Hurricane Season Property Security Checklist

How to use this checklist

Work through the first section in May, before the season opens on June 1, and keep the rest with the property’s storm plan. When a storm enters the forecast, start at the second section and go in order. The checklist assumes the property has a security company; a property that does not should read the first section as the list of things to arrange. Price Protection’s post orders for its clients include a storm section built from these items.

Before the season (by June 1)

• Storm section added to the post orders: what the officer does at each stage, when the post stands down, when it resumes
• Who decides a stand-down and a return agreed and named
• Contact tree updated: manager, maintenance, owner, security dispatch, insurer, utility, fire department non-emergency
• Coverage for the post-storm period agreed in principle: extra officers, a patrol, fire watch if systems go down
• Generator, fuel and lighting plan for the office and the guardhouse
• Gate, camera and access system behavior on power loss known and written down
• Vacant units and buildings listed for the post-storm round
• Photographs of the property on file as a baseline

When a storm is forecast

• Officer schedule through the storm window confirmed with dispatch
• Loose items, furniture, signs and equipment secured or moved
• Vehicles and equipment moved to high ground or secured
• Windows and doors of vacant units and the office secured
• Residents or tenants told what security will be on site, and when it will not be
• Fresh photographs of the property
• Keys, codes and the contact tree in the officer’s hands

During the storm

• Officer remains only where the post orders and the conditions allow
• Stand-down decision made by the named person and logged with the time
• Check-ins with dispatch on the agreed schedule
• No rounds during dangerous conditions; life safety first

After the storm

• Coverage resumes as soon as roads allow; time logged
• First round: perimeter, fences, gates, damaged openings, standing water, downed lines (reported, not approached)
• Damaged openings boarded or covered; vacant units rechecked
• Gates that failed open covered by an officer until repaired
• Lighting and camera outages logged; officer presence increased where they are dark
• Photographs of damage taken for the insurer, with times
• Fire protection impairments reported to the fire department and the fire code official; fire watch started if required
• Contractors’ materials and equipment covered as they arrive
• Daily report to the manager each morning, with damage and access notes

Recovery

• Fire watch maintained until systems are restored and tested
• Post orders updated for the construction phase
• Coverage window reviewed as power and systems return
• Storm file completed: photographs, logs, reports, notifications

Notes on filling it in

Almost everything that goes wrong after a storm traces back to the first section not having been done: no agreed stand-down, no plan for gates that fail open, no idea whether the cameras are dark. Do it in May. During the storm the checklist is short on purpose; an officer in a flooded lot is not coverage. Afterward, the period between the storm passing and power returning is the one that matters most for security, and it is when a property with a plan already in place is staffed first. The hurricane planning article and the aftermath article go through each period, and the sprinkler impairment checklist covers the fire watch.