TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — On Tuesday morning, Pinellas County Emergency Management demonstrated the steps boaters should take to get ready for the upcoming hurricane season.
Boats coming loose and causing damage was a major issue during Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
They said the key is to have a plan before the storm hits.
Experts advise that if you leave your boat in the water, you should cross the dock lines at the stern, use double lines, and ensure your boat is not adjacent to the dock or other objects.
With hurricane season days away, the time is now to make a plan on how to secure your boat.
“We’ve seen it happen frequently in past hurricanes, where boats ended up on land, in people’s yards, and in buildings,” said Captain Peg Phillip, executive director of the National Safe Boating Council. “It’s just truly devastating.”
The ideal goal is to get your boat out of the water, instead of having to secure it in the water.
“Get it away from anywhere where storm surge could affect it because the last thing you want is to get it out, have it flood, and then it re-enters a body of water and become a navigational hazard or damage property,” said Officer Aaron Gonzales with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.
If that is not an option, put plenty of fenders out, take loose items off of your boat, make sure the bilge pump is working properly, the battery is charged, and that all of your lines are secured.
“With the past hurricanes, what we ran into a lot was a significant amount of debris, vessels that were kind of adrift out in the bay, some going out to the Gulf that just hadn’t been secured properly to a pier,” said Drew Barnard with the U.S. Coast Guard.
During Hurricanes Helene and Milton, FWC and the Coast Guard received hundreds of calls.
“Just in Pinellas County alone, we responded to over 120 different vessels that were displaced, due to those storms,” Gonzales said. “I believe out of those, it was over 40 that we’ve removed. Statewide, there was over 400 vessels that we had to investigate that were in a derelict state due to those storms.”
Other steps experts said to take are to make sure you check your insurance policy, remove all important documents from your boat, take pictures of how you secured your vessel, and never try to ride out the storm on the water.
From June 1 to Nov. 30, if your boat is in a marina or at a dock, make sure your spring lines are double-lined.
For more on how to prepare your boat for hurricane season, click here.
