Hurricane season runs June through November, and on a barrier island that's not an abstraction. Long Beach flooded badly in Sandy, the streets still take water on serious high tides, and every storm tracking up the coast puts the island under watch early. Most storm-prep checklists are written for the whole country. This one is written for homes on a strip of sand between the ocean and a bay. Print it, run the "before" list once at the start of each season, and keep it with the flashlights.
Before the Storm — Do This While the Sun Is Out
Find your main water shutoff, and actually turn it.
- In most homes it's where the water line enters the house, near the front foundation wall.
- In homes elevated after Sandy, it often moved during the lift: check the ground-level utility enclosure under the living space, where the service comes up before it runs into the house.
- Close it fully and reopen it once a season. A valve that hasn't moved in fifteen years may refuse to move the night the street floods.
- If it's seized or drips when you work it, have it repaired before the season — not during a watch.
Know your gas appliances.
- Every gas appliance — water heater, boiler, range, dryer — should have a shutoff valve on its supply line near the unit. Find each one now, and if an older appliance is missing one, that's a fix worth making before the season.
- Shutting gas off at the meter is not routine prep: once the meter is off, turning it back on is the utility's job — never do it yourself. Save the meter for a real emergency or an official instruction.
- If you smell gas at any point: leave the house and call your gas utility's emergency number from outside. A storm doesn't change that rule.
Check the water heater.
- Know how to cut both water and fuel to the water heater specifically — it has its own valves.
- If your heater or boiler sits at ground level in a spot that has taken water before, elevating the equipment is worth pricing the next time you're doing work anyway. Don't improvise a platform in the 48 hours before landfall.
- Useful fact: a tank water heater holds 40-plus gallons of clean water you can drain from the bottom valve if supply is interrupted — cut the heater's fuel or power first, so it isn't trying to heat an emptying tank. Fill the bathtub before landfall too — that's flushing water.
Understand the island's sewer-backup math. What floods Long Beach streets is storm surge arriving on top of high tide — and when the streets are underwater, the sewer lines beneath them are overwhelmed at the same time. Every gallon your household sends down a drain during flooding is competing for space in a pipe that has nowhere to put it. So when the streets start taking water, stop using water: no laundry, no dishwasher, minimal flushing. It lowers the odds of sewage backing up into your own ground-floor tub — and your neighbors'. And if a past storm has already put water up a ground-floor drain, ask about a backwater valve: it's the one piece of hardware built for exactly this, and it gets installed in calm weather, not during a watch.
Outside the house.
- Disconnect and stow garden hoses. A hose whipping around on a pressurized bibb in hurricane wind is a good way to crack the fitting at the wall.
- If your hose bibbs have interior shutoff valves, close them.
- Outdoor showers: shut off the supply and secure anything loose — heads, handles, doors. More on the outdoor shower page.
- Photograph the utility area, water heater, and boiler while everything is dry. A "before" picture makes every insurance conversation afterward easier.
During the Storm
- If water is rising in or under the house, electricity is the danger before plumbing is. Never touch the panel, outlets, or appliances while standing in water. If the panel is dry and safely reachable, kill power to flooding areas; if it isn't, leave it alone.
- Shut the main water valve if a pipe breaks or water is running where it shouldn't — the same rule as any burst-pipe emergency.
- Gas: shut individual appliances off at their valves if flooding threatens them and they're safe to reach. If you smell gas, get out and call the utility's emergency line from outside.
- Stop sending water down the drains the moment the streets flood. A gurgling drain, or a toilet that burps when the tub empties, is the early warning — believe it.
After the Storm
Never relight a gas water heater or boiler that has been under water. Not once, not "just to test it." The standard industry rule is that flood-soaked gas valves and controls get replaced, not dried out — a corroded control can fail to shut off gas, and you can't see that corrosion from the outside. If floodwater reached the burner or controls, plan on replacement. Salt water makes the rule twice as firm.
Check the drains before you run water. Look at the lowest fixtures in the house — ground-floor tub, shower, any floor drain — for signs of backflow: residue, debris, standing water you didn't put there. If you find them, don't run water yet; the main may still be surcharged, and everything you send down can come back up.
Document first, clean second. Photos and video of every affected pipe, appliance, and room before you touch anything. Insurance pays on evidence, not on memory.
Salt water is not rain water. Bay and ocean flooding leaves salt sitting against copper, steel, and brass — and salt corrosion doesn't announce itself the same week. Pinhole leaks and seized valves can surface months after the house looks recovered. If supply lines, fittings, or equipment sat in salt water, have the system looked over even if everything seems fine.
One prep visit beats one emergency. If your ground-level plumbing took water in a past storm — or you'd rather have the main shutoff and gas connections checked in June than find a problem during a warning — get in touch. It's a short visit, and it's the cheap kind.