Hurricane Season 2026: What South Florida Property Owners Should Have Done by Now
Peak hurricane season is here. If you own a rental in Miami-Dade (Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, Pinecrest, Miami Beach, or anywhere from Doral to Kendall), the window for we’ll get to it” is closed.
This is the short list I walk owners through. Do the first four this week. The rest can be a manager’s job.
1. Confirm the policy actually covers a named storm
Pull the declarations page. Check hurricane deductible (often 25% of dwelling value, not a flat $1,000), loss-of-rents coverage, and whether ordinance-or-law will pay to rebuild to current Miami-Dade code. If the policy renewed since last season and you never re-read it, read it now.
2. Get shutters, impact glass, and the roof in writing
A verbal “we’re good” from a handyman is not a plan. You want:
• Shutters or impact openings documented, with who installs them and how many hours of notice they need
• Roof age and last inspection date
• A vendor who will actually show up in a 72-hour cone, not just in May
If you dont have those three names, you don’t have a plan.
3. Tell tenants the rules before the cone is on us
Put in writing: when they should evacuate, who they text, what happens to rent if the unit is uninhabitable, and where the shutoff is for water and electric. Florida law and your lease both matter here. Vague group texts during a watch are how deposits turn into disputes.
4. Photograph everything, then store it off-site
Room-by-room photos, serial numbers on appliances, a copy of the lease, and the insurance packet in a cloud folder and a second location. After a storm, adjusters pay faster when you can prove pre-loss condition.
5. Know your flood zone, not just your wind risk
Wind is what people prep for. Flood is what wipes equity. Check the current FEMA map for the parcel. Ground-floor and garage storage in Coconut Grove and Miami Beach get this wrong every year.
What a manager should already be doing for you
If you hired someone, they should already have: a vendor list that answers the phone, a written tenant notice template, a documented shutter/roof status, and a post-storm inspection plan. If they sent you a blog post in May and went quiet, that’s not management.
Camisi Property Partners works with South Florida owners who want that list handled, not explained. One owner or a small portfolio. Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, Pinecrest, Miami Beach, and greater Miami-Dade.
If you want a second set of eyes on your property before the next named storm, use the contact form and tell us the address. Well tell you what we’d do in the first 72 hours.
