Forecast track
- +12h19.5, -108.3 · 98 mph
- +24h19.3, -108.3 · 98 mph
- +36h19.2, -108.3 · 92 mph
- +48h19.9, -108.7 · 86 mph
- +72h21.2, -109.7 · 75 mph
Active system
Simon: Category 1 hurricane
Sustained winds near 92 mph. Moving SW at 2 mph. The track below is the National Hurricane Center's forecast. What it costs you is decided by the deductible and exclusions printed in your own policy.
Loading live storm positions…
Cones and forecast points come from the National Hurricane Center; shaded outlines are active National Weather Service warnings — tornado, thunderstorm, flood, winter. A cone shows where a centre may track; damage regularly happens well outside it.
Before it arrives
- Take photos of every room and all four sides of the house. Photos taken before the storm are the cheapest proof you will ever have.
- Find out what your hurricane deductible is in dollars. If it's a percentage of your home's value, it's a much bigger number than the flat one beside it.
- Check whether you have flood coverage at all. Homeowners policies usually leave out flooding, and a new flood policy takes about a month to start.
- Save your policy number and your carrier's claim phone number on your phone. Take a screenshot so you still have them if the power and signal go out.
In a storm's path, or cleaning up after one?
If a named storm or a severe-weather warning reached your ZIP in the last 30 days, Poli Watch is free for 60 days — read the clauses, limits, and deductibles your policy says may apply before you decide what to do next. Nothing is charged until the 60 days are up, and you can cancel any time.
Your policy
Run the storm questions against your own policy
Poli reads your declarations page and endorsements and comes back with your named-storm deductible in dollars, whether flood is excluded, how your roof is paid, and what loss of use covers — each one quoting the clause it came from.
Read my policy freeCheck a ZIP
Is your ZIP in the cone?
Type a five-digit ZIP. We measure it against the active forecast tracks and pull the current National Weather Service watches and warnings for that spot. The ZIP is used for the answer and then dropped — nothing is stored.
What decides it
What a big storm puts to the test
Your hurricane deductible is often a percentage of your home's value
Near the coast, most policies charge a separate deductible for hurricanes — often 1%, 2% or 5% of the amount your house is insured for. On a $400,000 house, 2% means paying $8,000 yourself before the policy pays anything. That can be many times the flat deductible printed right beside it.
Ask Poli: “What is my hurricane deductible in dollars, and when does it apply instead of my regular one?”
Wind and water are two different policies
Homeowners insurance usually pays for wind damage but not for flooding — and that includes water pushed in from the ocean or rising up from the ground. Flood coverage is a separate policy, and a new one normally takes about a month to start, so it can't be added once a storm has a name.
Ask Poli: “Does this policy cover flooding or storm surge, and where does it say so?”
Some coastal policies don't cover wind at all
In parts of Texas, Florida and along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, wind is left out of the homeowners policy and bought separately from a state plan or a specialty company. That means two policies, two deductibles and two numbers to call.
Ask Poli: “Does this policy cover wind and hail, or is that on a separate policy?”
Spoiled food is usually covered only up to a small amount
If your policy helps with food that spoils when the power goes out, the limit is normally small — often around $500. And some policies only help when the power failed at your house, not when the outage happened out on the utility lines.
Ask Poli: “Does my policy pay for spoiled food after a power outage, and how much?”
Leaving before the storm and being unable to come home are two different things
Most policies help with the extra cost of living elsewhere once storm damage makes the house unlivable, and some also help when officials won't let you return home for a while. Leaving on your own before the storm arrives often isn't covered by either.
Ask Poli: “If we evacuate and can't come home, what does my policy pay toward staying somewhere else, and for how long?”
What a fallen tree costs you depends on what it landed on
Most policies only pay to haul a tree away if it damaged something they cover, and the amount for removal is often capped at $500 or $1,000. Fences, sheds and detached garages usually come out of a separate, smaller pot of money than the house itself.
Ask Poli: “A tree came down on the house and the fence — what does my policy pay to remove it and rebuild?”
Some policies pay for a new roof, others pay what your old one was worth
Plenty of coastal policies subtract for the age of your roof, so a fifteen-year-old roof is paid at what it was worth today rather than what a new one costs. That's usually decided on one of the extra pages attached to your policy, not in the main booklet.
Ask Poli: “Does my policy pay the full cost of a new roof, or subtract for its age?”
Ten minutes of photos before the storm is free proof
Walk through every room, then walk around all four sides of the house, and photograph the roof from the ground plus the labels on your big appliances. Photos taken before the storm settle the argument about what was already damaged — which is what a lot of denied wind claims come down to.
Ask Poli: “What does my policy require me to document or prove after damage?”
Every policy has a clock on it
Policies generally ask you to report damage quickly, make the urgent repairs that stop things getting worse, and leave the damage where it is until someone has looked at it. Some states also set a hard deadline for reporting a hurricane claim at all.
Ask Poli: “What am I required to do after damage, and how long do I have to report a hurricane claim?”
Rebuilding to today's building rules can cost more than your policy pays
After a big storm, today's building rules often require straps, thicker sheathing or a higher foundation your house never had. Some policies set aside extra money for that, usually a share of what the house is insured for. Without it, those upgrades come out of your pocket.
Ask Poli: “Does my policy pay extra for rebuilding to current building codes, and how much?”