What to Document Before Wildfire, Hurricane, or Flood Season
Disaster seasons are predictable in a way individual disasters aren't. Wildfire season, hurricane season, and flood-prone spring thaws arrive on roughly the same calendar every year, which makes them a natural trigger for a documentation check rather than something to think about only after a loss.
This guide covers what's worth documenting before each of the three most common seasonal risks, and the storage habits that keep a record intact even if the home it describes is not.
Why timing matters
Documentation created in advance of a disaster and documentation created afterward serve different purposes. A pre-loss inventory establishes what existed before the event with a timestamp that predates it. A post-loss inventory has to be reconstructed from memory, receipts, and whatever photos happen to exist — a much harder task under much worse conditions.
Tying a documentation habit to the start of a known risk season — rather than leaving it open-ended — is a simple way to make sure it actually happens every year.
Before wildfire season
Wildfire season varies by region but generally runs through the dry summer and fall months in the Western US. A pre-season walkthrough is worth pairing with a defensible-space check (clearing brush, maintaining a perimeter around the home), since both are typically recommended on the same seasonal cadence.
Wildfires can move fast enough that evacuation windows are short. Having the inventory already stored off-site — not just on a device inside the house — matters more here than for slower-developing risks.
Before hurricane season
Atlantic hurricane season runs June through November. Because storms are typically tracked days in advance, there's usually more lead time than with wildfire, but also more competing tasks (boarding windows, securing outdoor items) in the final days before landfall.
A documentation pass done early in the season, before an active storm is being tracked, avoids competing with the last-minute preparation checklist when it matters most.
Before flood season
Flood risk is less seasonal in some regions and more tied to specific events — spring snowmelt, heavy rain systems, storm surge from a hurricane. Flood damage also has a documentation wrinkle: standard homeowner policies typically exclude flood damage entirely, and flood coverage is usually a separate policy (often through the National Flood Insurance Program or a private flood insurer).
Photographing or video-recording the lowest level of a home — basement, ground floor, crawl space contents — is worth doing specifically for flood documentation, since that's where flood losses concentrate.
Getting the record off-site before it matters
The common failure mode across all three risks is the same: an inventory that only exists on a device or in a filing cabinet inside the home is vulnerable to the exact event it's meant to help with. A copy stored in the cloud, emailed to yourself, or shared with someone outside the affected area solves this.
Preloss stores each walkthrough's export off the device by design, and anchors a hash of the evidence to the Bitcoin blockchain via OpenTimestamps at the time it's created — so the timestamp on a pre-season inventory holds up as independently verifiable, whichever season ends up mattering.
Frequently asked questions
- When should I document my home before wildfire season?
- Early in the season, before any active fire is being tracked nearby, gives the most time and the least pressure. Many households pair it with annual defensible-space maintenance.
- Does homeowner insurance cover flood damage?
- Standard homeowner policies typically exclude flood damage. Flood coverage is usually a separate policy, often through the National Flood Insurance Program or a private flood insurer.
- How is documenting before hurricane season different from wildfire season?
- Hurricanes are usually tracked days in advance, giving more lead time, but that time also gets consumed by physical preparation (boarding windows, securing outdoor items). Documenting earlier in the season avoids competing with last-minute storm prep.
This article is informational and is not legal, insurance, or financial advice. For decisions about a specific policy or claim, consult a licensed professional or your state insurance department.
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