Hurricane season runs June through November
The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30. Storm cleanup on a yard also includes ordinary wet, windy weather pushing silt, leaves and grit against the house.
Hurricane Gustav made landfall near Cocodrie on September 1, 2008; Baton Rouge's airport recorded a gust of 79 knots and 7.28 inches of rain. Hurricane Ida came ashore at Port Fourchon on August 29, 2021, and early on August 30 its center passed between Baton Rouge and Hammond. Hurricane Francine made landfall in Terrebonne Parish on September 11, 2024; a station at LSU's Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge measured sustained winds of 44 knots with a 48-knot gust.
A close storm pushes rain sideways across a yard, so the mud and grit end up against the lower walls and in the corners of the porch.
Mud splash, grit and leaves are a cleaning job
A storm scatters silt out of planting beds onto siding and spreads broken leaves and asphalt grit across the slab. On the walls, the lower band usually shows a brown or gray haze above the beds that was not there before. On concrete, flattened leaves leave their tannin outline where they sit wet.
| Where it shows | Common cleanup work |
|---|---|
| Lower siding, brick, planters, steps | Mud splash band |
| Walks and driveway corners | Loose grit |
| Patios and shaded concrete | Flattened leaves |
| Fascia and the top of the siding | Streaks from gutter overflow |
Storm damage is not cleaning
Washing is the step that follows the real repairs. If a storm has lifted shingles, cracked siding, bent gutters, pushed water inside the house, broken a window or taken a tree down on the roof, those belong to roofers, siding and window contractors, framers and arborists, and those calls come first.
A wash on top of damage is not a safe plan. Water on a wall that is already compromised can push through gaps that need to be sealed before anything else happens. A soffit that has pulled away or a window frame that is weeping is a trade's conversation ahead of the wash.
The sweep comes before the rinse
The City-Parish asks residents to clear debris with a broom instead of a hose, because hosing pushes debris into storm drains. Twigs, broken palm fronds, piles of leaves at the gutter mouth, chunks of pine straw at the garage, bits of mulch along the walk: those come up with a broom and go out with the yard waste, not into the street.
Washing a driveway after cleanup handles what is left on the slab once the sweep is done: silt bands, leaf outlines, grit near the garage. Washing a house handles the lower band on the walls and the brown haze on the brick.
Decks and fences after a storm
Wood decks and fences sit on hold until the structural question has been answered. A fence that has leaned or a deck board that has lifted is a carpentry call before a wash. If the boards are flat and the posts are plumb, a wash lifts the layer of flattened leaf debris and the grit a wet week pressed into the grain.