Six months of the year, Orlando homes sit inside the Atlantic hurricane season. A practical guide to getting a house ready, cleaning up afterward, and knowing which jobs belong to a cleaner and which do not.
Orlando sits far enough inland that people sometimes treat hurricane season as a coastal problem. The rain gauge says otherwise. Storms that weaken before they reach Central Florida still bring days of heavy rain, saturated yards and power outages, and a house that was tidy before a storm is far easier to put back together after one. This guide covers both halves.
Orange County's Hurricane Safety Guide reminds residents that the Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, and it asks every household to prepare a disaster supply kit and protect the home. The first half of that window overlaps Orlando's wet season: June through September bring about 29.6 inches of the city's 51.45 inches of normal yearly rain.
September 2022 showed what a single storm can add. That was the month Hurricane Ian crossed Central Florida, and it became the wettest September on record in Orlando at 22.42 inches, against a normal of 6.37. More than three Septembers' worth of rain arrived in one.
Preparation is mostly about the kit, shutters and supplies the county lists. A few household jobs make the days around a storm easier, especially if the power goes out.
Once the roads are clear and the power is back, the everyday mess is a cleaning job. That means mud and grit tracked in on every pair of shoes, damp entry mats, wiped down counters, a refrigerator emptied of spoiled food by the household, and floors mopped back to normal. A Recurring House Clean picks up where it left off, and a One-Time Deep Clean resets a home that went a week or two without normal care.
Humidity makes timing matter. Orlando mornings average 91 percent relative humidity in August and September, so damp towels, mats and laundry left in a closed house after a storm turn musty quickly. Dry them out first; then clean. Open closets and cabinets to let air move once the air conditioning is running again.
Flood water, soaked drywall, wet carpet pads, roof leaks and anything that has been sitting in standing water are restoration work, not cleaning. A restoration contractor dries and repairs the structure first; a cleaning visit comes after that, once the home is safe and dry.
If you are filing a claim with an insurance company, photograph the damage before anything is cleaned or thrown out, and ask the adjuster what they need to see. Cleaners do not move or carry out damaged furniture, debris or construction waste, so plan for that removal separately.
For everyday large items, City of Orlando residents can put up to two at the curb on their yard waste day for free pickup, with no appointment needed, and oversized items need a call to Solid Waste at 407.246.2314. After a major storm, follow the city's announcements, since special collections may follow different rules. Clearing ruined items out before a cleaning visit lets the clean reach every floor and wall.
The questions Orlando homeowners ask most often about this topic, answered plainly.
TotalCare Cleaning will service Orlando and surrounding areas with background-checked cleaners and is insured up to $1 million. Re-clean guarantee: if we missed something, tell us by the end of the next day and we come back to fix it. Beyond Clean. TotalCare.
