When you live in the southeast, there is a fact of life that is nearly unavoidable. YOu are probably going to have to deal with a hurricane at some time in your life. I have lived through many hurricanes, and fortunately for me, none of them have been direct hits by super large storms. Even small storms, though, can wreak havoc with your life. If it is a small storm that doesn’t completely demolish your town, it is still very likely that you will lose power for a time. That means your food will likely spoil, you will not have lights on, and worst of all, the air conditioning will not work! Some people have portable generators, lucky them, but most generators do not offer enough power to run your air conditioner. You can probably turn on some box fans, and maybe even the ceiling fan, but usually not the air conditioner. Not only that, it is highly possible that the storm will also result in your needing to service your HVAC system. If a hurricane is coming and you decide to evacuate, it is important to turn your central heating and cooling system off. The reason is that you might come back to a broken a/c if you don’t! What often happens is that the power will produce power surges – a lot of power surges – before it comes back on fully. If your a/c turns on and off many times in quick succession, it might break down. Keep this in mind and don’t forget to turn your a/c off before you leave. It is best to use the HVAC circuit breaker rather than just the off switch on the thermostat, too.