What to do? Hurricane/Tropical Storm IG pool Prep?

[ashtonbritney]

Hi All!
I am in Charlotte, NC and the storm is tracking our way. As you know, I am a complete newbie to pool ownership for the last 3 weeks. What should I do to prep for the storm with the pool? Do I put the pool cover on? Do I do anything special with the pump/filter? How low should I drain the water? Any help/comments are always appreciated!

18x36
30,000
IG
Vinyl Linear
Sand Filter

 

[jblizzle]

See the announcement at the top of the forum page. It has a link to this:
Hurricane Florence prep tips

 

[SuzfromTexas]

Ashtonbritney, I don't know about your pool cover. I don't have a cover so I didn't have that option during Hurricane Harvey. Hopefully someone will come along who can help.

Thinking out loud - a cover would help keep debris out of the pool. I don't see a cover keeping water out of the pool. And a cover is at risk from damage by trees falling, etc.

Stay safe! Sending prayers and thinking about all of you.
Suz

 

[ashtonbritney]

Thank you for the kind thoughts. Taking the best precautions we can except I couldnt find a generator anywhere. When we bought this property a couple of weeks ago I thought about getting a generator or backup generator installed but wasnt expecting a hurricane so soon. We live in the outskirts and have a co-op for power and also have well water. This will be interesting

 

[ctrav]

Wishing the best for you and all the others effected!

 

[ashtonbritney]

Thanks everyone! So should I put the pool cover on or leave it off? We secured everything around it. The pool came with a pool cover and spring loop locs(the cover is a little brittle but works). The cover would help with debris and tree limbs (we are surrounded by giant oaks and trees) but then I wont be able to see the water level. We are expected to get anywhere from 4-12" of rain. What would you do? Cover to help protect liner or leave it off?

 

[HiddenRiver]

Thanks everyone! So should I put the pool cover on or leave it off? We secured everything around it. The pool came with a pool cover and spring loop locs(the cover is a little brittle but works). The cover would help with debris and tree limbs (we are surrounded by giant oaks and trees) but then I wont be able to see the water level. We are expected to get anywhere from 4-12" of rain. What would you do? Cover to help protect liner or leave it off?

I would read the link provided since I think it will answer your questions. Also if you can find threads about peoples pools from the Texas hurricanes last year to see what happened to them. If you are in a low area near a floodplain or water body and able to lower the water level (didn’t see if you have a vinyl pool or not) this would provide some water volume storage if you lose power and cannot pump water from the pool. Praying for you ashtonbritney and all Carolinians and Virginians!!

 

[ashtonbritney]

Thanks, I read all of the info from the link multiple times and did some searching but really didnt find much about if you should put the pool cover on or not...interesting

 

[duraleigh]

No perfect answer.

Wind will get under a cover and possibly remove it or rip it. It will not get under the liner. So does that mean you take off the cover and your pool fills with blowing debris? I don't know.

 

[ashtonbritney]

I don't know with the amount of trees I decided to put the cover on. Now just to secure everything else...

 

[SuzfromTexas]

Thanks for keeping us posted. It looks like you have things well in hand!

Be safe and good luck! Let us know how you're doing when you get a chance.

 

[ashtonbritney]

All is good from Flo. Putting the pool cover saved me a few times. Large branches and more debris than expected. Winds weren't to bad but we had just under 11" of rain at our house. I drained the pool just below the skimmer and had to drain once more during a down poor. Now, same thing cant be said for my driveway.

 

[HiddenRiver]

All is good from Flo. Putting the pool cover saved me a few times. Large branches and more debris than expected. Winds weren't to bad but we had just under 11" of rain at our house. I drained the pool just below the skimmer and had to drain once more during a down poor. Now, same thing cant be said for my driveway. View attachment 86613

Great to hear your instinct was correct about putting the cover on. Thankfully there were not heavy winds. It took some guts to go out in the middle of a storm/downpour to release water! So glad the storm and damage is mostly over but for some, I guess the clean up and devastation is just beginning.