The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season is here and shaping up to be especially active. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts a 60 percent chance of an above-normal season, forecasting 13 to 19 named storms — three to five of which are predicted to grow to major hurricanes, meaning category 3 or higher. Warmer ocean temperatures, together with heightened West African Monsoon activity and neutral El Niño and La Niña conditions are all poised to make this hurricane season more active than normal.

“In my 30 years at the National Weather Service, we’ve never had more advanced models and warning systems in place to monitor the weather,” said Ken Graham, NOAA’s National Weather Service Director, in a statement. “This outlook is a call to action: be prepared.”

More than 1 in 4 (26 percent) of U.S. homeowners say they are unprepared for the potential costs associated with extreme weather events in their area, according to Bankrate’s 2024 Extreme Weather Survey. To avoid being one of them this hurricane season, make sure you’re ready before a storm rolls through town. Here’s what you need to know.

If the 2024 hurricane season taught us anything, it’s that all homeowners — not just ones along the coast — need to brace themselves for the coming storms. “Your risk from hurricanes can extend far inland from the landfall location,” says Caitlin Fine, Cotality’s director of forensic meteorology. Cotality’s Hurricane Risk 2025 report found that there are around 33.1 million residential properties with a moderate or greater risk of hurricane wind damage. Combined, these properties have a total reconstruction cost value of $11.7 trillion. 

Helene, a category 4 storm that battered the American southeast, was a turning point in how we prepare for hurricanes. Not only did the storm devastate coastal communities, but it also triggered a “one in one thousand year rain event” further inland, according to Fine. Some areas, namely North Carolina, northeastern Tennessee and southwestern Virginia, got nearly their annual amount of rainfall in just a few days. However, most flooded homes were not located in federally designated flood zones, and therefore didn’t carry a flood insurance policy. As a result, Cotality estimates that there is a $30.5 to $47.5 billion dollar gap between insured and uninsured losses stemming from Hurricane Helene.

Floods aren’t the only natural disasters that can follow a hurricane. A hurricane can spawn tornadoes, which can travel far beyond the storm’s initial path. Cotality reports that Hurricane Beryl, which hit the Gulf Coast in late June 2024, spawned an estimated 68 tornados across the U.S. over a three-day period. Some cyclones found their way to Illinois, Kentucky, New York and even as far north as Ontario.

It’s hard to think about losing your home to a natural disaster, but should the worst happen, you’ll be glad you had a plan ahead of time. Here are our expert tips on how to prepare for the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season as a homeowner:

Your home insurance policy is designed to restore your home to its pre-loss condition after it is damaged. And the most efficient way to restore your home to its pre-loss condition is to have a thorough record of what it looked like.

Start off by creating a home inventory. It can be a daunting process, but there are several apps and other tools that can speed the process along. Go room by room, and be as thorough as you can — the more details, the better. It also helps to take photos of your home’s interior and exterior. If you find yourself needing to file a claim for hurricane damage, having an accurate record of the “before” can make getting past the “after” a little smoother.

Your home insurance policy likely includes financial protection for wind damage. But, this coverage isn’t guaranteed. Along the Gulf Coast of Texas, home insurance policies do not cover wind damage. Homeowners need to purchase wind insurance, either through the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) or a private wind insurance provider. Similarly, in Florida, homeowners can choose to exclude wind coverage from their home insurance policies and get wind insurance through the state-backed FAIR Plan from Citizens or through a private provider.

Making assumptions about what’s covered by your insurance policy can be an expensive mistake. The average cost of a wind and hail home insurance claim was $13,511 in 2022. Since then, rebuilding costs have risen and tariffs loom, both of which can drive bills skyward. Make sure you have the right coverage types and adequate limits in place before the winds pick up.

If you have a standard home insurance policy, you are not financially protected from flood damage. Although it’s the most common natural disaster, flooding is excluded from standard home insurance policies. Flood damage can add up quickly; the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) reports that a single inch of floodwater can cause around $25,000 in damage to your home.

Flood insurance is typically sold as a separate policy. Most flood insurance policies, whether they’re through a private provider or the NFIP, have a 10- to 30-day waiting period before coverage begins. If you wait until the last minute to get flood coverage, you may not be covered in time for a hurricane. If you live in a high-risk flood area, your lender may require that you carry coverage. As flooding increasingly affects moderate and lower-risk areas, this may be the season to explore your flood exposure and insurance options if you don’t already have a policy in place.

To put it simply, your deductible is how much money you have to pay out of pocket when you file a claim.

Depending on how your home was damaged by a hurricane, you may need to pay more than one deductible. If you have multiple policies — like home, wind and flood — all with the same provider, it’s possible that you’ll only pay the highest deductible if your home is rendered a total loss. Or, if an insurance adjuster credits half of the damage to flood and the other half to wind, you may need to pay each policy’s deductible if they’re with different insurance companies.

Getting familiar with deductibles, how many you have and what they cost, can help you avoid sticker shock when filing a claim.

You may be required to evacuate your home for large storms. Instead of scrambling at the last moment to get everything together, make a plan ahead of time. Get an emergency kit together, plan for kids and pets, and be ready for a power outage.

: How to prepare your home for a natural disaster

You return home after an evacuation order, only to find that your roof has a major hole in it or your basement flooded. What do you do after? To find out, we asked Derek Royster, a principal with Baker Tilly’s forensic, litigation and valuation services practice.

If your home is damaged by a hurricane, Royster says it’s important to act fast and let your insurance company know. “Before hiring any contractors for repairs, report the claim as quickly as possible to your insurance company,” says Royster. It’s more than likely that your home wasn’t the only one that was damaged in a large storm.

“In an area with widespread damage, it can be difficult to find contractors. You have people knocking on your door,” says Royster. To avoid getting scammed, Royster recommends that homeowners always verify a contractor’s identity and “communicate with your insurance agent and your insurer in terms of who will be doing the repairs.” Royster says you can check a contractor’s license through your state’s licensing board or other official site, like the Better Business Bureau.

Once you have your contractor and insurance company on the same page, you’re almost ready to go. Before the repairs begin in earnest, Royster also suggests you get a written contract of the proposed work that “defines scope, cost, estimated completion and payment terms.” As a homeowner, there’s a limit to how much you need to pay before the repairs can begin. The limit changes by state, but is usually around 10-20 percent.

Homeowners should also try to be present for the repair process. If it’s a shorter repair timeline, Royster urges homeowners to try and “be there at all times.” For longer projects, he suggests doing a more periodic check-in. While you’re on-site, don’t be afraid to ask questions and document the process.

Once repairs are finally complete, be sure to inspect the work before issuing any final payments. “You can do it yourself or bring in a third party,” says Royster. Before the repairs wrap up, revisit the original repair contract to ensure the full scope of the work has been completed.