency managers believe the approaching storm to be serious enough, and issue the orders to evacuate, then do so immediately. Only as an absolute last resort, however, if you are unable to evacuate, go to a safe room within your home. If you do not have one, we recommend these guidelines:
Stay indoors during the hurricane and away from windows and glass doors.
With winds surpassing 100 miles per hour and the possibility of spawned tornadoes, everyday outdoor items, such as lawn furniture, can be turned into airborne projectiles. These items, if hurled into windows, will result in flying broken glass.
Close all interior doors, secure and brace external doors, and keep curtains and blinds closed.
Even tree limbs and branches can add to the amount of flying debris during a hurricane’s full fury. Do what you can to strengthen the integrity of your doors and windows to protect you and your apartment or condominium.
Do not be fooled if there is a lull; it could be the eye of the storm -- winds will pick up again.
Near the center of the storm is a column of calm air, where from the ground, you may even be able to look up and see sun and clouds. Do not be fooled. This column is often referred to as the “eye,” and can range in size up to several miles wide. The hurricane’s full force rotates counter-clockwise around this eye, and once the eye clears your area, the storm will begin again, often with even greater strength.
Take refuge in a small interior room, closet, or hallway on the lowest level.
Hurricanes have the capability of collapsing structures seemingly safe and sturdy. To afford yourself the greatest protection, remain on the lowest level of your apartment or condominium, in an interior room away from windows, such as a small closet, bathroom or hallway.
Lie on the floor under a table or another sturdy object.
When structures are not completely collapsed, hurricanes do sometimes rip the roof off of the home. If you feel this is imminent, immediately seek shelter under a sturdy object, such as a heavy table, and lie on the floor, covering your head and face.
POST-STORM CONDOMINIUM Q&A
Q: Can you withhold your maintenance payments if the condo association does not repair damage to the common areas?
A: No. You must continue to pay your maintenance charge. If the condo association refuses to repair the damage, you may request arbitration from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
Q: Who pays repair and replacement costs for walls, appliances and furniture inside individual units?
A: Individual condo owners are responsible for paying costs associated with damaged property inside units. Individual insurance will pay for many of these costs. Walls that are shared by two or more units are considered common areas and will be repaired through condo association’s insurance.
Q: How do you know if your condo association has insurance?
A: Florida law requires condo associations to maintain insurance coverage on all common areas of the development. This insurance is purchased with the maintenance fees paid by individual unit owners.
Q: Who pays the cost of repairing hurricane damage to condos?
A: Insurance purchased by a condo’s association should pay repair or replacement costs tied to damage within common areas. Common areas include roofs, exterior walls, balconies, elevators, hallways, parking lots, pools, laundry room and equipment and recreational facilities.
Q: What are the board’s responsibilities after a hurricane to winter residents who are not here to check on their units?
A: Owners are responsible for dealing with their property or arranging for someone else to do so. After a hurricane, management and board members will be too busy with clean-up and repair of common areas to inspect units and report to absentee owners.
Q: If the roof of our condo is damaged by a hurricane, can we withdraw funds from several of our reserve accounts? These would be accounts other than our roof fund, which is badly depleted because we installed a new roof two years ago.
A: Either do a special assessment or call a members’ meeting to approve use of the reserves. Many of your owners should have insurance that includes loss-assessment coverage. If the board approves a special assessment, owners can report the loss as a claim and should be able to collect much of the cost of the special assessment. Loss-assessment policies are typically for $1,000, but it is recommended that homeowners increase that to $5,000 or $10,000 or even more, because the additional coverage is very inexpensive. Some insurance companies impose a deductible on loss-assessment payments. Let this be a lesson to study your community’s insurance coverage and the deductibles. It is strongly urged that the reserves budgeted for next year include an amount to meet your deductibles.
Q: To what extent is the condominium association responsible for repairs after a hurricane? What responsibility does it have for building repairs?
A: The documents, specifically the covenants or declaration, should define the boundaries of the units and the common areas. Private and personal property repairs to the units are the responsibility of the owners. The common areas become the responsibility of the board, acting for the association. After a major storm or catastrophe, this is often easier said than done. Board members are unit owners, too, and have sustained losses like every other unit owner, but they are still responsible for restoring the common areas.
CONDO ASSOCIATION DUTIES
First and foremost, the association should compile a list of contact information for unit owners, vendors and professionals (including CPAs, attorneys, and management personnel) and store it off-premises. Beyond these basics, there are several other steps a condo association can take to minimize the time and frustration that rebuilding will take following any catastrophic losses from a hurricane.
Keep cell phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and emergency contacts for employees and residents.
Not only should this emergency contact information be stored off-site, but it is helpful for each board member to either possess or have immediate access to this information. This will enable you to summon a quorum of owners if immediate decisions need to be made regarding the current safety or the beginnings of clean-up and rebuilding following a hurricane. It will also make for more easily contacting out-of-town owners to apprise them of the situation.
Archive all insurance policies, records of units/unit owners, personnel records and financial records (including bank account numbers, insurance policies and authorized signatures).
Keeping both an on- and off-line archive of these important numbers and documents will prevent many headaches if the data were to be lost if an association office was destroyed during a storm.
Maintain up-to-date photographs of the premises.
Take pictures of the inside and outside of buildings and premises including all furniture, artwork, books, computers and equipment. An “as-built” drawing will greatly facilitate the reconstruction effort. Keep building plans, and contact information for the architects, engineers, contractors and sub-contractors who designed and built the structures.
After a disaster, vendor services, parts and materials will be in short supply. Some repairs may take months to complete. Repairs can’t start until the association has the cash to pay for them. The association should have had adequate insurance and an agent who will see that you get a check promptly.
There are several steps to restoring the association. The first is the immediate safety issue, clearing streets and walks of trees and debris and restoring power. Second: cleaning up the common areas by removing debris and trash. Third: bidding and contracting with vendors to start repairs. That step may take weeks or months.
PET PREPARATION
Whether evacuating to a shelter or remaining in your home, remember to plan for your pets. Though not advised, if you evacuate and leave behind a pet, be aware you may not be able to get back in to your unit when you want. If there’s damage to the building, for instance, you may have to wait for emergency officials to clear it for re-entry.
• Make sure you have enough food, water and medication (if applicable) for 3 days.
• Some shelters will accept your pet. Many will not, so prepare ahead of time by asking your veterinarian if they know of usual pet-friendly shelter facilities.
• Have your pet’s shots up-to-date and records on hand. In the event you have to evacuate to a shelter that accepts pets, shelters often require proof of vaccination(s).
• Specifically for dogs, have a plan in advance for where your pet can relieve themself.
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In the event you have covered parking or a garage, this can be an ideal replacement bathroom area, but remember to bring supplies and clean up after your pet. |
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If going outside of your unit is not an option prepare your laundry room or bathroom for your pet’s use. |
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For small dogs you can also try using baby diapers, securing them to your pet the same way you would a child (though you may need to cut a hole in the diaper to accommodate it’s tail). |
• If your pet generally experiences anxiety with thunderstorms and bad weather, be sure to stock-up on anti-anxiety medication from your veterinarian in advance.
HELPFUL LINKS
NOAA:
http://usasearch.gov/search?affiliate=noaa.gov&v%3Aproject=firstgov&query=hurricane&x=36&y=7
FEMA:
http://www.fema.gov/hazard/hurricane/index.shtm
Sources:
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/hurricane.htm
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/may/07/ensure-your-safety-apartment-condo/
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sflflhgcondo0601sbjun01,0,4024497.story
http://www.local10.com/hurricanes/5271261/detail.html
http://www.tampabay.com/news/weather/hurricanes/article511053.ece
