U-Haul is offering 30 days of free self-storage and U-Box container use to residents in the path of Isaias, a Gulf storm that was a tropical storm with 65 mph winds on Wednesday and is forecast to become a hurricane by Thursday morning. The company announced the offer on October 7 for 93 of its stores in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi, according to its release distributed by Business Wire.
The free month applies to new self-storage and U-Box rentals and depends on availability. The release gives no start or end date for the promotion, and it names no U-Haul spokesperson.
Anyone in those four states who wants to use the offer has to go to a U-Haul-owned and operated facility in one of the listed cities or call the nearest regional office to arrange the storage. A store that is out of space cannot honor the offer. For people living along the coast between New Orleans and Jacksonville, the practical question is which of six regional offices covers their city and whether it still has room.
The National Hurricane Center re-issues Isaias’s wind forecast with every new advisory, and the 65 mph reading it gave Wednesday is expected to climb to hurricane strength by Thursday morning.
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Six regional offices and the cities they cover
U-Haul lists the offer by regional company, each with its own number. Cities in the release are:
- U-Haul Co. of Central Alabama, 16 stores, (205) 979-3013: Auburn, Birmingham, Dothan, Enterprise, Montgomery, Pelham, Prattville and Vestavia Hills.
- U-Haul Co. of Northern Alabama, 17 stores, (256) 217-9696: Birmingham, Cottondale, Decatur, Florence, Fultondale, Gadsden, Guntersville, Huntsville, Madison, Oxford and Tuscaloosa.
- U-Haul Co. of Southern Alabama, 17 stores, (800) 633-6819: Elberta, Mobile and Robertsdale in Alabama, plus Fort Walton Beach, Milton, Panama City, Panama City Beach and Pensacola in Florida.
- U-Haul Co. of Tallahassee, 15 stores, (866) 723-3056: Jacksonville, Lake City, Middleburg, Orange Park and Tallahassee.
- U-Haul Co. of Southern Louisiana, 16 stores, (504) 245-1282: Gretna, Hammond, Harvey, Houma, Kenner, Marrero, Metairie, New Orleans and Slidell.
- U-Haul Co. of Mississippi, 12 stores, (601) 352-2602: Biloxi, Gulfport, Hattiesburg, Jackson, Meridian, Pascagoula, Pearl and Tupelo.
The store counts add up to the 93 locations in the announcement. The release says U-Box storage is kept on site at participating facilities, and delivery is available for a modest fee. It does not state the fee.
What the storm is forecast to do
The National Hurricane Center’s Advisory No. 5, issued at 4 p.m. CDT on October 7, put Isaias at 22.7 degrees north, 92.9 degrees west, about 225 miles west-northwest of Progreso, Mexico, moving east-northeast at 8 mph. The center expects it to pass north of the Yucatan on Thursday and come ashore on the northern Gulf Coast late Friday or early Saturday.
A hurricane watch covers Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, to Indian Pass, Florida, and a storm surge watch runs from the mouth of the Mississippi River to Yankeetown, Florida. The advisory’s surge forecast, if the peak coincides with high tide, is 5 to 7 feet from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, to Indian Pass, and the same range for Mobile Bay. The central Gulf Coast, from southeastern Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, could see 3 to 7 inches of rain from Friday through the weekend, with local totals up to 10 inches.
U-Haul’s own description is that Isaias could reach Category 2 and bring coastal cities winds over 100 mph beginning Friday, along with heavy rain in Alabama and Mississippi.
Florida’s state of emergency
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Executive Order 26-202 on October 6, declaring a state of emergency in 25 counties, among them Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Bay, Leon and Wakulla. The order was issued while the system was still Tropical Depression Nine. The state began staging generators, fuel, boxed water, sandbags and flood barriers in Tallahassee and the Santa Rosa area. DeSantis said Floridians “should take this time to get disaster plans in place and ensure their hurricane supply kit is stocked.”
Using the storage offer before landfall
The decision comes down to timing and terms. The offer is for new rentals and subject to availability, so the first call is to the regional number for the city in question, asking whether a unit or U-Box is open and when the free 30 days begin and end. The release does not say what happens on day 31, which makes the end-of-term price worth confirming in writing at the counter.
The storm forecast gives a rough clock. With landfall expected late Friday or early Saturday, stores in the hurricane watch area from Bay St. Louis to Indian Pass have the least time before conditions deteriorate, and the surge forecast for that stretch is the highest in the advisory. Tropical storm watches cover the coast on either side of that stretch, from the Jefferson/Plaquemines Parish line to west of Bay St. Louis and from east of Indian Pass to the Aucilla River.
For the storm itself, the best source is the National Hurricane Center advisory, which is replaced as conditions change. The U-Haul release is the only source for the storage terms.
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This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by The Financial Wire’s editorial team.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
