Hurricane season in Central Florida officially runs June 1 through November 30, and every year the same scenario repeats: the forecast sharpens, the lines at Home Depot get longer, and homeowners rush to board windows and top off gas tanks. What rarely makes the checklist — until the power comes back on — is the appliances.
Most appliance damage from a storm isn’t the wind. It’s the power surge when the grid restores, the flooded garage that shorts out a stand-up freezer, or the 72 hours of warm fridge that ruins everything inside. All of it is preventable with thirty minutes of prep the day before landfall.
This is the checklist I personally run in my own Palm Coast house and that I recommend to every customer from Ormond Beach down to Sanford.
1. Raise chest freezers and washers off the garage floor
If you keep a chest freezer, second fridge, or a washer in the garage, get them at least 4–6 inches off concrete. Storm surge and driving rain don’t need much to pool on a garage floor, and a soaked motor or control board is rarely repairable. Two-by-fours, pallets, or the plastic risers sold for under $30 at any hardware store all work.
2. Pre-chill everything
Two days before the storm, drop your fridge and freezer to their coldest settings. A fully packed freezer holds safe temperatures for up to 48 hours unopened; a half-empty one, barely 24. Fill empty freezer space with sealed jugs of water — they act as thermal ballast and become drinking water if the outage drags on.
3. Stock a cooler with gel packs, not ice
When the power goes out, you’ll want to open the big fridge as few times as possible. Move anything you’ll actually need in the first 12 hours — insulin, baby formula, milk, condiments you’ll use — to a separate cooler loaded with gel packs. That way the main fridge stays closed.
4. Unplug everything the moment power drops
This is the single biggest mistake Central Florida homeowners make. When the grid comes back, it doesn’t return smoothly — it arrives as a voltage spike that can instantly fry compressor relays, oven control boards, washer mainboards, and dishwasher logic. As soon as the power goes out, walk through the house and physically unplug every appliance you can. Leave them unplugged until the grid has been steady for at least 15 minutes.
Hardwired items (most ranges, some dryers) — flip their breaker at the panel instead.
5. Clear the condenser coils on your fridge
A fridge working overtime because of clogged coils is a fridge that loses the temperature battle faster when the power blinks. Pull the unit out, vacuum the black coils on the back or underneath, and push it back. Ten minutes of work, measurable difference.
6. Confirm your dryer vent is clear
Post-storm weeks often bring heavy laundry loads (wet clothes, towels, bedding). A clogged vent turns an overworked dryer into a fire risk. If you can’t remember the last time it was cleaned, do it now.
7. Photograph every appliance’s make, model, and serial
If a surge destroys something, your insurance adjuster and your repair technician will both ask for this. Model/serial plates are usually on the back, inside the door frame, or on a sticker behind the kick plate. A five-minute phone-photo session saves a week of hunting later.
If something doesn’t survive the storm
If your fridge, range, washer, dryer, or dishwasher comes out of the storm smelling burnt, not powering on, or throwing an error code it’s never thrown before — that’s usually a surge-damaged control board, relay, or motor, not a total loss.
Before you buy a replacement, call us. Most surge-related repairs on a unit less than 10 years old come in well under replacement cost, and we’ll tell you honestly if it’s not worth it.
Appliance Doctor serves all of Volusia, Flagler, and Seminole counties with same-day and next-day post-storm appointments. Bilingual service in English and Spanish.
