The Hollywood flood readiness checklist

Readiness is not a shopping trip; it is eighteen small, mostly free tasks spread across four areas of a household. Work through them in May, before the season opens on June 1, and the checklist below will tell you exactly how ready your house is. Tick items as you finish them — the counter keeps score, and the page prints cleanly if you want a copy on the fridge.

Why these eighteen? Because after a flood, homeowners consistently hit the same four walls: they cannot prove what they owned, the house let water in through fixable paths, they lacked basics for the first two days, or the family had never agreed on a plan. Each group below closes one of those walls. None of this replaces official guidance — Broward County and Ready.gov publish the county-level evacuation and shelter information that every Hollywood household should also have — but it is written for the specific way water behaves around houses here.

One practical tip before you start ticking: do this with your phone in hand and a free hour, not as a desk exercise. Several items are verified by walking — the shutoff valve either turns or it does not, the downspout either discharges away from the wall or onto it, the sump pump either cycles when you pour water in or sits silent. Hollywood's own conditions hide in those details: a valve seized by years of South Florida corrosion, a storm grate buried under palm thatch, a garage seal chewed flat by heat. The list below is short on purpose. Eighteen verified items beat forty aspirational ones.

Documents & proof (4)

Photographed or videoed every room, closet and the garage as they look today Stored those photos outside the house (cloud, email, or a copy with family) Read my insurance declarations and know whether I hold a separate flood policy — and its waiting-period status Kept ID, policy numbers, medications list and key contacts in one waterproof folder or phone note

Home prep (6)

Found the main water shutoff and confirmed the valve actually turns Cleared gutters and downspouts, and extended downspouts away from the foundation Checked grading: soil slopes away from the house, no mulch dams against the wall Inspected door thresholds, the garage seal and ground-level wall penetrations; sealed or staged barriers/sandbags Tested the sump pump (bucket of water) and checked the backup battery's date Raised stored items, electronics and the low closet shelves off the floor in the lowest rooms

Supplies (4)

Drinking water and shelf-stable food for at least three days, per Ready.gov guidance Flashlights, batteries, a battery or hand-crank radio, and charged power banks Cleanup basics ready: boots, heavy gloves, buckets, towels, disinfectant, trash bags Fuel, generator (outdoor use only) or a plan for refrigeration medicines if power fails

Family plan (4)

Agreed where we go if we evacuate, and which Broward County zone our address sits in Pet plan settled: carriers, food, and a destination that accepts them One out-of-area contact everyone checks in with; neighbors have our numbers and we have theirs Everyone in the house knows the rule: never walk or drive through flood water

Print this checklist

After the boxes: the habit behind them

A finished checklist is a snapshot, not a permanent state. Batteries age, gutters refill with palm debris in a single storm, and the sump battery you tested in May is a year older next May. Tie the list to a date — the last weekend of May works — and re-run it every year, the same way you would change a smoke-alarm battery. It also pays to re-check two items mid-season: the storm drain grate on your street, and the sandbag or barrier stash, after the first big rain reminds everyone how the street actually drains.

If the worst happens anyway, preparation changes the recovery more than the event. Documented rooms make claims faster. A house whose owners know that proper structural drying is a measured process — not a fan pointed at a wall — makes better decisions in the first 48 hours, which is when the mold clock and the cost curve are set. Readiness, in other words, is not really about the checklist. It is about arriving at the bad day with the decisions already made.

Built from Ready.gov, FEMA and Broward County preparedness guidance, adapted for Hollywood, FL homes. General information only.