Direct answer
After a hurricane, follow public-safety instructions and stabilize people before property. Do not enter a structure with floodwater, fire, gas, electrical, collapse, or contamination hazards. When officials say it is safe, photograph conditions before cleanup, prevent additional damage only within safe limits, and preserve every receipt and communication. Keep the insurer's coverage decision separate from the contractor's diagnosis and price. Before authorizing work, reconcile the legal business, applicable Florida license, written scope, emergency-versus-permanent work, permit responsibility, payment schedule, change-order rule, warranties, and closeout records. Urgency does not make an unsupported contractor claim true.
Follow public-safety instructions first when
- Officials have ordered evacuation, restricted re-entry, or identified an active weather, flood, fire, gas, utility, or structural hazard.
- There is standing water near power, a wet electrical panel, downed line, sparking, smoke, gas odor, generator exhaust, or another immediate life-safety threat.
- A roof, ceiling, wall, floor, tree, or other structural element is sagging, shifting, cracking, or at risk of collapse.
- Floodwater, sewage, chemicals, mold-like growth, contaminated materials, or unsafe heat conditions make entry or cleanup hazardous.
Safety, documentation, and authorization sequence
- Follow emergency-management, utility, fire, law-enforcement, and building-official instructions before entering or beginning work.
- Call 911 or the responsible utility for an immediate fire, electrical, gas, collapse, downed-line, or medical hazard.
- When safe, take wide and close photographs or video before cleanup changes the condition; record the date, location, weather event, affected rooms, and visible source.
- Notify the insurer using the policy's current claim route and ask what inspection, mitigation, inventory, or receipt documentation it requires.
- Separate emergency mitigation from permanent repair in writing, including who authorized each task, the price basis, and what remains incomplete.
- Preserve estimates, contracts, licenses, insurance documents, permits, material records, change orders, payments, photographs, inspections, warranties, and completion records in one recovery file.
Decision path
Is the property unsafe to enter or subject to an official restriction?
If yes: Stay out and follow the responsible authority. Do not let a contractor's urgency statement override an evacuation, utility, structural, contamination, or re-entry restriction.
If no: Continue cautious documentation and mitigation without entering water, climbing damaged structures, operating unsafe equipment, or disturbing suspected hazardous material.
Is the proposed work temporary emergency mitigation?
If yes: Require the immediate purpose, limits, materials, price, photos, authorization, and remaining permanent scope to be identified separately.
If no: Require a complete permanent-repair scope with diagnosis, quantities, products, permits, inspections, cleanup, warranties, change rules, and closeout deliverables.
Is an insurance claim involved?
If yes: Keep coverage, deductible, insurer estimate, contractor scope, financing, authorization, and homeowner payment responsibility as separate written facts.
If no: Use the same identity, license, scope, permit, payment, change-order, warranty, lien, and closeout controls.
Does the contract, license record, crew identity, or payment recipient fail to reconcile?
If yes: Pause authorization and payment until the exact legal relationship and responsible licensed entity are documented.
If no: Preserve the matching records and continue comparing the written work and terms rather than relying on identity alone.
Documents and facts to collect
- Official evacuation, re-entry, utility, incident, and building-safety notices relevant to the address.
- Dated photographs and video of exterior, interior, contents, water lines, openings, temporary work, discarded material, and each stage of repair when safe.
- Policy information, claim number, adjuster communications, inventories, insurer estimates, mitigation invoices, receipts, and coverage decisions.
- Legal business name, qualifier, license number, official lookup result, proof of relevant insurance, contact details, and the contract/payment entity.
- Written diagnosis, emergency scope, permanent scope, quantities, products, permits, inspections, schedule, exclusions, allowances, and change-order rules.
- Deposits, milestone payments, financing disclosures, lien notices or releases where applicable, warranties, test results, permit closeout, and final completion records.
Questions to ask before authorizing work
- What immediate condition are you addressing, what evidence supports it, and which work is emergency mitigation rather than permanent repair?
- Which legal entity and Florida license are responsible for each trade, and where can the current record be checked?
- What exact quantities, products, access, drying, demolition, disposal, repair, reconstruction, permits, inspections, testing, and cleanup are included or excluded?
- What concealed condition could change the work or price, and what documentation, unit price, owner approval, and stop point apply?
- Which payment is due at each measurable milestone, who receives it, and which warranty, lien, inspection, and closeout records are delivered before final payment?
- Which statement is the contractor's scope or estimate, which is the insurer's coverage decision, and which homeowner cost remains unresolved?
South Florida considerations
- South Florida hurricane recovery can involve roofing, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, restoration, tree, debris, and reconstruction work; one company or license may not lawfully cover every scope.
- Wind-driven rain, floodwater, heat, humidity, power loss, salt exposure, and delayed access can create changing conditions that need dated documentation rather than a single early assumption.
- Municipal or county permit and inspection responsibility depends on the property address and scope. Verify the current official process before permanent work.
- High post-storm demand does not prove current capacity, authorization, insurance coverage, material availability, response time, or completion date.
Do not
- Entering a restricted, flooded, electrically unsafe, contaminated, fire-damaged, gas-affected, or structurally unstable area.
- Hiring solely from a door-to-door approach, temporary sign, rating, directory listing, sponsorship, urgency claim, insurer reference, or promise that coverage is guaranteed.
- Signing blank or open-ended forms, broad assignments, powers of attorney, claim authorizations, financing documents, or contracts you do not understand.
- Paying a large undocumented cash deposit, paying a different person or entity from the contract, or making final payment before agreed inspections and closeout records.
- Combining emergency mitigation, permanent repair, insurance coverage, financing, deductible, and change orders into one unexplained total.
Frequently asked questions
Does an insurer recommendation prove the contractor is qualified?
No. Ask what the insurer's reference means, then independently reconcile the business identity, applicable license, insurance, scope, contract, payment terms, current capacity, and your policy obligations.
Should permanent repairs start before the insurer inspects?
Protecting the property from additional damage may be necessary, but coverage and documentation requirements vary. Notify the insurer promptly, preserve before-and-after evidence, and distinguish temporary mitigation from permanent work in writing.
Can one contractor handle every part of storm recovery?
Do not assume so. Roofing, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, mold-related, restoration, structural, and general contracting scopes can involve different qualifications, permits, responsibilities, and warranties.
Does a THP listing or request-specific match guarantee storm work?
No. A listing is public profile information. A request-specific match is bounded to current service, territory, evidence, and participation information; the homeowner must still review the contractor and written project terms.
Sources
- Hurricanes — Ready.gov; checked 2026-07-29.
- Floods — Ready.gov; checked 2026-07-29.
- How to avoid a home-improvement scam — U.S. Federal Trade Commission; checked 2026-07-29.
- Florida professional-license lookup — Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation; checked 2026-07-29.
- Hurricane preparedness — Broward County; checked 2026-07-29.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-29. Source review: THP editorial review against the official pages linked above. No independent medical, engineering, legal, or trade-expert review is claimed.