Florida Homeowners Handbook

The Florida Homeowner’s Handbook was created to help your citizens prepare for natural hazards. Although it is never possible to eliminate all risk from a natural hazard, homeowners can take action and implement many small and cost-effective steps that could significantly lower risk and exposure.

This handbook is divided into six parts.

• The introduction presents the purpose and layout of the handbook and includes a discussion of common myths that may have prevented many from taking action in the past. There is a summary of ten things people can do to prepare.
• Part 2 provides basic information on tropical storms, hurricanes, flooding and wildfires, which will help readers to make educated decisions about which steps to take to protect their family and property.
• Part 3 provides a detailed discussion on personal safety considerations. This section also includes a list of essential emergency supplies, evacuation kit, evacuation planning, evacuation procedures, and important information that the civil defense and emergency management agencies want your citizens to know.
• Part 4 provides information on how to protect property from natural hazards.
• Part 5 presents protecting your property with insurance and insurance resources to aid in recovery if storm damage occurs.
• Part 6 addresses climate change and potential impacts from natural hazards.

The Florida Homeowner’s Handbook was developed as a project of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance Coastal Community Resilience Team. Partners of GOMA that collaborated on this book include the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve, Florida Department of Emergency Management, Florida Department of Health, Florida Forest Service, Florida Sea Grant College Program, and the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension.