Hurricane season pool checklist

No, and this is the one that costs people the most money. All that water weight is helping hold the shell in the ground, and in a high water table like ours an empty pool can literally float up out of the yard.

If you are worried about water coming over the deck, lower the level three or four inches and no more. A full pool also acts as a buffer for the heavy rain that comes with a storm.

Balance and shock the water a day ahead, cut the power to the equipment at the breaker, and get everything loose off the deck. The full order of operations is in the checklist below.

Trim the branches hanging over the water early in the season, not the night before landfall. And take photos of the cage, the deck and the equipment pad before the storm, because that is what makes an insurance claim straightforward later.

No. It is common advice and it is bad advice. Metal furniture stains the plaster, sharp edges scratch it, and getting a table in and out of the pool tears the screen on the way. Put it in the garage or a shed instead.

Yes. Shut the pump, heater and any automation off at the breaker, not just at the timer. That protects the equipment from the power surges that come with outages, and from running dry if the water level does something strange. Leave it off until the storm has passed and you have looked at the equipment pad.

Get the big debris out of the water before you do anything else, then check the equipment pad, put the power back on and let the filter run. Expect a few days of shock, filter cleaning and waiting.

• Net out leaves and branches first, by hand. Running the pump into a pool full of debris clogs the baskets in minutes.
• Look over the equipment pad before you turn the breaker on. If it flooded or anything looks damaged, have it checked before you power it up.
• Clean the filter, then run it around the clock.
• Shock the pool and hold chlorine high until the water clears.
• Expect it to take a few days. Storm water brings in dirt and organic material that eats chlorine fast. If it has already gone green, a green pool cleanup gets it back without you hauling buckets of shock.

Not until the water is clear, the chlorine and pH are back in range, and the equipment and lighting have been checked. If you cannot see the main drain, nobody swims.

If flood water from outside got into the pool, treat it as contaminated: heavy shock, a clean filter and a proper test before anyone gets in. The CDC puts the floor for a residential pool at 1 ppm free chlorine and a pH between 7.0 and 7.8, and after a storm we want to see the water well inside that before we call it swimmable.

Photograph it for insurance and get it on the schedule, because one flapping panel turns into three by the next blow. Loose panels let debris and leaves straight into a freshly cleaned pool, so a torn cage keeps costing you until it is fixed. See screen repair.