If you've lived in the Pearland-Houston corridor for any length of time, you've sat through Harvey, Ike, Beryl, or one of their cousins. We were out for 96+ hours after Beryl restoring AC across South Houston. Most of the post-storm calls weren't from wind damage, they were from homeowners who turned the system back on too early or never disconnected power before the flooding hit.
Here's the playbook our techs follow with their own homes.
72 hours out: the prep window
Once a named storm is in the Gulf and on track for the upper Texas coast, you've got about three days. Use them.
Get a tune-up scheduled now (or at least a quick check)
Before the storm hits, you want to be running on a system you trust. The dispatch backlog after a hurricane is brutal, 2-3 weeks for non-emergency repair, and parts shortages stretch that. If you've been putting off a service call, do it now. We open extra storm-prep slots in the 72 hours before landfall when forecasts firm up.
Photograph the equipment
Walk around the outdoor condenser. Take photos of every side, the model and serial plate, and the disconnect box. If something happens, you'll need this for insurance.
Check your insurance
Standard homeowners covers wind damage to your AC. Flood damage requires separate flood insurance. Most outdoor condensers in Pearland are in the FEMA "shaded X" zone where flood is optional, and most homeowners don't have it. Knowing this shapes the next decisions.
24-48 hours out: physical prep
Outdoor unit (condenser)
- Clear debris around the unit. Patio furniture, plant pots, anything that could become a missile. We pulled chunks of fence panel out of condenser coils after Beryl.
- Trim back any vegetation that could fall on it. Branches, tall ornamentals, palm fronds.
- Don't cover the unit. A common mistake. AC condensers are designed to live outside in heavy weather. Tarps and covers trap moisture, hold debris against the coil, and can be ripped off by 80mph wind into your siding. The unit will be fine in the rain.
- Hurricane straps for surge zones. If you live close enough to the coast that storm surge is a real risk (Kemah, Seabrook, Bacliff), strap the condenser to the slab. We sell and install hurricane brackets, call ahead in storm season.
Indoor air handler / furnace
- Know where the disconnect is. Indoor systems have a service switch (usually an unlabeled wall switch by the unit) and a breaker. If your house floods, you want to kill power before water touches the equipment.
- Move stored items off the air handler closet floor. Boxes, holiday decorations, anything that could block the access panel during repair.
Ductwork in the attic
- If you have a roof leak history, watch the attic ducts. A roof leak that drips onto an exposed duct will dump water directly into your bedroom. Tarp the roof if you can do it safely before the storm.
The hour before: shut it down
Once winds are forecast above 60 mph or you're in the inundation zone:
- Turn the thermostat to OFF. Both heat and cool, fully off.
- Flip the outdoor disconnect to OFF. The pull-out box on the wall next to the condenser. Pull it out and set it inside the disconnect housing.
- Trip the AC breaker at the panel. Belt and suspenders.
The reason: power surges from utility-side switching during the storm are the #1 cause of post-storm equipment failure. A condenser that's powered down can't be surged. A condenser that's powered up while a transformer pops a few houses down can have its compressor and capacitor cooked.
"After Beryl, we ran 600+ service calls in two weeks. About 70% were homeowners who left the AC running through the storm. Their compressors were toast, surge damage. The customers who pulled the disconnect were almost all fine."
If your area floods
Storm surge or rising water around the condenser changes the equation. If water comes within a foot of the bottom of the unit, the condenser fan motor and compressor are at risk for water intrusion through the cabinet seams. After the water recedes:
- Do not turn it back on. Even if it looks fine.
- Call us. A flooded condenser needs to be opened, dried, components meggered (insulation tested), and only then reconnected. Sometimes it's salvageable, sometimes the compressor windings are shot. We'll tell you straight.
- Document everything for insurance. Photos before, during cleanup, after.
After the storm: bringing the system back online
Once power is restored to your neighborhood, before you flip the breaker:
- Walk the outside unit. Look for visible damage, debris in the coil fins, anything wedged in the fan blade area, water lines on the cabinet (high water marks).
- If anything looks wrong, leave it off and call us.
- If it looks clean, restore power in this order: breaker first, disconnect second, thermostat last. Set the thermostat 5° above current room temperature so it doesn't immediately demand cooling.
- Listen and watch for the first 5 minutes. Compressor should start smooth, fan should spin freely, no unusual sounds, no burning smells.
If you smell anything burning, hear grinding, or see any sparking, kill power immediately and call us.
Generators and HVAC
A common question: can my portable generator run my AC? Almost always no. A typical 3-ton AC needs 4500-7500 watts on startup (locked-rotor amps × 240V) and 3000-4000 running. Most portable generators top out at 5500-7500W and can't sustain the surge. You'd need a 10-12 kW generator minimum, and it should be a transfer-switch install, not extension cords.
Whole-home standby generators with proper transfer switches are the right answer for households who want AC during multi-day outages. We don't sell them, but we coordinate with electricians who do.
Bottom line
Storms are predictable. Storm prep takes about 30 minutes. Skipping it can cost you a $5,000-12,000 system replacement. Do the prep.
Storm season concerns? We do pre-storm checks, hurricane brackets for coastal homes, and post-storm assessments. 281-992-7866 or book a check.