Hurricane season planning for Gulf and Atlantic contractors

Plan for the season, not the storm

Contractors on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts live with a six-month risk window. NOAA's National Hurricane Center says the Atlantic season runs from June 1 to November 30, with an average of 14 named storms, 7 hurricanes and 3 major hurricanes per season based on 1991 to 2020 data, and a peak on September 10^[1]. Nobody can say in May which week a storm will arrive. You can decide in May what your company will do before, during and after one.

The trades most affected are concentrated in storm states. Florida had the most pest control establishments in the country in 2023 and the most landscaping establishments^[4], and Texas and Florida ranked second and third for roofing contractors behind California^[4]. For many of those businesses, hurricane planning is as routine as summer staffing.

Business continuity basics

1. 01

   Protect the data

   Confirm customer records, schedules, accounting and phone settings live in cloud systems or have off-site backups you have tested.

2. 02

   Make the phones portable

   Set up call forwarding to cell phones or a cloud phone system that works if the office is closed or without power.

3. 03

   Secure the shop and fleet

   Decide where trucks will ride out a storm, away from flood-prone lots, and how equipment and stock are secured.

4. 04

   Line up cash

   Know how you will make payroll if the office is closed for a week and card payments are down. Keep access to a credit line or reserve.

5. 05

   Document the insurance

   Photograph the shop, trucks and inventory before the season, and keep policies and agent contacts where you can reach them from a phone.

6. 06

   Name a decision-maker and a backup

   Someone must decide when to stop field work and when to restart, and someone must do it if that person evacuates.

Before landfall: the pre-storm surge

When a storm is forecast, demand spikes for preparation work: generator service, securing outdoor AC units, clearing gutters and drains, trimming trees, pest treatments before people leave and roof checks. Decide early how much of this you will take and when you will stop. Crews need time to secure their own homes and families, and no job is worth keeping a tech on a ladder as winds rise.

• Publish a cut-off time for field work, and tell customers on every booking call.
• Prioritize members and existing customers for pre-storm visits.
• Give crews the day before expected impacts to prepare their own homes.
• Fill trucks, generators and fuel cans early, before lines form.
• Send customers a short prep message: unplug sensitive equipment, photograph the property, know how to shut off utilities and never run a generator indoors or in a garage.

Communications plan

Write the employee check-in plan first. After landfall, the first question is whether every person on your team is safe; jobs come second.

After the storm: demand and triage

Post-storm demand is predictable in kind, if not in size. Wind and hail cause the largest share of homeowners insurance claims, at 2.8% of insured homes a year from 2018 to 2022^[2], and a hurricane concentrates that damage into one region in one week. Expect calls for roof tarping and repairs, flooded or damaged AC condensers, electrical safety checks, tree and debris removal, water-damaged interiors and pest problems that follow standing water.

1. Life-safety hazards first: downed lines, gas smells and flooded electrical. Direct callers to 911 and the utility before anything else.
2. Stop active water: tarping and temporary repairs on occupied homes, with vulnerable residents first.
3. Restore cooling for vulnerable customers once equipment is safe to run; flooded equipment should be inspected before it is energized.
4. Permanent repairs, scheduled with written estimates and, where required, permits.
5. Routine work resumes once the emergency backlog is under control.

Phones will be overwhelmed for days. Plan overflow answering before the season so every caller gets a clear answer, a place in the queue and safety instructions. An AI Employee such as Ava can take those calls around the clock and capture the job details, which keeps the backlog organized while crews are in the field.

Licensing for out-of-area work

Storms draw contractors from other regions, and states respond with tougher enforcement. Florida law makes unlicensed contracting during a state of emergency declared by the Governor a third-degree felony^[3]. Before sending a crew outside your licensed area, check:

• Whether the host state or county requires your trade to hold a local license or registration, and whether any emergency registration exists.
• Whether your insurance covers work in that state, including workers' compensation for traveling crews.
• Local permit requirements for roofing and electrical repairs, which usually still apply after a storm.
• Rules on door-to-door solicitation and contracts signed after a disaster, which some states restrict.
• Price-gouging rules that apply during a declared emergency.

For more on rules aimed at traveling storm contractors, see the guide to storm chaser laws.

Pay and people during a shutdown

Employees worry about two things when a storm approaches: their families and their paychecks. Answer the second in writing before the season so they can focus on the first.

• State whether hourly staff are paid for days the company closes for a storm, and how.
• Explain how storm-recovery overtime and any premium pay will work.
• Set expectations for employees who evacuate or who have damage at home; nobody should fear losing a job for keeping their family safe.
• Keep emergency contact details for every employee current, including an out-of-area contact.

Fair dealing after the storm

Post-storm work builds or destroys a local reputation for years. Customers remember who answered, who showed up and who charged fairly. Keep your normal price book, put every estimate in writing, explain what insurance usually needs from them, such as photos and a written scope, and never ask a customer to sign over insurance benefits on the spot. Do the temporary fix that stops the damage, then quote the permanent repair once the customer has had time to talk to their insurer. Companies that work this way are the ones homeowners call first when the next storm comes.

Example: a Gulf Coast roofing and HVAC company

Example: a fictional 20-person roofing and HVAC company near Mobile writes its plan each May. Data and phones are cloud-based, trucks ride out storms at a second yard on higher ground and the owner keeps a cash reserve for one missed payroll. When a hurricane watch is issued, the company stops roof work two days before expected impacts and gives crews a day to prepare their homes. After landfall it checks on every employee first, reopens phones with a storm greeting and works tarping for occupied homes before anything else. It declines out-of-state requests where it holds no license, and quotes permanent repairs only after inspections.

Season checklist

• May: write or update the plan; test backups and call forwarding; photograph property for insurance.
• June: brief employees; publish the check-in method; set supplier orders for storm stock.
• August: re-check the plan before the season's peak; restock tarps and generator parts.
• After every storm: review what worked and what did not, and update the plan.
• November 30: close the season and file notes for next year.

For the roofing side of severe weather, see hail season for roofers; for the other end of the year, see winter storm prep.