Before the storm: what actually matters
Most hurricane prep checklists focus on securing outdoor items and stocking supplies, and that's appropriate — but a few appliance-specific steps genuinely reduce risk and post-storm hassle for Charleston-area homeowners, and they take only a few minutes.
Set your refrigerator and freezer to their coldest settings a day or two before an expected storm. A colder starting temperature buys meaningfully more time before food safety becomes a concern if you lose power, since the appliance starts the outage from a lower baseline.
If you have advance notice, consider freezing water in empty containers or gallon bags to fill empty freezer space. A fuller freezer holds cold significantly longer than a mostly empty one during a power outage — empty air space warms faster than solid frozen mass.
If you lose power
Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible. A full freezer generally holds a safe temperature for about 48 hours without power if left unopened; a refrigerator holds safe temperatures for roughly 4 hours. Every door opening lets cold air escape and shortens that window.
If the outage extends beyond these windows, use a food thermometer once power returns rather than judging by look or smell alone — the USDA's general guideline is that refrigerated food above 40°F for more than 2 hours should be discarded, even if it still looks and smells normal.
During flooding risk
If your home is in a flood-prone area and evacuation or flooding is a real possibility, and if you have enough advance notice and it's safe to do so, unplugging major appliances before flooding starts protects them from electrical damage — though personal safety during an evacuation always takes priority over appliance protection.
Appliances that have been exposed to floodwater, even briefly, generally need professional inspection before being used again — floodwater exposure to electrical components carries real safety risk that isn't always visible from the outside.
After the storm: surge and power-cycling concerns
Power grid instability after a major storm — brief outages, brownouts, or power cycling on and off repeatedly as utilities restore service — can be harder on sensitive appliance electronics than a single clean outage. If you notice a refrigerator, washer, or other appliance behaving oddly in the days after a storm with restored power, that's worth a diagnostic check rather than assuming it will resolve on its own.
If your appliances need inspection or repair after a storm, our Charleston-area technicians are familiar with storm-related electrical issues and can help confirm whether a unit is safe to continue using or needs repair. The $89 service call fee applies the same way post-storm as any other time.