Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, and most years in Tampa it passes with nothing worse than heavy afternoon rain. Then a year like 2024 comes along. Hurricane Helene pushed a record storm surge into the bay that September, flooding Davis Islands, Bayshore Boulevard and low ground around Apollo Beach. Two weeks later Hurricane Milton brought no surge at all to Tampa, but it brought wind, record rainfall, flooding along the Alafia River and the biggest outage Tampa Electric has ever had.
Two storms, two very different kinds of damage. Appliances can be hurt by either one, and a few simple steps make a real difference to which ones come through.
This guide covers the storm itself. For food safety during a power outage, generator use and restarting appliances, see our separate post on appliances after a power outage.
Early in the season, while the sky is clear
These jobs are easy in June and impossible the night before landfall.
- •Find out your evacuation zone. Hillsborough County assigns every address a zone, A through E, based on surge risk. Your zone tells you whether flooding from the bay is a realistic threat to your garage and laundry room.
- •Photograph every major appliance and its data plate. The plate with the model and serial number is usually inside the refrigerator, under the washer lid or behind the oven drawer. If a storm destroys an appliance, those photos help with insurance claims, and they help a technician order the right part.
- •Find your shutoffs. The water valves behind the washer, the supply valve for the refrigerator's ice maker, the main water shutoff, and the breaker for each major appliance. Label the breakers if they aren't labeled.
- •Replace tired washer hoses. A cracked fill hose is a slow leak on a normal day and a flood when you are away.
- •Buy two appliance thermometers, one for the refrigerator and one for the freezer. They are the only way to know later whether the food stayed cold.
- •Consider surge protection. Lightning is part of every wet season here, and the moment power is restored after an outage can bring a spike. A whole-house surge protector installed by an electrician, or plug-in protectors rated for the appliance, guards electronic controls.
When a storm is a few days out
- •Turn the refrigerator and freezer to their coldest settings. Colder food buys more time if the power fails.
- •Fill empty freezer space with containers of water. Ice keeps the freezer cold longer, and it doubles as drinking water once thawed if you use clean containers.
- •Run the dishwasher and do the laundry while you still have power and water.
- •If your laundry is in a garage in a flood-prone zone, consider raising the washer and dryer on sturdy blocks or pedestals made for them, if you can do it safely. They are heavy. Don't attempt it alone.
- •Move anything stored on the garage floor, especially chemicals and paint, away from the machines.
If you are evacuating
- •Close the water valves behind the washer and the ice maker supply, or shut off the main.
- •Unplug small appliances and electronics.
- •If local officials advise turning off power at the main breaker, do it before you leave and only if the panel area is dry.
- •Many people empty the refrigerator before a long evacuation. A refrigerator full of spoiled food after days without power is a cleanup job, and the smell can be hard to get out of the liner.
- •If you have gas appliances, turn off gas only if officials tell you to. Once it is off, only the utility should turn it back on.
Coming home: the first look
Go slowly. The order matters.
- If water got into the house or garage, don't touch the electrical system while standing in water. If the breaker panel or outlets were submerged, leave the power off and have an electrician or the utility check it before anything is switched on.
- If you smell gas, leave immediately and call the gas utility or 911 from outside.
- Check food using the thermometers and the USDA rules in the outage guide linked above.
Appliances that sat in floodwater
Any appliance whose motor, controls or wiring was underwater should not be plugged in or powered up until it has been inspected. Wet electronics can short, and a motor with water in its windings can fail or shock someone. Let it be, and get it looked at.
Saltwater from storm surge is harsher than rainwater. Salt keeps corroding circuit boards, connectors and motor parts long after everything looks dry. A machine that sat in surge water often isn't worth repairing even if it runs at first, and a technician will tell you when that's the case. Freshwater flooding from rain is sometimes recoverable, depending on how high the water reached and how long it stayed.
Insulation inside refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers and ovens absorbs contaminated water and can't be fully dried or cleaned. That alone can make replacement the right call. Our repair or replace guide covers the decision more generally.
Appliances that stayed dry
Most make it through fine. A few checks:
- •Outdoor units. Outdoor kitchen refrigerators and wine coolers near the bay collect salt spray and debris. With the power off, clear leaves from the grille and rinse salt off the coil the way the manual allows.
- •Ice makers after a boil-water notice. If your area was under one, throw out ice made during the notice, run and discard a few batches once it lifts, and replace the refrigerator's water filter.
- •Washers. Check hoses and connections for leaks before the first load. Look for water in the drum from a cycle that was interrupted.
- •Dryers. Check that the outside vent cap wasn't crushed or blocked by debris before running a load.
- •Refrigerators that won't cool. Give them a full day after power returns. If the compressor clicks and stops, or nothing is cold the next day, it needs a technician.
End of season
When November closes out, take a minute to restore what you changed: set the refrigerator and freezer back to normal temperatures, reopen water valves, and replace hoses or vent caps that took a beating. Then start the list again next June.
If an appliance didn't survive the storm, a technician can diagnose it at your home and tell you plainly whether it is worth repairing. See our refrigerator repair page, or call or book online.