Texas coastal communities are urged to prepare now
The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) is urging coastal communities and policyholders to make preparations now to protect themselves, their families, and their property in advance of hurricane season, which begins June 1.
Coastal citizens are encouraged to prepare for hurricane season by:
- Reviewing home insurance coverage, ensuring both windstorm and flood coverage are secured
- Taking an inventory of property every year. Consider recording a video “tour” of important belongings. Keep all property records in a safe location away from the home.
- Creating an emergency plan that includes evacuation routes and important contact information
- Building an emergency supplies kit that covers family and pets
- Preparing the home to prevent damage (ex: trim trees, install roof straps, reinforce garage doors)
- Ensuring existing or ongoing qualifying home improvements have a Certificate of Compliance (WPI-8 / WPI-8-C) to maintain TWIA coverage eligibility
- Visiting twia.org/stormcenter for additional preparedness tips
Each year TWIA helps its policyholders and coastal communities get ready for hurricane season by sharing preparedness information online, to coastal elementary schools, and through preparedness advertising.
The TWIA Storm Center, available online at twia.org/stormcenter, provides information on how to prepare for hurricanes and severe weather, how to maintain eligibility for TWIA insurance coverage, and how to recover after a storm. Topics cover coastal building codes, home improvements that can reduce property damage from a storm, how to file a claim with TWIA, and steps to prioritize personal safety after a storm.
TWIA’s Hurricane Preparedness campaign also focuses on educating elementary school children who live in coastal communities. TWIA first distributed its educational materials to schools in 1993. This year’s Hurricane Preparedness Teacher Toolkit consists of the webpage twia.org/teachers and printed teaching packets that include preparedness activities for third and fourth grade classrooms, take-home materials for families, and a contest for students. This year, TWIA distributed 2,700 teaching packets to 300 elementary schools on the Texas Gulf Coast.
For more information about TWIA, visit twia.org. For more information on TWIA’s hurricane preparedness efforts, visit twia.org/stormcenter.
Links:
TWIA: https://www.twia.org/
TWIA Storm Center: https://www.twia.org/stormcenter/
Hurricane Preparedness Teacher Toolkit webpage: https://www.twia.org/stormcenter/safetysquad/
Hurricane Preparedness Teacher Toolkit activity packets: https://www.twia.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/2017_TWIA_HurricaneActivities_FINAL.pdf