Hurricane preparedness: a board's pre-season checklist

Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30. Florida community-association boards that wait until a named storm appears in the National Hurricane Center cone are too late — for insurance review, for vendor contracting, for member communication, and for the legally-required emergency-powers procedures under Florida Statute 718.1265 (condominium) and 720.316 (HOA).

This article is the checklist your board should be working through every May.

1. Insurance review

Sit down with your broker before May 31. Confirm:

Property coverage. Is the limit current with replacement-cost values? Florida construction costs have risen substantially in the post-pandemic, post-Surfside years. A limit set in 2019 is likely under-insured today.
Windstorm / named-storm deductible. Most Florida policies have a separate (and much higher) deductible for named storms — often 5% to 10% of insured value. Know the dollar amount. Plan for who covers it (typically the association levies a special assessment).
Flood coverage. Standard property policies exclude flood. If your buildings sit in a SFHA (Special Flood Hazard Area), flood insurance through the NFIP or a private carrier is essential. Don't assume your last broker's recommendation is still right; flood zones have been re-mapped in many Florida counties recently.
Builders' risk for any active project. If you have an active renovation or capital project, a separate builders' risk policy covers loss to the work in progress.
Ordinance or law coverage. Florida building codes change, and after a covered loss you may be required to rebuild to current code. Ordinance-or-law coverage pays the increased cost.
D&O policy. Includes coverage for storm-response decisions made under emergency powers.

Get the broker to sign off in writing that the program is current and adequate. That letter is what your defense counsel will need if a member sues over a coverage gap after a loss.

2. Documents and recordkeeping

Pull together a hurricane-ready records package:

Current insurance policies (all of them) with broker contact info
Master vendor list with after-hours contact numbers
Up-to-date owner contact list (phone, email, off-site address)
Floor plans / site plans
Most recent engineering and structural reports
Master keys / access codes inventory
Bank account information and check-signing authority

Store the package in two places: one off-site (cloud or attorney's office), one on-site in a waterproof container. The most common post-storm chaos is "we can't find the insurance policy because the office flooded."

3. Vendor relationships

Pre-storm vendor contracting is the single best lever a board has. Vendors who already have a relationship with you respond first; vendors who don't respond last.

Have written relationships in place by May 31 with:

A licensed general contractor for emergency repairs (typically a master-services agreement with hourly + materials pricing)
A water-mitigation / restoration company
A tree-removal service
A roofing contractor with storm-damage experience
A debris-removal company
An emergency-generator provider (and pre-positioned units if your building has critical life-safety needs)

For each, confirm: license, insurance, after-hours emergency line, expected response time after a named storm. Get the response time in writing.

4. Member communication plan

Document, in writing, how the board will communicate with members before, during, and after a storm:

Communication channels. Email, SMS, phone tree, building-posted notices, association website. List the primary and the backups.
Triggering events. What prompts a communication — NHC cone, watch, warning, post-storm assessment, return-of-power.
Authority to send. Who is authorized to send a communication on behalf of the board without a meeting? (Typically the president and the property manager, with the broader board cc'd.)
Frequency. Pre-storm communications go out at watch and warning. Post-storm communications go out daily until normal operations resume.

Use the pre-season window to test the systems. Send a test communication to all members. Confirm contacts are current.

5. Emergency powers

Florida Statute 718.1265 (condominium) and 720.316 (HOA) grant the board specific emergency powers when a state of emergency is declared by the Governor for the area where the property is located. Powers include:

Conducting board meetings with reduced notice and remote attendance
Cancelling and rescheduling members' meetings
Designating temporary alternate site for association business
Implementing disaster contingency plans
Determining whether portions of the property are uninhabitable
Mitigating further damage (boarding up, water extraction, tree removal)
Contracting for items reasonably necessary
Levying special assessments for emergency expenses without member vote (within statutory limits)
Borrowing money for emergency repairs

The powers are real but narrow. They exist only during a declared state of emergency, only for actions reasonably necessary in response, and only for as long as the emergency lasts. Boards that use emergency powers for non-emergency purposes (renovating a clubhouse during the post-Ian recovery, for example) expose themselves to personal liability.

Document, in advance, the board's emergency-powers protocol: who declares (typically the president), what threshold (governor's declaration), who is notified (the property manager, counsel, the broker, the membership), and how decisions are recorded (a unanimous-written-consent template ready to go).

6. Physical preparedness

The physical preparation is mostly common sense, but it should be on a written checklist:

Hurricane shutters / impact windows tested or installed
Loose objects on balconies and pool decks removed or secured
Drainage cleared
Trees inspected for hazardous limbs
Elevators ready to be parked at upper floors before landfall
Generators tested and fueled
Emergency water supplies pre-positioned for any building system that needs them
All vehicles moved to higher ground or covered structures
All hazardous materials secured (pool chemicals, fuel)

Walk the property in May with the property manager. Photograph and document every item. The photographic record is your post-storm baseline for an insurance claim.

7. Post-storm protocol

The board's job continues after landfall:

Assess and document damage within 48 hours where safe. Photograph everything. Date and timestamp.
File the insurance claim within the policy's notice period (often 7-14 days from the event; some policies are shorter).
Engage the pre-positioned vendor relationships immediately. Get work started before you have full insurance acceptance.
Mitigation costs are reimbursable; let-the-water-sit-for-a-month damage often is not.
Communicate with members at least daily until utilities are restored and the property is normalized.
Document every emergency-powers decision in writing. Ratify them at the next regular board meeting once normal operations resume.

What boards get wrong

The two consistent failure modes:

Treating hurricane season as a one-time event each year. It is not. The protocols above need to be reviewed every year, in May, with the property manager and counsel. Personnel turn over. Vendors change. Policies update. Refresh the package annually.
Skipping the emergency-powers documentation. Boards that use emergency powers but don't document them properly invite both member challenges and insurance disputes. The post-event records are what matter; build them as you go.

Common Elements articles are educational and not legal advice. Consult a licensed Florida attorney before making decisions that affect your association.