Hurricane Season Storm Cleanup Guide for South Florida Homes

The storm passed at 4am. By 9am you've checked the roof, walked the perimeter for downed branches, and confirmed the power is back. Now comes the part nobody warns you about: the next 72 hours determine whether your house bounces back or whether you're fighting mold and salt corrosion for the next six months.

Hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30 in South Florida, with the peak from mid-August into October. Even a tropical storm that doesn't get a name pushes salt spray miles inland, blows fine debris into HVAC returns, and saturates anything that took on water. Here's the cleanup sequence we run, in the order that matters.

Safety first, always

Before any cleaning happens:

• Stay out of standing water until you've confirmed the power to that circuit is off
• Don't touch downed lines, ever, no matter how dead they look
• If a tree took a real hit on the roof or any window frame, that's a contractor and an insurance adjuster, not a cleanup
• Wear closed-toe shoes and gloves walking the yard. Hurricane debris hides nails, glass, and palm thorns

If your home took on more than an inch of water, that's a remediation job, not a clean. Document everything with photos and call a licensed water mitigation company first. The 24-to-48-hour clock on mold growth is real.

Hour 0 to 6: Outside first

Get the perimeter done while the inside is still mostly sealed up.

• Walk the property with a phone, photographing damage room by room and yard zone by zone. Insurance documentation
• Clear debris away from the AC condenser unit. Don't run the AC until you've confirmed no plant material is jammed in the fins
• Clear debris away from any vents, dryer exhausts, and the meter box
• Rake palm fronds and branches to the curb if your municipality is doing storm pickup. Most do for the first two weeks after a named storm
• Hose down the windows, siding, and any painted surfaces that took salt spray. Salt residue dries to a haze that corrodes paint, screens, and metal hardware if it sits. Areas east of US-1 from Boca down through Deerfield Beach get the worst of this even from inland storms
• Hose the patio and pool deck. Check the pool screen for tears
• Sweep the garage if water came under the door

A garden hose with a wide-spray nozzle, run for 10 minutes per outside wall, knocks salt residue back to neutral. Don't pressure-wash anything that took storm damage until you've documented it for insurance.

Hour 6 to 24: HVAC and the air inside

If your AC was off during the storm, the inside of the house has been climbing the humidity curve for hours. You want to dry it out fast.

• Replace the AC filter immediately. Storms pull fine debris through return vents. A clogged filter chokes airflow and lets the system pull moisture less efficiently
• Run the AC, fan on auto (not on, which re-evaporates moisture into the house)
• Set the thermostat at 74 for the first 24 hours to pull humidity down fast, then back to 76 to 78
• If you have ceiling fans, run them. Air movement helps the AC dehumidify the corners
• Open closet doors and interior doors. Sealed rooms hold moisture
• If you have a portable dehumidifier, run it in the most-saturated room

A hygrometer in the master closet and another in a back bedroom tells you when you're back to 50 percent indoor RH, which is the safe zone. From there, the monthly humidity routine keeps you ahead of any mold that wants to start.

Hour 24 to 72: Inside cleanup

By now the inside should be drying. Walk every room with a flashlight.

What to look for

• Any wet drywall, baseboard, or trim. Even a damp patch the size of a hand needs attention
• Water stains on ceilings (roof leak you didn't catch)
• Window sills and tracks for water that pushed past the seals
• Any door that's swollen or sticking (water in the frame)
• Hardwood floors for cupping
• Tile floors for water that seeped under the toe-kick of cabinets
• The garage ceiling and walls for water that came through the attic
• The base of any exterior wall where outside water might have wicked in

The interior pass

Top to bottom, every room:

• Wipe every window sill and track. Storms push fine particulate and salt residue inside even with windows closed
• Wipe every door handle, light switch, and faceplate (hands are dirtier than usual during cleanup)
• Vacuum every AC return and every supply vent. Wipe the grilles. This is the dustiest you'll see them all year
• Sweep every floor, then mop. Storm debris is gritty and scratches hardwood and tile if you let it sit
• Wipe baseboards if any water touched them, even briefly
• Empty and wipe the inside of any bathroom or kitchen cabinet that backs to an exterior wall

What gets thrown out

Some things don't come back from real water exposure, no matter how thoroughly you clean them:

• Saturated drywall (cut out the wet section to dry studs, or replace the whole panel)
• Wet insulation
• Soaked carpet pad. The carpet may save, the pad usually doesn't
• Cardboard boxes that took on water
• Particle-board furniture that swelled
• Soaked mattresses

Document each item with photos before you toss it, for insurance.

Special case: post-storm renovation cleanup

If the storm did real damage and you've had contractors in for repairs (drywall, paint, roof, windows), the construction dust that lingers is its own problem. Drywall powder settles into HVAC returns, coats the inside of cabinets, and reactivates every time you walk through the room. A broom-sweep doesn't fix it. A real post-construction clean hits the vents, the cabinet interiors, the window tracks, and the paint specks that contractors leave behind. We see this work every fall after the storm season, especially in homes that had window or roof work done as part of recovery.

Pool, patio, and exterior cleanup over the following week

• Run the pool filter on high for 24 hours after a storm. Storm debris and rain dilute the chemistry. Test and balance once the water clears
• Wipe outdoor furniture cushions if they took rain. Stand cushions on edge to dry both sides
• Re-tighten any patio screws that worked loose in wind
• Salt-rinse the stainless grill, the patio fan blades, and any outdoor lighting fixtures. A vinegar rinse on stainless is fine here (it doesn't sit long enough to etch the way it would on indoor stainless)
• Inspect window screens for tears. Replace as needed
• Wipe down the front door and any painted exterior trim that took spray

A note on the four cities we serve

Salt and storm exposure varies block by block in South Florida. The east-side condos along A1A in Deerfield Beach and east-of-Federal homes in Delray Beach take the hardest salt-spray hit, even from storms that pass offshore. Inland in Parkland and west Boca Raton, the bigger issue is windborne debris in the HVAC system and the volume of yard cleanup. The interior cleanup sequence is the same; the exterior priority list shifts.

When the storm cleanup is more than you can take on

Two days into hand-wiping every sill in a 4-bedroom house is when most homeowners realize the math has flipped. A two-person team can do a full post-storm interior reset in half a day. Coordinate that with whatever contractor work is happening and you're back to normal in a week instead of three. The deep cleaning team handles the interior reset, and the post-construction team handles anything that comes after repairs.