Bring your patio furniture inside! Items could become projectiles during a tropical storm

That’s the motto of longtime insurance adjuster Walter Nata who’s worked nearly every major hurricane or tornado for four decades. With Isaias bearing down on the Carolinas, ABC11 caught up with Nata to check out the kind of everyday things in the front and backyards that could become trouble in severe weather.

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“I’ll go back to Hurricane Fran,” Nata said. “‘OK we’re just going to have a little 70 mph wind.’ I’ve seen flying trash cans break windows. I’ve seen people’s clothes lines break windows the wind blows the poles out of the ground. I’ve seen that happen.”

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Deck furniture, hoses, toys, flower pots, garbage and recycling cans, even sports equipment could be picked up by the wind and launched into a window. That can all be brought into the garage. If you’re tying them down, be sure to attach the item to something that is unwittingly secure.

Inside the house, Nata encourages residents to take an inventory of all items you want covered by insurance if they’re damaged or destroyed, including photos, art, furniture, books, appliances and electronics

“Anything you would want your insurance company to pay you for should be documented somewhere. When adjuster comes to your house, what you can show him goes a lot further than what you tell him.”