Hurricane Season Pool Prep in the Keys: What Actually Works

Every June the same questions start: should I drain my pool before a storm? Should I throw the patio furniture in it? Here is what two decades of Keys storm seasons have taught us.

Do not drain your pool

The single most expensive storm mistake we see is not wind damage. It is an empty pool. Key West sits on porous limestone with a high water table, and a drained shell can literally float out of the ground when the table rises after heavy rain. A popped pool is a five-figure repair. Leave the water in it. The water is what holds the structure down.

Lower the water a few inches, not a few feet

Dropping the level 4 to 6 inches below the skimmer gives storm surge and rain somewhere to go without flooding your equipment pad. Any lower and you lose the weight you need. Any higher and the deck drains do the overflow work for you, which is fine too.

Kill the power at the breaker

Storm surge and salt spray do not mix with a running pump. Shut off the breaker to all pool equipment before the weather arrives. If your pad floods, the motor survives being wet far better than it survives being wet while running.

Skip the furniture-in-the-pool trick

It seems logical, and everyone here has seen it done. But metal and plastic in chlorinated water for days leaves stains and scratches on the finish, and loose furniture in surge conditions batters tile and steps. Strap furniture down in a garage or against a wall instead. If the pool is genuinely the only option, plastic pieces only, and get them out fast.

Shock it before, not just after

A heavy dose of chlorine before the storm gives the water a fighting chance against everything the wind is about to deliver. After the storm, do not swim until the debris is out, the equipment has run a full cycle, and chemistry is back in range. If the water went brown or green, that is a chemistry rescue job, not a skim-and-hope job.

After the storm

Get debris out as fast as you safely can, especially palm fronds and bougainvillea, which stain plaster within days. Check the pump for water before restarting it. And if surge got into the equipment pad, have the electrical looked at before you flip that breaker back on.

We ride out every storm here too. If your pool came through rough, we will get it back.