JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – With hurricane season beginning Sunday, Florida will have a nine-day hurricane preparedness sales tax holiday starting Saturday.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday to 11:59 p.m. June 8, qualifying items related to preparing for hurricanes will be exempt from sales tax. Hurricane season starts June 1 and goes through Nov. 30.
"You never know when a hurricane is going to come," said Ora Brown, a department supervisor at the Home Depot. "Everybody thinks since Jacksonville hasn't been hit since the '60s that we're safe. That's not good. Don't get comfortable."
MORE: Complete list of tax exempt hurricane items
Cruising through the hardware department could save your life, grabbing things like tie-down kits to secure loose furniture or items in your yard, a first aid kit, power generators, coolers to keep food cold, a fuel tank, reusable ice, a tarp or other type of waterproofing material, and batteries.
Home Depot employees also suggest getting a two-way radio, and Brown warns using tape on windows is a fool's errand — it doesn't work.
"The myth is that when the window busts, the tape will hold it together, and that's not true," Brown said. "Unless it's tempered glass, it's going to break, and it's going to lose shards."