Hurricane Season and Rodents in Stuart: Before and After a Storm.

Heavy rain floods burrows. A Norway rat burrow beside a slab or under a shed can fill with water, and the animals leave to find dry ground. The nearest dry ground is often a house, a garage or a shed. After a big rain, calls about rats and mice often rise within days.

Wind tears things loose. A lifted tile edge, a torn soffit or a loose vent cover creates a new opening that was not there before. A fallen tree changes the route to the roof. Debris piles near the house give animals new places to nest.

Power outages affect food. Spoiled food, especially from a refrigerator or freezer, draws animals, and the cleanup bags put at the curb can attract them too. Compost and fruit that fall in a storm add to the supply.

Preparation tasks overlap with pest prevention. If you are checking the roof, shutters and openings, add a few rodent checks. Look at the roofline for tile that is loose or has gaps at the ends. Check that gable vents and soffit panels are intact, with metal mesh behind any vent.

Garages deserve attention. Preparation brings supplies into the garage, such as water, batteries, canned food and pet food. Store these in sealed containers and keep them off the floor. Cardboard boxes of supplies are nesting material, so use plastic bins where possible.

• Check tile ends, ridge caps and soffits for gaps or loose pieces.
• Confirm gable and soffit vents have intact metal mesh.
• Store supplies and pet food in sealed plastic or metal containers.
• Check the garage door seal and the line between door and slab.
• Trim branches that touch the roof before the storm, not after.
• Take out trash and remove fallen fruit from the yard.

Trimming before a storm helps with wind and with rodents. Branches that touch the roof become bridges, and a storm can shift them closer. Palms with dead fronds drop debris, and clean crowns hold fewer nests.

Move stored items off the ground and away from the foundation. Firewood, lumber, tarps and boxes against the house give animals shelter and a short path to the wall. If you must stack them, keep them a foot or two from the wall and off the ground.

Pool equipment, sheds and outbuildings also need a look. A shed with a gap beneath the door can host a nest. If you are fitting shutters or securing items, spend a minute checking the base of these structures.

When it is safe to go outside, walk the property. Look at the roofline for new gaps and at the base of walls for new holes, burrows or displaced vent covers. Check that garage doors still seal to the slab, since a warped door leaves a gap.

Inside, check the attic from the hatch if the roof took damage. Water stains, displaced insulation or new daylight are all signs of a breach. A hole that lets in rain lets in rodents too. Photograph anything you find, since that record helps with insurance and with the pest visit.

Clean up carefully. If you find droppings or nesting material during storm cleanup, do not sweep or vacuum dry material. Wear gloves and a mask, wet it with disinfectant and bag it, following CDC guidance.

A tarp is not a rodent barrier. If a roof opening was covered temporarily, the edges and the gaps may still allow entry. Once the roofer has finished, ask for a check of tile closure strips and flashing, and have us inspect the roofline for gaps that remain.

Permanent sealing uses stainless mesh, flashing and sealant that rodents cannot chew. That work is described on our exclusion and entry point sealing page. We recommend scheduling it before peak season where possible, or soon after any storm damage is repaired.

If you already hear noise or see droppings, rodent trapping and removal comes first. Sealing before trapping can lock animals inside, and that creates odor problems later.

• Roofline checked for tile gaps and loose soffits.
• Gable and soffit vents screened with metal mesh.
• Supplies stored in sealed bins, off the floor.
• Branches trimmed back from the roof before the storm.
• Fruit, trash and pet food cleared from the yard.
• Photographs taken of the exterior for your records.

Tape the list inside a cabinet door, and review it each June. It takes minutes and covers both storm readiness and rodent prevention.

If you leave for a storm or for the season, the house sits quiet. Rodents notice quiet. Before you go, empty and clean the refrigerator if power may fail, take food out of the pantry or seal it in tight containers, and remove trash. Leave nothing edible on counters.

When you return, walk the house before settling in. Look for droppings in cabinets and the garage, listen for noise in the attic and check the vehicles. Our vehicle and car rodent removal page covers engine bay nests in cars left idle.

The line is answered 24/7 through storm season, but during a major storm response times can slip. If you see signs after one, call early and describe what you found, and we will schedule the earliest slot that works.