3 Hurricane Hacks to Help Keep You Comfy If You Don’t Have to Evacuate

Hurricane season can be hard to get through, with power outages, trying to keep food from spoiling and other issues like downed trees and flooding. If your government officials advise an evacuation, make sure to grab your essentials and leave the area as quickly and safely as possible.

However, if an evacuation warning hasn’t been issued, but you’re worried about the effects of an upcoming hurricane, make things easier with a handful of hurricane life hacks. They’ll help keep perishables and keepsakes safe!

Fill Your Washer with Ice

This is a great hurricane life hack for people without a large cooler. Fill up your washer with ice, then put in drinks, water and even perishable food inside to keep cool. If your power cuts out for a few days, this can save perishables from spoiling in the fridge, and will give you access to cool drinks when you can’t turn the AC on. Plus, any melted ice can simply be drained away once the power is back.

If you end up leaving the house and still have food in the freezer, there’s an easy way to know if your freezer lost power.

Make Mini Heaters Out of Flower Pots

Does the temp drop during hurricane season where you live? If you can’t turn the heat on and you keep houseplants or pots around, there’s an easy solution. You can make handy mini heaters out of flower pots!

You’ll need tea lights, terra-cotta pots and bricks to help keep the pot elevated. Light the tea candles on a level surface, place bricks around them, and drop the upside-down pot on the bricks, making sure no part of it touches the tea lights. Let it burn for several hours. The terra-cotta absorbs the heat of the candles and turns it into radiant heat, essentially creating a small space heater.

Don’t forget to stock up on these foods before a hurricane hits.

Put Pictures and Keepsakes in the Dishwasher

This one is pretty self-explanatory. Just make sure your dishwasher is off, and nobody accidentally turns it on until you get your stuff back out. This should hopefully photos safe, dry and off the floor in case water manages to creep in. It’s just one of many unexpected ways to use your dishwasher!

And remember—don’t put important documents in there. Instead, make electronic copies. Then, put the original documents in a sealed plastic bag in an easy-to-access place so you can grab them in case of an emergency evacuation.