Last year I jinxed Mt Pleasant when I said October is my favorite month of the year.  As a Property Manager I should know better considering October is part of hurricane season.  If your rental property is not prepared for a hurricane get prepared now.  Hurricane season began June 1 and you should have all of your hurricane supplies on site when the season begins.  While most hurricanes come through the Charleston area in September and October waiting until a hurricane warning is issued to start preparing is the worst thing you can do.  To be clear once a hurricane warning is issued there is very little I can do for you.

The best thing about hurricanes is you have time on your side.  You know it's out there and it's spinning north.  Let me find a contractor to cut boards for your windows if your property does not have hurricane shutters.  Let me get you on a schedule with a contractor to have boards or hurricane shutters installed and sand bags placed around entrances.  If you have hurricane shutters make sure they are in an ACCESSIBLE LOCATION LABELLED AND WITH INSTRUCTIONS.  Have sandbags stored on site in an accessible location.  Do not expect or rely on your tenants to install hurricane shutters.  They do not own the property.  They are going to be evacuating and most likely they will be difficult to reach.  By the time you find out there is a hurricane warning in Charleston County your tenants are already making plans to leave.

If a hurricane warning is issued hurricane supplies will sell out immediately and every contractor in Charleston is going to be busy boarding up windows for their clients, family, and friends.  Water will run out.  Gas will run out.  Contractors will be limited to where they can travel because of gas shortages.

Last year Charleston was spared during Hurricane Matthew.  A lot of trees came down but otherwise we were lucky.  Our neighbors in Beaufort and Hunting Island weren't so lucky.  The storm sat over Beaufort for a long time and caused extensive damage to the area.  Hurricane Matthew barreled through Mt Pleasant in the early morning hours of Saturday, October 8th.  On the morning of Tuesday, October 4 I started getting nervous.  I called a contractor I work with and asked if he would be available to board the properties I managed.  He said he would be available only if the properties already had boards cut or hurricane shutters.  

I decided unless the Category 2 storm strengthened I was going to stay in Mt Pleasant to be available to assess property damage right after the storm.  If I am being honest I was just hoping for an opportunity to meet my favorite celebrity Jim Cantore.  Tuesday morning I left the office and filled my car with gas.  I went to Lowe's to have boards cut for my windows at my home. It took forever to get the boards cut.  If I was staying I had to prepare for the worst.  I needed non-perishable food, flash lights, and lots and lots of drinking water.  While I was waiting at Lowe's with several other patrons Governor Nikki Haley declared a state of emergency.  I finally got my boards and went to grab some bottled water.  Lowe's was sold out... within minutes of that announcement.  I went to Target to get supplies and groceries... no bottled water.  I grabbed as much seltzer water as I could find.  I was about to check out and asked an employee if they had any water.  He told me they were about to bring in pallets of gallon water.  I was first in line and grabbed two (2) cases.  By 4:30pm when I arrived at my son's school I was hearing reports that gas stations were running out of gas.  Nikki Haley's press conference was at 3:00pm.  This all happened very fast and four (4) days before the storm arrived in Charleston.  

The next day I sent a contractor to a property on Johns Island to board windows.  The tenants had left town.  The contractor was unable to install the hurricane shutters because the tenants belongings were blocking access to the shutters.  This is why I stress having your hurricane supplies in an accessible location.  Two days before the storm I helped a friend install shutters at his home.  That was a fun adventure and why I stress the importance of labeling your shutters. 

Two days before the storm it was a waiting game and I will say I loved ghost town Mt Pleasant after most residents had evacuated.  No cars on the road and the only sign of life was gathered around whatever dive bars were still open.  The water level was high and the sky was gray.  I was in heaven walking the beach in my long sleeve t-shirt and seeing palmetto trees swaying in the wind.  

Hurricane Matthew was very different for me as a Property Manager than the flooding in October 2015.  During the floods there was no preparation and no one evacuated.  I received phone calls from tenants all weekend about roof leaks and flooded houses. I scrambled to get properties on disaster restoration contractors schedules.  I couldn't do much about the roof leaks until the rain subsided, and after the flooding roof contractors were in high demand.  The weekend of the hurricane I received no calls because no one was in town.  

After the storm cleared and roads opened I went for a run through Home Farm, Harborgate Shores, Scott's Creek, Oakhaven Plantation, and Fiddler's Marsh.  Neighbors were out cleaning up tree limbs and debris from their yards. For once I was grateful I don't have a yard.  I have a large tree outside my living room and he was still standing proudly.

On Monday I knew I would have property owners calling curious about the condition of their property.  Ahead of the game I notified all of my clients and assured them I was going to each and every property to assess for damage.  I contacted the tenants for every property and told them I needed to know about any interior damage.  By Friday I had traveled all over Mt Pleasant, Downtown Charleston, James Island, West Ashley, Johns Island, Summerville, Ladson, and Goose Creek.  The process went smoothly but it took some time and planning.  I learned a lot from the flooding in October 2015 and by the time Hurricane Matthew approached Charleston I had a hurricane property management plan in place.

Like everything I do in property management it's about being prepared and having a plan that works.  As your Property Manager I can help get your investment property prepared for natural disasters and assist with restoring your rental property if property damage occurs.