Hurricane Prep & Post-Storm Check in Wesley Chapel, FL and New Tampa
Furniture in before the wind, photos and a straight answer after it.
A little honesty about where we live. Wesley Chapel and New Tampa are inland, well away from the bay, and sit outside the coastal storm-surge evacuation zones. What a hurricane means here is wind, a power outage that can run from hours to days, a yard full of oak limbs and somebody's trampoline, and lanai screens that peel off like wrapping paper. That is what the prep visit is for. It is not a substitute for your own plan, and it is not advice about whether to stay or go.
Evacuation orders can still apply anywhere in the county to manufactured and mobile homes and to low-lying or flood-prone parcels, so look up your own address on your county's evacuation-zone finder, Pasco or Hillsborough depending on which side of the line you are on, and follow what your county says. We do not tell anyone to stay put and we do not tell anyone to leave. Our job is the house: get the loose stuff inside before the wind, and go look at it afterward.
The prep visit happens once a hurricane watch is posted for the area and before it becomes a warning, so we are done and off the roads well before the wind arrives. Lanai and patio furniture comes inside, the pool cage gets cleared of anything loose, potted plants move into the garage, shutters or panels go up if you have them and they are on site, and we photograph the fridge and freezer contents so you have a dated record if the power goes out for days. We do not visit during the storm itself, for anybody, at any price.
The post-storm check happens when the roads are open and it is reasonable to drive: a walkthrough with photos, whether the power and the A/C are on, a look at every ceiling and window for water intrusion, and a debris report for the yard, the roof from the ground, and the pool cage. You get a phone call and the photos the same day. Monthly home-watch clients get both visits at no extra charge; everyone else books them at $95 each, and we schedule prep visits in the order the calls come in.
Prices
Published, not quoted. Every visit includes everything listed below.
Pre-Storm Prep Visit
$95free for monthly home-watch clients
Loose items in, shutters up if you have them, and a dated photo record, done while there is still time.
What is included
- Lanai and patio furniture brought inside
- Pool cage cleared of loose items
- Potted plants moved into the garage or against the house
- Shutters or panels put up if you have them and they are on site
- Fridge and freezer contents photographed
- Grill, trash cans and yard items secured
- Photos texted before we leave
Post-Storm Check
$95free for monthly home-watch clients
A walkthrough with photos as soon as roads are open, so you know what you are coming home to.
What is included
- Exterior and interior walkthrough with photos
- Power and A/C status
- Every ceiling, window and door checked for water intrusion
- Debris report: yard, roof from the ground, pool cage, fence
- Fridge and freezer status against the pre-storm photos
- A phone call the same day, not just an email
- Vendor access afterward at the errand rate if a roofer or tree crew needs meeting
Who this is for
- Snowbirds whose Wesley Chapel house is empty from May to October, which is exactly hurricane season
- Anyone traveling when a storm forms who cannot get back in time
- Owners who physically cannot haul the lanai furniture in anymore
- Adult children managing a parent's house from another state
- Households where one adult is deployed, on shift, or on the road the week the cone shows up
Why us over the alternatives
Local home-watch operators typically charge per visit and most do not publish prices. We publish both storm visits at $95 each, and both are included in the monthly home-watch plan, so the question of who is bringing the furniture in is settled before June rather than the day the cone shows up.
Inland, but check your zone
Wesley Chapel and New Tampa are inland and outside the coastal storm-surge evacuation zones; the local risk is wind, power loss and debris rather than surge. Evacuation orders can still apply to manufactured and mobile homes anywhere in the county and to low-lying or flood-prone parcels, so check your address on the Pasco County evacuation-zone finder or the Hillsborough County emergency management evacuation lookup, and follow county orders. We do not visit during the storm itself.
Questions we get about hurricane prep
In Wesley Chapel, FL and New Tampa.
How much does hurricane prep cost in Wesley Chapel, FL?
$95 for a pre-storm prep visit and $95 for a post-storm check. Both are included at no extra charge for monthly home-watch clients on either the weekly or the every-other-week plan. There is no storm surcharge; the price is the same on a quiet June forecast as it is the day a watch goes up, and prep visits are scheduled in the order the calls come in.
Should I evacuate?
That is not our call, and we will not make it for you. Wesley Chapel and New Tampa are inland and outside the coastal storm-surge evacuation zones, so the local risk is wind, power loss and debris rather than surge. But evacuation orders can still apply to manufactured and mobile homes anywhere in the county and to low-lying or flood-prone parcels. Check your address on the Pasco County or Hillsborough County evacuation-zone finder and follow what your county says.
When do you do the prep visit?
Once a hurricane watch is posted for the area and before it becomes a warning. That window is when the roads are still fine and the wind is still a day or more out, which is when furniture can be moved and shutters put up without anyone getting hurt. We do not visit during the storm itself. If you call after a warning is already up, we will be honest about whether we can still get to you before we have to be home ourselves.
When do you come after the storm?
When the roads are open and it is reasonable to drive. After a big storm that can be the next morning or it can be two days, depending on downed lines and trees across Bruce B. Downs and SR 54. We work through the list in the order the prep visits were booked, walk the house inside and out, photograph everything, and call you the same day with what we found.
Can you put up my shutters?
If you have them and they are on site, yes: accordion shutters, panels that slide into tracks, or the fabric kind, as long as the hardware is with them and they were installed properly at some point. We cannot cut plywood, drill new anchors or source panels the week of a storm. If your shutters live in a storage unit across town, that is a separate errand run and it needs to happen before the watch is posted.
Do you check on pets or stay at the house during the storm?
No. We do not visit during the storm itself, and we do not stay at anyone's house through it. If you are leaving town with a storm coming, take your pets with you; both counties list pet-friendly shelters, and our overnight pet service does not run while a warning is up. What we can do is the prep visit before and the check after, and we will answer the phone when the wind stops.
Book hurricane prep & post-storm check
Your first booking starts with a free meet and greet at your house. Pick a time that works and we will be there.