A wet, windy weekend and five weeks of hurricane season left: a Sebastian house check

If your patio umbrella is still up, this might be the weekend to fold it. The National Weather Service expects a breezy, wet stretch for Indian River County, and Sebastian is right in it.

It is not a hurricane. But it is a handy dress rehearsal. Hurricane season does not end until Nov. 30, and this year's first hurricane, Isaias, did not reach hurricane strength until Oct. 7. That broke the record for the latest first hurricane of a season, by almost a month. So the season is not done just because it was quiet.

Why your swale is the star of the show

In Sebastian, rain from your roof and your street drains into the grassy ditch in front of your house, called a swale, and through the pipe under your driveway, called a culvert. The city says each homeowner is responsible for mowing and cleaning their own front yard swale and driveway culvert. A few homes with a side yard swale are responsible for that one too.

When a swale is full of grass clippings, palm fronds or sand, water has nowhere to go. It backs up toward the driveway, the garage and sometimes the front door. A steady 80% rain day is when you find out how well yours works.

The house check: before the rain and after it

1. Clear the swale and both ends of your driveway culvert. Pull out leaves, fronds and clippings. Do not blow grass into the swale or the street when you mow.
2. Clean gutters and point downspouts away from the house, so roof water heads for the swale and not the foundation.
3. Bring in or tie down anything that can fly in a 35 mph gust: patio furniture, umbrellas, trash cans, potted plants and kids' toys.
4. Walk the yard for dead palm fronds and loose branches over the roof, the car or the power line to your house. Stay away from power lines and leave those to FPL.
5. Take photos of your roof, windows and yard now. They help you spot any change after the weather passes.
6. After the rain, go look. Note where water stood and for how long. Water sitting in the swale for days, or a culvert that seems blocked or crushed, is worth reporting to the city.
7. Lagoon-front or low street? The city's flood page links to NOAA's real-time water level gage on the Indian River Lagoon at Wabasso, so you can watch levels when winds push water in.

Numbers to save in your phone

• City of Sebastian Citizens Request Line and storm information: 772-581-0111. It is not staffed around the clock; leave a message for a callback. Email: citizensrequest@cityofsebastian.org.
• Report a drainage or road problem online: the city's Report a Concern map, linked on cityofsebastian.org.
• Dumping or pollution going into a ditch or drain: Sebastian Code Enforcement, 772-388-4436.
• Sebastian Police non-emergency: 772-589-5233. Emergencies: 911.
• Power out: FPL at 1-800-468-8249 (1-800-4OUTAGE).
• Indian River County Emergency Services: 772-226-3900.
• Florida Emergency Information Line, turned on during emergencies: 800-342-3557.

Stay in the loop

The city posts storm updates on its Tropical Weather Information page and its Facebook page. You can also sign up for the city's Notify Me notices at cityofsebastian.org. For county emergency alerts by text, email or phone, Indian River County runs Alert Indian River, with information from the county Emergency Operations Center.

On the radio, WQCS 88.9 FM is on the city's list of local stations to tune to. On TV, Comcast channel 22 carries the City of Sebastian channel.

Want to talk to someone in person? Sebastian City Hall is at 1225 Main Street, open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., closed noon to 1 p.m.

A windy weekend is a small storm. Treat it like a free practice run, fix what it shows you, and you will head into the last weeks of the season a little more ready.