Setting up a container for storm season on the Mississippi Gulf Coast: lock, level, vent
Put it on the high side of the lot, level and blocked, load it heavy, lock it with a lock box, and vent it so what is inside stays dry. A loaded container is a better place for a generator, outboard, tools and paper than a carport, but it is not a shelter and it does not stop flood water, so where you set it matters more than anything you put in it.
What a container is, and is not, in a storm
Loaded and sitting level on firm ground, a 20ft container is a two-and-a-half-ton steel box that keeps wind-driven rain out. That makes it the right place for the generator, boat gear, tools, records and the contents of a ground-floor room you want out of harm's way.
It is not a shelter, and nobody should ride out a storm in one. It is also not flood-proof: the doors seal against rain, not standing water. If the yard floods, so does the box. Set it on the high side of the lot, and see are containers safe in a hurricane for the longer answer.
Load it, level it, lock it, vent it
An empty container in open wind can move; a loaded one does not. Load heavy items low and against the walls, level the box with a bottle jack and blocks so it sheds water and the doors keep sealing, and block the corners. Whether you must anchor it is your city's call. Gulfport, Biloxi and Long Beach each have their own rules, so ask the building department before you order.
After a storm, an unattended container is a target, which is why a lock box goes over the door handles. Screened vents keep stored gear from sweating through a humid September. A leak patch on the shelf handles the one seam that ever weeps. The plan set draws the stacking, the vents and the blocking.
Order before the season, not during it
Delivery typically takes 7–10 business days after payment in a normal week, and much longer the week a storm is named, when every truck on the Coast is spoken for. Order in June and load it in July.
For a restaurant, clinic or shop, the business storm locker is the same idea in a 40ft, with the generator by the doors. If you only need a box for a few weeks, read rent vs buy first.
The layout, drawn to the box
This is sheet 2 of the free Storm Box plan set: the 20ft standard container drawn from real ISO dimensions, with every shelf, rack and opening placed. Generator and heavy gear by the doors, totes two high on pallets, paper up top, blocked 16" on the high side of the lot. Not a shelter.
All seven sheets: Cover and package price · Floor plan · Long-wall elevation: stacking and vents · Cross section: blocking and anchors · Site, pad and leveling · Parts, cut list and tools · Build order and disclaimer. You buy locally: eight corner blocks, pallets, an extinguisher, moisture buckets, a fuel cabinet — roughly $150–$260.
See the Storm Box package — container and kit, delivered price by ZIP →
Buying a container?
Longleaf sells used and one-trip 20ft and 40ft shipping containers, delivered by tilt-bed across the Pine Belt. Enter your ZIP for the delivered price — it comes straight from the supplier feed and already includes the haul. Locks, vents, shelving and lights are on the accessories page. We sell; we do not rent.
Keep reading
- Using a shipping container as a feed room on a Mississippi cattle or poultry farm — How to set up a 20ft shipping container as a farm feed room in Mississippi: two vents, shelving, leveling on pasture, and keeping feed, minerals and meds dry.
- How to turn a shipping container into a hunting camp gear room in Mississippi — A shipping container as a hunting camp gear room in Mississippi: lock box, solar lights, shelving, a vent, a hook wall, and getting the truck up the camp road.
- A container tool crib vs a rented job-site box for a Hattiesburg contractor — Container tool crib vs a rented job box for Hattiesburg contractors: when buying wins, how to set up shelving and a pipe rack, and moving it to the next job.
- Storing a boat on its trailer in a 40ft container on the Gulf Coast: width, height, vent and moisture — Storing a boat in a 40ft shipping container on the Gulf Coast: door width and height limits, trailer and T-top clearance, salt air, moisture and storms.
- A storm locker for a Gulfport, Biloxi or Ocean Springs business: generator, pumps and records — How a Coast restaurant, clinic or shop can use a 40ft container as a storm locker: generator by the doors, records up high, blocked, vented, loaded in June.
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