Hurricane Isaias Is Headed Our Way: How to Protect Your AC Before the Storm

Hurricane Isaias Is Headed Our Way: How to Protect Your AC Before the Storm

Friday, October 9, 2026 — landfall tonight

If you live here in Ocean Springs, Gautier, Biloxi, Pascagoula, Moss Point, or Vancleave, you've been watching the forecast like the rest of us. Hurricane Isaias — the first hurricane of 2026 — is expected to make landfall late Friday into Saturday between southeast Louisiana and the Florida Panhandle, and it's still strengthening as it approaches. Our stretch of the Mississippi Gulf Coast is squarely in the impact zone: storm surge, heavy rain, and hurricane-force winds all on the table Friday into the weekend.

We've ridden out plenty of these on the Coast, and the playbook never changes: handle the small stuff now, while it's calm, so you aren't dealing with damage later. Your air conditioner sits outside and takes the full force of wind, water, and flying debris — here's how to give it its best shot before the storm, and what to check after.

Before the storm: secure the outdoor unit

1. Turn the system off — at the thermostat AND the breaker. Flip the thermostat to "off," then find the breaker labeled for the AC and switch it off. The thermostat alone doesn't disconnect the unit from the grid. Turning off the breaker is what protects your system against the power surges that happen when electricity flickers out and comes back unevenly.

2. Clear everything loose from around the unit. Patio furniture, potted plants, yard tools, trash cans, branches — in hurricane winds, all of it becomes a projectile aimed at your condenser coil and fan. Walk the perimeter around the outdoor unit and move anything that isn't tied down.

3. Strap the condenser to its pad. Hurricane straps or brackets anchoring the outdoor unit to its concrete pad keep it from shifting or tipping over in high winds. If your unit isn't strapped down and you can reach a hardware store today, a strap kit is a straightforward job and one of the best things you can do for it.

4. Cover it against flying debris — the right way. A breathable, weather-resistant cover works, or plywood braced over the unit and weighed down with sandbags. Skip the plastic tarp wrapped tight around it — plastic traps moisture against the metal and speeds up corrosion. Whatever you use, take it off as soon as the storm passes — the unit cannot run with a cover on.

5. Window and portable units: bring them in. Unplug them, carry them inside, and seal the opening as best you can. A mini-split's outdoor unit gets the same treatment as a central condenser — clear it, strap it, cover it.

6. If your home floods, think ahead. Units on raised platforms survive surge far better than ones at ground level. If yours sits low and you're in a flood-prone spot, that's worth talking through with us the next time we service it — after the storm has passed.

During the storm: leave it off

Once the weather turns, leave the system alone — don't run it through the storm. With power flickering and water blowing around, off is the safest place for it.

After the storm: check before you restart

1. Uncover and clear. Remove the cover or plywood and clear branches and debris from around the unit before you touch the breaker.

2. Look it over. Check for visible damage — bent fins, a damaged fan, refrigerant lines that look pinched or pulled loose. Make sure it's still sitting level on its pad.

3. If it flooded, don't turn it on. This one's important: if your outdoor unit was submerged or standing in floodwater, do NOT turn it back on. Water — especially saltwater — gets into the electrical components and the refrigerant circuit, and running a flooded unit can ruin a system that was still serviceable. Have a licensed technician inspect it first.

4. Give the grid a minute. When the power comes back, wait a bit before flipping the breaker and restarting. Let things settle — your compressor will thank you.

5. Generator caution. If you're running a generator, don't put your central AC on an undersized portable one, and never backfeed a generator into your house wiring. Your AC pulls a heavy load on startup, and getting that wrong can damage it.

We've got you after the storm

Once the weather clears and you've worked through the list above, if something doesn't look right — the unit flooded, the fan won't spin, it won't start back up — call us at (228) 990-4882. We're open Monday–Friday, 7:00 AM–5:30 PM, and you can always reach us at iveyheatandcool.com.

Stay safe out there, Gulf Coast. We'll see you on the other side of it.