HOA & Condo Board Member EditionAssociation Leadership Guide
Hurricane checklist · First 72 hours after landfall
Top 5 things HOA & condo boards must doIn the 72 hours after a hurricane
The storm has passed and owners are looking to the board for answers. The association’s claim, and how much owners end up paying, depends on what the board does in the first 72 hours. These are the five things to get right.
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The hurricane checklist
Five high-impact steps for the first 72 hours after landfall. Tap a number to tick it off as you go.
Hurricane already hit?
0 of 5 done
Hours 0–24
Convene the board and take control
The board is responsible for the association’s property and its claim. In the first day, get the board organized, decide who speaks for the association, and make sure everyone is safe.
- Hold an emergency board meeting (in person, by phone or video), following the emergency procedures in your bylaws and state law
- Name one board liaison to work with the property manager, contractors and the carrier
- Keep owners and residents out of buildings with structural damage, downed lines, gas odors or standing water until they’re cleared
- Send owners one written update: what happened, what the association is doing, who to contact, and how to report damage to their unit
- Record every decision, approval and expense in the minutes or a storm log
Watch out: Board members acting on their own, or promising owners what insurance will cover, can create problems later. Speak with one voice and put decisions in writing.
Hours 0–48
Document the common elements and every unit before cleanup
The association’s claim depends on proof. Capture the damage to the buildings, common areas and units exactly as it was found, before anything is torn out or thrown away.
- Photograph and video roofs, exteriors, hallways, elevators, garages, pools, clubhouses and mechanical rooms
- Arrange access to every unit, including owners who evacuated or live elsewhere, and log the damage unit by unit
- Ask owners to send their own date-stamped photos and video of their units
- Measure and photograph flood water lines: wind and flood damage are often covered by different policies
- Save samples of damaged materials and back up every file to cloud storage the board can access
Watch out: Owners often hire their own contractors and start tearing out drywall and flooring right away. Ask them to wait until the association has documented the damage, since the walls and floors may be the association’s to insure.
Hours 0–72
Approve emergency mitigation and protect the property
The association has a duty to protect the property from further damage, and in hurricane country mold can start growing within 24 to 48 hours. Approve what’s needed quickly and on the record.
- Authorize tarping, board-up, water extraction and drying under the board’s emergency powers
- Get a written scope and pricing before work starts, and keep every invoice, receipt and contract
- Have the mitigation company keep daily moisture readings and photos for every building and unit
- Keep repairs temporary until the claim is documented
- Track every association cost, including staff or manager overtime and security
Watch out: Read contractor paperwork before anyone signs for the association. Some contracts include assignment-of-benefits or direct-payment language that gives the vendor rights in the association’s claim.
Hours 24–72
Report to the master policy carriers and read your governing documents
Notify every carrier on the association’s policies promptly and in writing. Then find out exactly what the association insures, what the owners insure, and who pays the deductible.
- Report to the master property or wind policy, the association’s flood policy, and any other policy that may apply, with every affected building listed
- Get a claim number for each policy and follow up every phone report in writing
- Pull the full master policy and find the named-storm or hurricane deductible (often a percentage of the insured value)
- Check the declarations and bylaws for what the association insures versus each owner’s unit policy (HO-6), and who is responsible for the deductible
- Remind owners to report to their own HO-6 and flood carriers, and write down every deadline
Watch out: A percentage hurricane deductible on a large building can be a very large number. Know it, and how your documents allocate it, before the board talks to owners about assessments.
Before the carrier inspects
Get independent experts working for the association
The insurance company will send its adjuster, and on large losses often its own engineer. They work for the insurance company. The board should have its own team documenting the loss first.
- Bring in a licensed public adjuster to document the full scope, prepare the claim and negotiate it for the association
- Have your public adjuster meet the carrier’s adjuster and engineer on-site with the board liaison
- Use independent engineers for the roof, structure and building envelope when cause or scope is in question
- Get a certified weather report for wind speeds and timing at the property
- Don’t accept a first offer or sign a release before the full scope of damage is known
Watch out: The first inspection often sets the tone for the whole claim. Damage that isn’t pointed out and documented that day is easy to leave out of the carrier’s estimate.
General guidance, not legal advice. Your policy’s terms and deadlines control. Statewide Claim Services, LLC · Licensed public adjusters · (850) 750-7536
Why associations call Statewide
We work for the association
Condominium associations and HOAs after Harvey, Ian, Milton and more.
Master policies, deductibles and documents
We read the policy and your governing documents so the board knows where it stands.
Experts on call
Engineers, forensic experts and certified weather reports when the carrier pushes back.
We meet the carrier for you
We document the loss, file the claim and negotiate the settlement.
Request a claim review
Tell us what happened. A licensed public adjuster will call you back to talk through your policy, your loss and where your claim stands. There’s no upfront cost to review your claim.
Rather talk now?(850) 750-7536Good to have handy
- Your policy number, and the claim number if you have one
- Photos or video of the damage
- Any letters, estimates or offers from the carrier
Don’t have them yet? Send the form anyway.
Our fee is a percentage of what we recover, set out in your contract and capped by your state’s law. No upfront cost to review your claim.