Save Vehicles From Hurricane
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How often do you see strong winds and hurricanes causing damages to cars and two wheelers in Bermuda? I have seen that plenty of times. In 2003 after hurricane Fabian, I guess people considered themselves quite lucky if they did not have their homes or vehicles damaged. So what do you do to protect your vehicles from hurricane damages? Well, with some proactive measures, you can easily save your vehicles from the hurricanes.
With today's hurricane warning systems, you will know about the weather pattern several days in advance. If a hurricane is forecasted, the first thing is to ensure that your vehicle is actually in a good running condition. Because the first thing you will need after the hurricane passes is to use your car or the two wheeler.
So check your breaks, lights, engine oil and fill up the tank. I would normally take my own car for a quick service prior to a hurricane just to ensure that everything is ok.
The next step is where to park your car. The ideal place is in your own covered garage. Because, the damages occur mostly from the flying debris or the blown off trees and uprooted lamp posts. But if you don't have a covered garage of your own, take your vehicle to a public parking, like in Bulls Head. The concrete structure of a public parking gives a natural protection to the vehicles against severe storm.
While parking in an open air parking, watch out of the following:
Casuarina Trees - These trees have shallow roots and can get easily uprooted. So do not park your vehicles near such trees.
Norfolk Pines - Their branches can easily break and damage vehicles around them.
Do not park your car close to a lamp post. They can get uprooted and damage your vehicles.
Park away from lowland places that are likely to get flooded. This is the same reason, I would not suggest that you park in the airport parking area. During 2003 Fabian, most of the cars parked at the LF Wade Airport were badly damaged. The whole area of the airport was flooded and the airport building itself was badly damaged.
Park your vehicle facing a wall or a large rock so that there is a protection from the wind. If there is no such protection available, keep the back side of your vehicle facing the wind so that all the flying debris and dust do not go under the hood and into the engine.
Finally, once the storm passes, check your vehicle carefully, particularly if there is any electrical failures, before you begin to drive again.
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