Storm Season and Your Golf Cart: Before, During, and After a Hurricane in Winter Haven

September 23, 2026

Two of the past four hurricane seasons have put real weather through Polk County, and both left a trail of golf cart calls that could have been avoided with fifteen minutes of preparation. The short version: charge the cart to full, unplug the charger from the wall before the power goes out, and after the storm do not charge a pack that took on water until it has been inspected. The long version explains why each step matters, using what actually happened here.

What the last two storms did

Hurricane Ian, September 2022. Ian made landfall on Florida’s southwest coast, but its rainfall reached far inland. The National Hurricane Center’s report on the storm names Polk County among the counties north of Ian’s track, along with Charlotte, Sarasota, Hardee, DeSoto, and Manatee, that experienced significant flooding when the Peace River, along with the Myakka River, Alafia River, and Horse Creek, crested to record levels. Winter Haven sits at the headwaters of the Peace River, which is exactly the kind of geography that turns a coastal landfall into an inland flooding event days later.

Hurricane Milton, October 2024. Milton crossed the Florida peninsula and, per the National Hurricane Center’s report, produced a significant tornado outbreak across the southern and central peninsula on October 9, with 45 known tornadoes on land, including three EF-3s. At Winter Haven’s own Gilbert Field airport (station KGIF), the report records a minimum sea-level pressure of 976.3 millibars, a maximum sustained surface wind of 49 knots with a gust to 76 knots, and 4.60 inches of total rainfall. Nearby, Lakeland’s airport recorded 13.13 inches of rain and Bartow’s airport logged a 42-knot sustained wind with a 58-knot gust.

Both storms produced a similar pattern of cart damage locally: chargers that were plugged in when the power came back and took the surge, packs that sat dead through a multi-day outage, and, on lots close to open water, storm water reaching battery compartments.

Where the risk is

Winter Haven’s geography spreads the risk differently than a purely coastal town.

The Peace River headwaters and the Chain of Lakes. Winter Haven’s 50 lakes and its position at the start of the Peace River mean sustained, heavy rainfall from a storm like Ian shows up as river and lake-level rise more than storm surge, since the city sits well inland from the coast. Carts kept in low-lying spots near a lake or canal are the ones at risk of standing water reaching the battery bay.

Everywhere else. For most of Winter Haven and the surrounding towns, wind and the power outage are the bigger threats, and the power outage is what kills chargers.

Before the storm

Charge to full. A fully charged pack is the cart’s own reserve through an outage, and on a flooded pack a full charge is the best state to sit in. Do this as soon as a storm is in the forecast, not the night before, because the outage may come early.
Top the water. A full pack that sits for a few days in a hot, closed garage is fine; a dry one is not.
Unplug the charger from the wall. This is the step owners skip most. When utility power returns after an outage it often comes back with a surge, and a charger plugged in through that surge is one of the most common storm-season failures we see. A dead charger is $300 to $800; unplugging is free. The charger repair page has the rest.
On a lake-adjacent lot, move the cart to higher ground. Into the garage on the high side of the house, or a neighbor’s garage further from the water, if the address is genuinely low-lying.
Set the parking brake and chock it. Wind moves light vehicles.
If the cart is how you get to a golf course, clubhouse, or fitness center inside a gated community, know its range. A cart with a tired pack is not a reliable way to get around if roads are blocked or power is out. If range has been shrinking, read the range dropping page before you need it.

During the outage

Leave the cart alone. Do not plug the charger in the moment the lights flicker on; wait until power has been stable for a while. If you must drive the cart during the outage, short trips, and remember there is no way to recharge until power is back. Storm-affected streets hide debris, and a golf cart’s brakes and steering were built for a golf course, not a washed-out road.

After the storm

If the cart stayed dry: plug the charger back in once power is stable and watch it start normally. If it does nothing, does not click off, or the pack starts to smell of sulfur, unplug it and read the rotten egg smell page; a surge-damaged charger can lose its shutoff and overcharge.

If water reached the cart: do not charge it. Standing water in a battery compartment shorts across terminals, gets into the cells if the caps were off, and corrodes every connection it touches. Charging a pack in that state is a fire risk. Rinse the compartment and the underside with fresh water as soon as you safely can, let it dry, and have the pack, cables, solenoid, controller, and brakes inspected before power goes to any of it. Sometimes the pack survives and the cart needs cables and a terminal service. Sometimes the honest number is a new pack and a controller. You will get the readings either way.

If the cart sat dead through a long outage: a pack that went into the storm full and simply self-discharged usually comes back. A pack that went in at half charge and sat through a hot, closed garage for several days may have sulfated. The sat all summer page covers the recovery attempt and the load test that decides it.

The two-minute version, on the fridge

Charge full. Unplug the charger. On a low, lake-adjacent lot, move it. After: dry cart, plug in once power is stable; wet cart, do not charge, rinse, call. Every price on this site is on the pricing page, and ahead of forecast weather we prioritize charger and battery calls, because a charged cart matters most when the power is out.