Storm preparedness for community boards: what to do before, during, and after

Understanding the importance of preparing for storms in your community

Storm preparedness isn’t a checklist you pull out in June. For community boards and property managers, it’s a year-round responsibility that directly affects property values, resident confidence, and how quickly a community can get back on its feet after a loss.

In a recent webinar hosted by FirstService Residential, a panel of experts shared what actually works when storm season hits. The conversation brought together Andrew Lester, President of FirstService Insurance Brokers; Renee Vargas, Vice President of First Onsite; and Jed Sabrowski, Senior Vice President of National Accounts at Roofing Corp of America. Together, they covered insurance, mitigation, roofing, and vendor coordination as a full picture of what storm preparedness looks like in practice.
 

Here’s what every board needs to know about storm preparedness.
 

The insurance conversation boards are getting wrong

Why your premiums move the way they do

One of the most common frustrations boards express is the seemingly unpredictable movement of insurance premiums. Andrew Lester addressed it directly:

"Your insurer does not hold all the risk itself. It goes out and buys its own insurance in the global marketplace. And that market reprices premiums based on what it thinks total exposure is for your community — across thousands of communities."

Andrew Lester, President of FirstService Insurance Brokers

That global repricing is why a building with no claims can still see its premium increase after a major storm hits a region that hasn’t experienced one in decades. The good news, according to Lester, is that the market has softened. Most communities should be seeing renewal reductions in the current environment.
 

Three Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac changes every board should know

In March, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issued a new lender letter that has significant implications for condo communities. Because these two entities back the majority of home mortgages in the country, when their standards shift, lenders follow. And when a building falls out of compliance, buyers lose access to conventional financing, affecting every owner’s ability to sell or refinance.

Lester outlined three specific changes:

1. Actual Cash Value (ACV) roofing coverage is now permitted
   
   Previously, associations were required to carry replacement cost coverage on roofs. ACV policies pay the depreciated value of a roof rather than full replacement cost. While this offers relief to communities that previously struggled to find coverage, Lester was clear about the trade-off:

   "The roof does not care how your policy calculates the payout. A new roof costs what it costs. And so if the insurance pays less because of the depreciation, that gap has to come from somewhere. And that somewhere is your reserves or special assessment after the storm."

2. Minimum reserve funding increased from 10% to 15%
   
   This was not a coincidence. Fannie Mae loosened the insurance standard while simultaneously tightening the savings requirement. Boards choosing ACV coverage without adequate reserves risk pushing that shortfall onto unit owners.
    
3. New $50,000 per-unit deductible cap effective July 1st
   
   Any master policy with a per-unit deductible structure exceeding $50,000 will make the building ineligible for conventional mortgage financing. As Lester explained, this is not just an insurance problem:

   "That’s a real estate problem. It affects every owner in the building, whether they’re buying, selling, or refinancing."

Understanding percentage deductibles in real dollars

One of the most important things boards can do is help residents understand what percentage deductibles actually mean. A 5% deductible sounds manageable until you do the math.

Lester notes,

"A 5% deductible on a building that’s insured for $20 million means the association will absorb the first $1 million of damage before the insurance company pays anything. In a 100-unit building, that works out to $10,000 per unit."

There’s another layer boards often miss. If a building is underinsured relative to its actual replacement cost, the insurance company will factor that into the claim payout. Lester recommended that every community invest in a current replacement cost appraisal. It’s required every three years in Florida, and a best practice everywhere else.
 

Communication is the most underused insurance tool

When asked what boards should prioritize before storm season, Lester shifted the conversation away from policy adjustments and toward something more actionable:

"I would rather focus our boards today on communication. By the time a named storm is approaching, residents, boards, management teams — they’re stressed, they’re distracted, and absorbing anything new is very late."

His recommendation: start at your annual master policy renewal. Provide every unit owner a plain-language summary of what the building is covered for, what changed, and what their personal deductible exposure looks like in real dollars. Then keep the communication going throughout the year, one topic at a time.
 

The first 48 to 72 hours: what happens on the ground

Chaos to control

When a storm makes landfall, the first priority is always life safety. The second is protecting the property from additional damage, and the clock starts immediately.

Renee Vargas of First Onsite outlined the sequence of decisions that should happen in those first critical hours:

"Number one is life safety. Make sure the property has safe access and that the residents are safe. Then an initial assessment: is there active water intrusion? Roof damage? Is my building envelope penetrated? And then stabilization. By the 72nd hour, the claim should already be in. The vendors are already coordinated. Residents have had communication. The goal is not perfection in the first few days, but safety and stabilization."

Renee Vargas, Vice President of First Onsite

Stabilization means extracting water, setting drying equipment, removing damaged materials, documenting conditions, and securing the building envelope. It does not mean reconstruction, and Vargas was clear about keeping those two phases separate.

Vargas adds:

"The emergency mitigation phase means stabilization. Reconstruction is not an emergent need immediately. It’s more important to separate those into two phases: dry out first, and then reconstruction second."

Do not wait to begin the dry out

One question boards often face after a water loss is whether to wait for insurance authorization before beginning work. Vargas addressed it directly:

"Waiting is going to definitely make the damage worse. The insurance claim and payment process can take a while, but mitigation can’t wait. The key is making sure it’s properly authorized, properly documented, and communicated to the carrier."

First Onsite would respond immediately, begin the dry-out process, and continue communicating with management, the board, and the insurance carrier throughout.
 

The activation checklist that actually works

Vargas recommended keeping the activation checklist simple enough that anyone on the property can follow it:

1. Life safety — assess electrical, flood, fire, elevator, and structural hazards
    
2. Notification — alert the board, management team, insurance carrier, and all pre-contracted vendors
    
3. Documentation — photos, videos, dates, times, and written logs before any work begins
    
4. Stabilization — protect the property and begin the dry out process
    
5. Communication — tell residents what is known, what is not known, and where to report damage

The last point matters more than most boards realize. In the absence of clear communication, residents fill the gap themselves, and the result is often a Facebook group, a 6-month email chain, and pressure to remove the board.
 

Roofing, documentation, and the claim you can actually win

Early activation and evidence preservation

Jed Sabrowski of Roofing Corp of America raised a problem that well-meaning communities often create for themselves: sending someone out to clean up debris before proper documentation is in place.

"We need to preserve the evidence and the information if there’s going to be an insurance claim. When there isn’t a process in place, you get the random roofer that comes in. You get the 6-month email chain that starts to develop among homeowners when they don’t understand that there’s a plan."

Jed Sabrowski, Senior Vice President of National Accounts at Roofing Corp of America

RCA follows a defined 10-step process, from initial identification through to reconstruction, and recommends boards adopt a similar documented approach.
 

Coordinated response prevents double-billing

One of the most common and costly mistakes Sabrowski sees is a lack of coordination between mitigation and roofing contractors:

"I’ve seen situations where the mitigation company comes in and starts mitigating the interior, but the roofing contractor hasn’t fixed the roof and made it leak-free. So, the mitigation company comes out again. The insurance company frowns on that. They don’t like to receive a bill twice for the same unit."

The fix is simple in principle: coordinate vendors before the storm, not after. And have a contractor present when the insurance adjuster does their walkthrough.
 

Baseline roof inspections are worth the investment

One of the most common points of conflict during the claims process is the question of whether damage was caused by a storm or was pre-existing. Sabrowski’s recommendation:

"If we’re able to document the condition of the roof today and show before-and-after photos, it makes that process go much smoother."

That documentation investment also applies beyond roofing. Vargas recommended that all communities take photos and videos now of elevator rooms, electrical rooms, lobbies, clubhouses, and common areas to establish pre-loss conditions.
 

The storm chaser problem and how to protect your community

After a major storm, unlicensed and unvetted contractors flood the market. The risks go beyond quality of work.

Sabrowski adds:

"If the adjuster finds out you had an unlicensed contractor, the adjuster is going to take over. They’re going to set the scope, and that cuts you down at the knees."

Verification takes about a minute. In Florida, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation website allows anyone to confirm contractor licensing by name. Sabrowski noted another pattern to watch for: out-of-state contractors attempting to piggyback on a local company’s license for a fee, an illegal practice that communities should actively screen for.

The most reliable protection against storm chasers is having pre-qualified vendors already in place. Those vendors will prioritize the communities with which they already have agreements. Communities going through the phone book after a storm will be at the back of the line.
 

Vendor readiness: the most controllable factor in storm preparedness

What a pre-event service agreement should include

A master service agreement with a restoration or mitigation vendor removes friction before the storm, when there’s no time to negotiate. According to Vargas, a solid agreement should define:

• The specific services the vendor can provide
   
• Priority response language (with realistic expectations around resource availability)
   
• Pricing structure whether time and materials, unit rates, or otherwise
   
• Mobilization fees and material markups
   
• Access protocols, including gate codes and on-site contacts
   
• Insurance coordination expectations

Vargas says:

"The goal is to make sure the community is already moving while others are still looking around for support and going through the phone book."

The 24/7/365 relationship is the readiness standard

Vargas made a point that reframes how boards should think about vendor selection. Storm readiness is not a separate category from day-to-day operations.

"Vendor readiness is very tied to how familiar the vendor is with your property. The 24/7, 365 relationship secures that familiarity. They’ll know access, gate codes, roof access points, electrical rooms, water shutoffs, and staging requirements."

A vendor who shows up for the first time after a major storm is learning your building while responding to it. A vendor who already knows it is a fundamentally different resource.
 

Roles and responsibilities need to be defined in advance

Sabrowski’s framework for board and management authority is direct:

"The board approves, and the manager activates. They work with the contractors, and they coordinate."

That division of authority needs to be communicated and agreed upon before an event, not worked out in real time while cell towers are down and roads are closed. Eric Levin of FirstService Residential pointed to the Texas freeze a few years ago as an example of what happens when that clarity is missing: boards second-guessing emergency plumbing calls, confusion over whether authorization was required, disputes over vendor costs.

The recommendation: give the community manager clear pre-authorized spending authority and a defined list of pre-contracted vendors they can activate the moment roads are clear.
 

What to do in the next 30 days

The closing message from the panel was consistent: storm preparedness is not a pre-season task. It’s the decisions you’ve already made by the time a storm forms.

A practical starting point for any board:

• Review your master policy deductibles and put the numbers in real dollars for your unit owners
   
• Confirm your replacement cost appraisal is current
   
• Take photos and videos of common areas and critical building systems now, while conditions are normal
   
• Identify and pre-qualify your roofing and restoration vendors before the season accelerates
   
• Review or put in place a master service agreement with your mitigation vendor
   
• Make sure management and the board president have a shared, written understanding of activation authority

FirstService Residential communities have access to Resilience First℠, a program specifically designed to support this kind of proactive planning. That includes complimentary pre-loss inspections with First Onsite and Roofing Corp of America, a pre-loss review to identify vulnerabilities, and support building a First Steps emergency plan tailored to your community.
 
As Levin put it at the close of the webinar:

"The communities that recover the fastest already know who they’re calling and what the plan is. There is no cost to engage us and to complete these complimentary inspections. We’re here to support you."

To request a complimentary pre-loss review or learn more about Resilience First, contact your FirstService Residential community manager.

Contact our team today to learn how FirstService Residential can help your community prepare.

This information is provided for general informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute, and should not be relied upon as, legal, regulatory, financial, or operational advice, or as a representation or guarantee of any specific services, capabilities, or outcomes. Property management needs, regulatory requirements, market conditions, and available services vary by jurisdiction, property type, and community. FirstService Residential provides services through locally based affiliates and associates, and services and results may vary by community, region, contractual terms, and applicable law.