Hurricane Prep and Storm Damage: A Pool Enclosure Guide

By the Coral Springs Pool Screen Repair team · Published October 25, 2026

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, according to the National Hurricane Center. For homes in Coral Springs and the rest of North Broward, the pool enclosure is often the most exposed part of the property: a large aluminum frame wrapped in screen, sitting in the open. A little preparation before the season, and a calm plan for after a storm, can save a lot of trouble.

Before the season: a walk-around checklist

The best time to prepare is early in the season, or even before it starts, when contractors are easier to schedule and the weather is calm. Do this from the ground. Never climb on the cage roof.

• Fasteners. Look for rusted, loose or missing screws, especially where the frame meets the deck and the house. Corroded fasteners weaken connections exactly where wind loads concentrate.
• Frame members. Look for bent, kinked or cracked aluminum. A bent member is no longer the shape the enclosure was designed around.
• Cables and braces. Tie-down cables should be taut and attached. Slack or missing cables and loose braces are worth fixing before a storm, not after.
• Torn screens and loose spline. Small tears can grow quickly in strong wind, and flapping panels can damage neighbors. Get them repaired early.
• Gutters and the house connection. Check where the enclosure attaches to the house. Water stains or soft fascia can point to problems that a storm will make worse. Our enclosure repair page explains these parts.
• Trees. Trim palms and branches that hang over the cage, and remove dead fronds. Falling debris is one of the most common causes of roof panel damage.
• Photos. Take dated photos of the whole enclosure on a calm day. They give you a "before" record if you ever need to show storm damage.

Broward County is in the Florida Building Code's High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, which has its own wind-load rules for screen enclosures. Structural repairs, like replacing fasteners, cables or aluminum members, may need a permit from your city's building department, and should be done by a qualified contractor so the parts match the enclosure's design.

Should you cut or remove the screens?

You'll hear neighbors swear by cutting or pulling screens before a hurricane to "let the wind through." The honest answer is: only if your enclosure was designed for it.

Florida has long allowed an alternative design method for aluminum screen enclosures (originally adopted as Florida Administrative Code Rule 61G20-1.002, since repealed as a standalone rule, with the method addressed in the Florida Building Code's screen enclosure provisions) in which the frame is engineered on the assumption that certain screen panels will be removed or cut when strong winds are forecast. Enclosures built that way are supposed to have site-specific engineering and permanently labeled panels showing which ones to remove. If your cage doesn't have those labels, it was most likely designed with all of its screen in place, and you should leave the screen alone.

A Florida engineering firm that modeled this question found that fully removing screens reduced stress on the frame in its models, but also noted that cut, half-attached screens still transfer some load, that tighter or heavier mesh adds load compared with standard 18/14, and that nobody should risk their safety cutting screens when they should be sheltering or evacuating. They also point out that if a storm turns away, you may be paying out of pocket to replace screens you cut yourself.

If you don't know how your cage was designed, ask a licensed enclosure contractor before the season, not during a hurricane watch.

When a storm is on the way

• Bring in or secure patio furniture, grills, planters, pool toys and anything else that can become a projectile inside or outside the cage.
• Close and latch screen doors so they don't swing and tear free.
• Don't drain the pool. Sumter County's pool storm guidance warns that an emptied pool shell can float out of the ground; follow your pool equipment maker's instructions for the pump and power.
• If you have removable vinyl, acrylic or glass panels, follow the manufacturer's instructions for storms.
• Don't climb on the enclosure or work on a ladder in rising wind. No screen is worth an injury.

Insurance basics for screen enclosures

Many Florida homeowners are surprised to learn their policy treats screen enclosures differently from the house. For example, Citizens Property Insurance's coverage worksheet for one of its HO-3 policy forms states that hurricane damage to screened enclosures is excluded in the base policy, with optional coverage available for an added limit. Other insurers handle it in their own ways, and your hurricane deductible may also be larger than a screen repair costs.

The takeaway: read your declarations page and endorsements, or call your agent, before a storm is named. Ask specifically whether screened enclosures are covered for hurricane damage, what limit applies, and how your hurricane deductible works. We're not insurance advisors, and only your policy can answer this.

After the storm

1. Stay safe. Keep people and pets out of the enclosure if any aluminum is bent, cracked or hanging. Watch for downed power lines.
2. Secure the pool. If the cage was your pool's safety barrier and screens or doors are gone, keep children away from the pool and set up a temporary barrier.
3. Document everything. Photograph and video damage from several angles before anything is cleaned up or removed, including debris that caused it.
4. Prevent more damage. Pick up loose debris you can reach safely from the ground. Leave anything structural for a pro.
5. Call your insurer if you plan to file a claim, and ask what they need before repairs start.
6. Get it assessed. Torn panels that are left flapping can pull more mesh loose in the next storm.

Getting repairs done after a big storm

After a major storm, demand for screen work jumps and so do out-of-area crews. Be cautious with anyone who asks for large cash deposits, pressures you to sign right away, or offers to "handle your insurance" for you. Verify licenses through the Florida DBPR license search and get a written estimate that spells out the scope. Our guide to comparing quotes has a checklist, and our storm damage repair page covers the most common post-storm problems.

If you're in Coral Springs, Parkland, Coconut Creek, Margate or Tamarac, use the form below to describe the damage and we'll connect you with a local screen professional.

Sources

• National Hurricane Center: Tropical cyclone climatology
• Florida Administrative Code Rule 61G20-1.002 (repealed; history of the alternative design method)
• Florida Engineering LLC: Should I cut the screens before a hurricane?
• Citizens Property Insurance: HO-3 coverage worksheet (example)
• Sumter County, FL: Protecting your pool
• Florida DBPR license search