Hurricane Prep Checklist for the Gulf Coast: The Last 48 Hours

As of National Hurricane Center Advisory 4 (10 AM CDT Wednesday, October 7), a Hurricane Watch runs from Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, to Indian Pass, Florida, and a Storm Surge Watch from the mouth of the Mississippi River to Yankeetown, Florida, including Mobile Bay. NHC says tropical storm conditions could begin in the watch areas midday Friday and hurricane conditions late Friday. A hurricane watch is issued about 48 hours before NHC expects tropical-storm-force winds, because that is when outside preparations become difficult or dangerous. So the clock on this page runs backward from Friday midday, not from landfall Friday night.

This is a checklist, not a forecast. For the track, timing and surge numbers, use NHC and your National Weather Service office, and read our Isaias page for the local detail. For evacuation orders and shelters, your county emergency management office is the authority. If something here disagrees with them, they are right.

The first decision: are you leaving?

Make this call before you buy a single sheet of plywood, because it changes everything else on the list. Evacuation zones on this coast are drawn around storm surge, not wind. Escambia County puts it in one line: run from water, hide from wind. It also says that if you live on a barrier island or in a mobile home, you will always be asked to evacuate, and that a Category 1 storm can carry more deadly surge than a Category 3.

Baldwin County's Zone 1, called for even a Category 1, is all of Pleasure Island (Fort Morgan, Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and Ono Island) plus anyone in a manufactured home or a low-lying, flood-prone area anywhere in the county. Mississippi's emergency management agency tells people to evacuate if they live in a mobile home or temporary structure, however well it is tied down, if they live in a high-rise, where winds are stronger higher up, or if they live on the coast, in a floodplain, or near a river or inland waterway. Florida's Know Your Zone page makes the other half of the point: if you are not in an ordered evacuation zone, a flood-prone area, a mobile home or an unsafe structure, it may be safer to stay home.

If you are going, go early and go to friends or family on high ground if you can. Ready.gov suggests picking destinations in different directions so you have options, and warns that most public shelters allow only service animals, so ask your county now which shelters take pets. Almost every beach community from Dauphin Island to Okaloosa Island is reached by a bridge or causeway. Leave while they are open and the wind is calm, which for Isaias means Thursday or early Friday, not Friday afternoon.

48 hours out: supplies (Wednesday into Thursday)

Shop now, while the shelves are still full and you are not doing it in a rain band. Whether you stay or go, the same list applies; if you leave, it goes in the car.

• Water. Ready.gov's number is at least one gallon per person per day, for drinking and sanitation, for several days. CDC says store at least three days' worth, try for two weeks, and store more for pets, for anyone sick or pregnant, and in a hot climate, which this coast still is in October. A family of four needs 12 gallons just for three days. Mississippi's emergency management agency also says to fill the bathtub and other large containers for flushing and cleaning.
• Food. Several days of food that needs no cooking or refrigeration, plus a manual can opener. Add ice for coolers and a thermometer for the fridge, which Ready.gov suggests for judging what is still safe once the power goes out.
• Medications. Refill now, not Friday. In Florida, state law (Section 252.358) requires insurers to waive refill-too-soon limits and pay for at least a 30-day supply, if you have refills left, once your county is under an NWS hurricane warning, a governor's state of emergency, or an activated county emergency operations center. That is a Florida law; in Alabama and Mississippi, call your pharmacy and insurer. If you rely on refrigerated medicine, ask your pharmacist how long it keeps warm: Ready.gov says to discard refrigerated medication after a power outage of more than a day unless the label says otherwise.
• Documents. ID, insurance policies and bank records, in a waterproof container and copied to a secure, password-protected online account, as Ready.gov recommends.
• Cash. Ready.gov notes that a power outage can close ATMs, banks and gas stations. Small bills, enough for a few days of gas, food and a motel.
• Fuel. Keep a full tank if evacuation looks likely, Ready.gov says, because stations may be closed or unable to pump without power. Fill generator gas cans at the same time and store them outside living areas.
• Phone power. Charge phones and every battery pack you own, and keep a car charger in the vehicle. Wireless Emergency Alerts need no sign-up, but check they are switched on, and sign up for your county's alerts (Alert Baldwin, AlertSantaRosa and the rest).
• Pets. Ready.gov's list includes several days of food and water, an extra supply of their medicine, registration records in a waterproof container, a sturdy carrier for each animal, a backup leash and collar with ID, and a photo of you with your pet to prove ownership if you are separated. Make sure microchip contact details are up to date. If you evacuate, your pets evacuate too.

Insurance: photograph everything today

Walk through the house with your phone and film every room, open closets and cabinets, and get close-ups of serial numbers on appliances and electronics. FloodSmart, the federal flood insurance program's site, asks for exactly this: photos and video of major household items and valuables, with serial numbers. Do the outside too, roof and all. Upload the files somewhere that is not the phone.

Two facts worth knowing before the storm, not after. Most homeowners policies do not cover flood damage; only flood insurance does. And a new National Flood Insurance Program policy normally takes 30 days to go into effect, with a few exceptions such as buying it when you close on a mortgage. A flood policy bought this week will not cover Isaias.

Thursday: secure the house

NWS Mobile's own wind checklist is short and blunt, and it is the right order to work in. Cover the windows: plywood or professionally installed shutters are best. Do not tape them. NWS Mobile says taping does nothing to protect your home from wind, and NHC's Chris Landsea calls it a waste of effort, time and tape, with no protection against flying debris.

Reinforce the garage door. It covers the largest and weakest opening in most houses. The Federal Alliance for Safe Homes says post-storm investigations show more than 90 percent of house damage in severe wind events starts when garage doors give way, and NWS Mobile's point is the same: keep the wind out of the house. If your door is not wind-rated, temporary 2-by-4 bracing is the cheap fix FLASH describes, and they remind you to release the opener so nobody runs it into the braces.

Then clear the yard. Lawn chairs, grills, trampolines, pool gear, kayaks, paddleboards and trash cans all become projectiles. Clean gutters, downspouts and the storm drain in front of your house; on this coast the surge can hold the bays high while the rain falls, and that is when low streets flood. Mississippi's emergency management agency adds two small ones: turn off propane tanks, and turn the refrigerator to its coldest setting and keep the doors shut.

Boats come off the water or go to the hurricane hole now, while ramps, haul-out lists and drawbridges still work. Once the storm is on you, do not go back for the boat. Two of Hurricane Sally's four direct U.S. deaths came from hazardous marine conditions, including a man who took a jon boat onto Perdido Bay to look for a pontoon boat that had broken loose.

24 hours out: finish, then stop (Thursday night to Friday morning)

NHC issues a hurricane warning about 36 hours before it expects tropical-storm-force winds, and the National Weather Service's wording for it is simple: all preparations should be complete, and evacuate immediately if ordered. With Isaias's tropical-storm winds possible from midday Friday, treat Friday morning as the end of outdoor work.

• If your zone is ordered out, leave. Don't wait to see the next advisory.
• Check on neighbors, especially older people and anyone without a car, the way Ready.gov asks. A ride inland or help with plywood is worth more than anything else on this list.
• Pick the room you will ride it out in: interior, away from windows, skylights and glass doors. Put water, flashlights, phones, chargers, shoes and the medication bag in it.
• Agree on a check-in plan with family outside the area. Ready.gov's advice is to text rather than call, because voice networks jam after a storm.
• Get the generator set up outside, with its heavy-duty, outdoor-rated cords run, before the weather turns. Read the next section before you start it.
• Bring the car to the highest ground you can reach, or into a garage you have braced.

Generators: the danger that outlasts the wind

Carbon monoxide from generators does not kill more people than the wind in every hurricane, but it has in recent Gulf storms. After Laura in 2020, the Louisiana Department of Health attributed 8 of the first 15 storm-related deaths it confirmed to carbon monoxide from portable generators, including five people in one Lake Charles house whose generator was running in an attached garage. NHC's report on Laura counts four deaths in Louisiana from trees blown down by its wind. On this coast, Sally's direct deaths in Alabama and Florida came from the water, not the wind, and NHC's report notes two more people, one in Pensacola and an 82-year-old man in Baldwin County, who died of carbon monoxide from improper generator use. After Ida in 2021, NHC counted six carbon monoxide deaths.

CDC's rules are not complicated, and they are absolute:

• Never run a generator inside the house or garage, even with the doors and windows open. That includes a carport or porch tucked against the house.
• Run it outside, more than 20 feet from any window, door or vent, with the exhaust pointed away. Watch the wind: exhaust that blows back toward the house is the same problem.
• Put a battery-powered or battery-backup carbon monoxide detector in the house whenever a generator is running. Headache, dizziness, weakness, upset stomach, vomiting, chest pain and confusion are the symptoms; if the alarm sounds, get everyone out and call 911.
• Let it cool before refueling; gas spilled on a hot engine can ignite, Ready.gov warns. Keep it dry.
• Plug appliances straight into the generator or into heavy-duty, outdoor-rated cords. Never plug it into a wall outlet to power the house. The Red Cross calls that backfeeding, and it can electrocute utility workers and neighbors on the same transformer. A permanent connection needs a transfer switch installed by an electrician.
• Never heat the house with a gas stove or oven, and keep camp stoves and charcoal grills outdoors and away from windows, for the same reason.

When the wind arrives

• Stay inside, in your interior room. No checking the boat, the surf or the dock.
• If the eye passes over and it goes calm, stay put. NOAA's guidance is that the back side can be minutes away, with the wind returning just as suddenly from the opposite direction.
• If water is coming into the house, go to the highest floor, but do not climb into a closed attic. Ready.gov warns you can be trapped there by rising water.
• Keep alerts on through the night. Tornadoes in tropical systems come mostly from rain bands on the storm's right-front side, which for a storm coming ashore near the Alabama-Florida line is the Florida Panhandle and south Alabama, and they are often wrapped in rain where you cannot see them.
• Do not drive into water over a road. The National Weather Service says 6 inches of fast-moving water can knock over an adult, 12 inches can carry away most cars and 2 feet can carry away SUVs and trucks, and that over half of flood drownings happen when someone drives into flood water. During Sally, a woman near Innerarity Point died after rising surge overtook her car.

After it passes

Most of what hurts people after a hurricane happens in the days of cleanup, not the night of the storm. Wait for local officials to say roads and bridges are open before you go look.

• Downed power lines. Treat every one as live. CDC says stay clear and call the electric company; Ready.gov adds that downed or underground lines can electrically charge standing water. Do not touch anything electrical while you are wet or standing in water. If it is safe, shut off the main breaker before you start mopping.
• Chainsaws. CDC counts about 36,000 emergency room visits a year from chainsaws, and the risk climbs after hurricanes. Wear a hard hat, eye and ear protection, heavy gloves, chaps and boots, and be careful with spring poles, trees or limbs bent under tension, which can whip when cut. NHC's Sally report includes a 33-year-old man in Foley who was killed when a tree fell on him while he was cutting limbs. If a tree is on the house or tangled in lines, it is a job for a professional.
• Carbon monoxide again. The generator rules above apply for as long as the power is out, and the risk grows as people get tired and careless with them.
• Boil-water notices. Use bottled, boiled or treated water for drinking, cooking and brushing teeth until the notice is lifted. EPA's method: bring water to a rolling boil for at least one minute, then let it cool. Do not wade in flood water; it carries sewage, chemicals and debris.
• Food. Ready.gov says a closed refrigerator keeps food cold about four hours and a full freezer about 48. Throw out food that has been at 40 degrees or warmer for two hours or more, or that touched flood water. When in doubt, throw it out.
• Heat. Long outages are dangerous on their own; NHC's report on Ida attributes 13 deaths to heat exhaustion during the power outages that followed. Check on anyone older or with medical needs, and use cooling centers if your county opens them.
• Damage photos before cleanup. Photograph and film all damage before you move or throw out anything, write down the make, model and serial number of ruined appliances, and keep samples of flooded carpet and flooring, as FloodSmart asks. Then call your insurer.

Where to get the official word

NHC owns the track, intensity, watches, warnings and surge forecast. Your NWS office owns local warnings: NWS Mobile for Mobile and Baldwin counties and Escambia, Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties; NWS New Orleans for Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties in Mississippi; NWS Tallahassee for Walton and Bay counties. Your county emergency management office owns evacuation orders and shelters. For how surge behaves in these bays and why your zone is drawn where it is, our storm surge explainer for Mobile Bay, Pensacola Bay and the Mississippi Sound walks through the history.