Hurricane Season Starts June 1. Is Your Houston Home Ready?

Andrés Zilveti
May 26
3 min read

NOAA just released its 2026 Atlantic hurricane season outlook, and on paper, the news looks good for Houston: an 82% chance of El Niño by July, a forecast of 8 to 14 named storms (below the long-term average of 14), and a 55% chance of an overall below-normal season.

Then you read the next sentence in the NOAA press release. National Weather Service Director Ken Graham puts it plainly: it only takes one storm to make for a very bad season.

Every Houstonian who lived through Harvey already knows that. Allison wasn't even a hurricane. The Tax Day Flood of 2016 wasn't a hurricane. Memorial Day 2015 wasn't a hurricane. The seasonal forecast is not your risk forecast — your address is.

The Atlantic hurricane season officially opens June 1. That gives you six days. Here is the prep checklist I walk every one of my clients through.

The Documents Folder Most Homeowners Forget

When water comes in, you do not have time to dig for paperwork. Build a single PDF stored in cloud storage you can pull up from your phone. Include:

Closing documents and survey
Current insurance policy with the declarations page
Photos of every room, taken this week (your insurance company will ask)
Photos of the roof, HVAC, water heater, and breaker box
Receipts for any major upgrades since you bought
Driver's license, Social Security cards, passports
Mortgage statement with loan number

If you bought your home in the last three years, your closing packet already has most of this. Pull it out tonight.

Insurance Review: Do This Before June 1

Call your insurance agent this week and ask three questions:

What is my windstorm deductible, and is it a percentage of dwelling coverage or a flat dollar amount?
Do I have flood coverage? Most Houston homeowners do not — and most standard policies do not include it.
What is my coverage if my home is uninhabitable for 30 days?

Flood policies have a 30-day waiting period. If you do not have one by June 1, you are not covered for the opening of the season.

The Outside Work

Walk your property this weekend. You are looking for:

Tree limbs within 10 feet of your roof, windows, or power lines
Loose fence boards, gates, or outdoor furniture
Clogged gutters and downspouts
Cracked weather stripping around doors and windows
Loose roof shingles (use binoculars — do not climb)
Drainage paths blocked by mulch, leaves, or debris

Your exposure shifts by corridor. In West Houston, Memorial, and the Energy Corridor, mature trees are the biggest risk. Spring Branch and Copperfield typically see the most fence damage. Fort Bend and Richmond have the highest drainage and street-flooding exposure.

The Inside Work

Things that take 10 minutes and save thousands:

Move anything important off the ground floor
Know where your main water shutoff is — and test it
Charge battery banks and power stations
Refill prescriptions
Photograph the contents of closets, the garage, and storage rooms
Bag and elevate kids' artwork, family photos, and irreplaceable documents

What This Has To Do With Your Home Value

Houston buyers in 2026 are sharper than ever. Storm history, flood zones, and insurance availability come up in showings, in inspections, and in appraisals. A well-documented prep history — receipts, inspection reports, drainage upgrades, recent roof work — adds real dollars when it is time to sell.

If you are thinking about listing in the next 12 months, your June 1 prep is also part of your future listing file. Save the receipts. Take the photos. Date everything.

One Last Thing

If you are a recent buyer and this is your first hurricane season as a Houston homeowner, you do not have to figure it out alone. My family has helped Houston homeowners through storms for 45 years. Two generations of brokers before me built their entire careers on showing up when it mattered. That is what I am here for.

Call or text me at 832.512.1096 with any questions about your insurance, your documents, or what storm history means for the value of your home.

Stay safe out there, Houston.

— Andres Zilveti | The Zilveti Group, LLC Third Generation Realtor andres@thezilvetigroup.com | 832.512.1096