In 2011, Jeff and Kathey Rumley rode out Hurricane Irene in their newly built home on the Pamlico River. The water had never risen high enough to be concerned, they were assured by those who’d ridden out plenty of past storms.

By mid-hurricane, those assurances didn’t hold up to 2 feet of water inundating the garage and entertainment room and their many belongings buffeted by waves freely rolling through the ground floor of their home.

“We pretty quickly realized that we weren’t prepared,” Kathey Rumley said.

That changed after Irene. Now the couple has a plan to put into action as soon as a storm looks like it’s headed in their direction. The Rumleys had platforms built in the first-story garage so belongings sit on anchored surfaces 2 feet above the floor. First-floor patio and entertainment room furniture is moved to the second story; those pieces too big to move are wrapped in plastic to keep the water out. Anything outside the home that can be moved by wind or water is either tied down or moved indoors. The lawn is mowed to keep debris floated into the first floor by floodwaters to a minimum and a round of “hurricane cleaning” commences: the dishwasher is run, clothes are washed, the house straightened up—anything one would do to essentially prepare for a party, just in case it takes days or weeks to repair interrupted electrical and water services.

“Worst case scenario, you get to start clean,” Kathey Rumley laughed.

On the Rumleys’ plan, the first things to go are the boats. The last things, when the track of the storm is clear, are the cars.

“You have to get them out of here, because you can’t leave them here — the whole neighborhood floods,” Jeff Rumley said.

But not all homeowners are as diligent about their preparation, according to John Pack, Beaufort County Emergency Management director.

“If you were ask to me, the biggest thing for outside stuff, for house stuff, is making sure anything that can be blown away or floated away is secured,” Pack said. “If you leave an unsecured trash can outside, and the wind picks it up, and it goes through your neighbor’s windshield, even though it’s an act of God, it’s your trash can. You are responsible.”

As Hurricane Matthew began to pose a threat to the East Coast on Tuesday, Emmett and Ollie Olsen were helping their grandmother, Val MacEwan, do exactly that — clearing the yard of anything that could be picked up by hurricane-force wind at her Brown Street home.

“A lot of people don’t think about things like birdfeeders, but that’s exactly the kind of thing that can become a projectile,” MacEwan said.

At Summerhaven, where an equal amount of houses are permanent homes and summer homes, owners who haven’t experienced a hurricane aren’t necessarily aware of how their lack of preparation can impact their neighbors, according to the Rumleys.

“The problem is that many people that live here, don’t live here fulltime, so they’re not here to put things away,” Kathey Rumley said.

Everything outside needs to be viewed a potential projectile, whether that projectile is floated or tossed in the air, according to Pack. Pack referred to metal carports that hadn’t been staked down doing major damage to the vehicles they were supposed to be protecting during Hurricane Irene.

“We saw quite a few of those that were not secure enough,” Pack said.

But it’s not just metal carports that should be tied down, bird baths laid on their sides and boat lifts tied to surrounding pilings to keep them from swinging wildly in the wind that homeowners need to be paying attention to — there are some outdoor items that, if pried loose by wind or water, can be extremely dangerous.

Jeff Rumley said that during Hurricane Irene, he and Kathey found a neighbor’s propane tank being battered against the steps of their second-story porch by the waves. It’s a situation that was all too common during that hurricane, according to Pack.

“Propane tanks can be a missile in the water. They can be an explosion in the water,” Pack said. “Securing them prevents them from becoming a missile or a problem for firefighters and rescuers when they’re going out there and trying to help people.”

Pack said anyone evacuating a home should not only make sure aboveground tanks are secured, but turn off the valves for propane tanks, water and natural gas before they leave the house — during Irene, houses washed off their foundations were the source of major water loss for the county, as water flowed freely from those homes’ broken pipes, according to Pack.

“If you’re evacuating, turn off those things you don’t need. Unplug all appliances, so when the electricity comes back on, there’s not a surge going through them,” he said.

Preparing for a hurricane is a lot of work — work that must be tackled well in advance of a hurricane for the safety of homeowners, neighbors and personal property. Though all that preparation may seem pointless when a storm takes another path, it’s better to have property and life safe than sorry, according to the Rumleys.

“It’s one day out of 365,” Jeff Rumley said.

“It’s really the price you pay to live here — to have this beauty,” Kathey Rumley said, referring to the sun reflecting off the flat expanse of the Pamlico River. “It’s ugly when a hurricane comes, but it’s imperative that you do the work beforehand.”