Hurricane and Severe Storm Preparation for Renters Who Cannot Board Windows

• Look up your address in your local evacuation-zone map (city or county emergency management sites publish them)
• Learn your building’s floor and construction — interior rooms on lower floors of modern buildings are generally safest from wind
• Identify your interior shelter spot now: a bathroom, hallway, or closet with no windows and as many walls between you and outside as possible
• Save your local emergency management and non-emergency numbers on paper

• Close and lock windows — locked sashes seal tighter against wind-driven rain
• Close blinds and curtains; they will not stop glass but reduce how far fragments travel
• Move furniture, beds, and your shelter spot away from window walls
• Roll towels at door thresholds and window sills for wind-driven water
• Do not tape windows — it creates larger, more dangerous shards and does not prevent breakage

• Fill every container you own, plus the bathtub if you have a liner — upper floors can lose water pressure when pumps lose power
• Charge every device and power bank; set phones to low-power mode
• Move your emergency kit and go-bag into your interior shelter room
• Park your car (if you have one) away from trees and on higher ground if flooding is forecast
• Photograph your unit and belongings for insurance before the storm arrives

Renters often hesitate to leave a home they do not own. Use three clear triggers instead of gut feel:

1. 1Official orders: if your zone is told to evacuate, go — orders account for storm surge and flood risk you cannot judge from a window
2. 2Building vulnerability: older buildings, top floors, and large window walls argue for leaving earlier
3. 3Personal factors: medical needs, infants, or mobility limits mean leaving early, while routes are open

If you stay, shelter in your interior room during the worst winds, keep shoes and a flashlight within reach, and never go outside during the eye’s calm — the back side of the storm follows.