Here in Southwest Florida, the date on the calendar tells a story. As we move through August and into the peak of hurricane season, the beauty of our tropical paradise is paired with a sense of watchfulness. The weather reports become daily viewing, and we track distant storms as they form in the Atlantic. For full-time residents, this means preparing our homes and families. But what if you’re one of the thousands of homeowners enjoying your summer up north, watching the forecast for Venice,FL. from a thousand miles away?

The feeling of helplessness can be immense. Your single largest investment and your personal slice of paradise lie directly in a storm’s potential path. While you can’t control the weather, you can have a solid plan in place. When it comes to your pool and lanai, being prepared is the difference between a minor cleanup and a catastrophic, expensive recovery. This checklist is your guide to securing your pool area, even when you’re not here to do it yourself.

Before the Storm: Proactive Preparation is Key

As a storm approaches, there are critical steps that must be taken to minimize damage.

1. Secure Every Loose Item on the Lanai Look around your lanai and pool deck. Every single item has the potential to become a dangerous projectile in hurricane-force winds. Your comfortable patio furniture, potted plants, decorative items, and even your heavy-duty grill can be picked up and thrown into your screen enclosure, windows, or sliding glass doors. The first and most important step is to clear the deck.

  • How it’s done: Ideally, all furniture and loose items should be moved into the safety of the garage or inside the home. This isn’t just about protecting the furniture itself; it’s about preventing that furniture from causing thousands of dollars in damage to your property.

2. Power Down Your Pool Equipment Your pool pump, heater, and lighting systems are vulnerable to the power surges and outages that are common during and after a hurricane. To protect these expensive components, it’s essential to turn off the power directly at the circuit breakers before the storm arrives. This prevents the equipment from being fried when the power is restored, often in a series of unstable surges.

3. Balance, But Do Not Drain, Your Pool (Myth-Busting) This is the most important—and most misunderstood—step in hurricane prep. A common myth is that you should partially or fully drain your pool to prevent it from overflowing. This is extremely dangerous and could lead to catastrophic failure.

  • Why you need the water: Your pool is essentially a massive, rigid boat sitting in the ground. The immense weight of the water inside holds it down. During a hurricane, the ground becomes super-saturated with rainwater. This creates immense hydrostatic pressure from the groundwater, which pushes upward on the empty pool shell. Without the weight of the water inside pushing down, this pressure can cause a pool to literally “pop” or lift out of the ground, breaking plumbing lines and destroying the structure.
  • The right approach: A “pre-storm shock” or extra dose of chemicals from a pool professional can help the water withstand the influx of contaminants from rain and debris, making the post-storm cleanup easier.

After the Storm: The Importance of Rapid Assessment

The storm has passed. The winds have subsided. For the absent homeowner, this is when the real anxiety begins. What happened? Is my home okay? This is where having a trusted partner on the ground is invaluable.

1. The Immediate On-Site Report You need to know the condition of your property as soon as it’s safe to do so. A home watch professional acts as your eyes and ears, providing the first look you so desperately need.

  • Our Role: Once roads are clear and it’s safe, our priority is visiting your home to conduct a thorough post-storm inspection. We provide a detailed report with high-resolution photos and videos of your lanai, screen enclosure, pool equipment, and the pool’s water condition. This immediate, reliable feedback replaces worry and speculation with facts, giving you true peace of mind.

2. Assessing the Damage and Coordinating Cleanup After a storm, pools are often filled with a thick sludge of leaves, dirt, branches, and other organic debris. This needs to be removed quickly. The longer it sits, the more it will decay, which can severely stain your pool’s surface and create a breeding ground for bacteria and algae. Your screen enclosure is also highly susceptible to damage and needs to be inspected for tears and structural issues.

Your Home Watch Advantage: The Coordinator Paradise Lifestyle Home Watch is your advocate and project manager. We are not a pool cleaning company or a screen repair company. Our role is to provide an unbiased assessment of the damage and, with your authorization, coordinate with your preferred, licensed, and insured local professionals. In the chaotic aftermath of a storm, when pool and repair companies are inundated with calls, having us make that call on your behalf gets you on their schedule faster, mitigating further damage and starting the recovery process immediately.

You can’t manage a hurricane from another state. But you can ensure you have a professional plan and a trusted partner ready to act. Let Paradise Lifestyle Home Watch be an essential part of your hurricane plan, protecting your investment and ensuring that when you finally return, your paradise is ready and waiting for you.