6 Milwaukee Tools To Keep On Hand During Seasonal Storms

With hurricane season well underway, it's a good idea to take stock of what tools you own to help in a disaster. Even more, it's better to do this before a storm hits, so you'll be well-prepared if and when the possibility of damaged trees and flooding does occur. If you find that your disaster preparation tool collection is limited, it may be time to consider investing in a power tool brand to help get you through any emergency.

Milwaukee has a range of tools to assist during a power outage, but intense storms need more than handheld flashlights. You'll need to consider tools that can help if a tree falls due to high wind or if you have a basement that could hold water from an excess of rain. That said, based on high ratings and positive reviews from users, here are six Milwaukee tools that would come in handy during seasonal storms like fall hurricanes and spring tornados. A more in-depth explanation of our methodology can be found at the bottom of the article.

Though it probably shouldn't be used for a basement flooded with feet of water, a transfer pump is a great way to help get the leftover water out so the drying process can begin. For $229, Milwaukee's M18 1/4 HP Transfer Pump is an impressive little gadget packed with a lot of power. 

Even with its smaller size, it is capable of moving up to 480 gallons of water per hour with an eight gallon-per-minute flow rate — though keep in mind that it solely depends on the battery attached to the tool. With an XC 5.0 battery pack, it can move 240 gallons. It can also generate up to 18 feet of lift from the water and 75 feet of head height to push it out, so it's designed to move water upstairs and out of your basement.

This transfer pump got a 4.6 out of five-star rating from 670 reviews at Home Depot. Of the written reviews, several indicated that it was a lifesaver when parts of their house flooded due to a storm. However, keep in mind that according to Milwaukee, this tool's ideal use is for clean water. Although, several review images show that people used it to move dirty water as well. It's probably a good idea to keep an eye on the machine, though, and properly clean it after heavy usage.

When the power goes out, it's smart to have a generator to keep your refrigerator and other important appliances running, but you may also want to have a smaller charger dedicated to your more delicate electronics, like laptops and phones. Milwaukee sells the portable M18 175-Watt Powered Compact Inverter for $99, which comes with one AC outlet, one USB-C port, and one USB-A port. It's small, but it's effective and won't interfere with the power needed for other important electronics.

Milwaukee doesn't indicate whether this device is a modified or pure sine wave inverter. However, in the questions and answers section on Home Depot's product information, some users indicated that they tested it, and though it's not fully clean, it is fairly close to still protecting your laptops and phones. In fact, with the 4.6 out of five-star rating from over 1,600 users, there are no indications in the written reviews that it negatively affected any electronics. It's also considered to be very easy to use. However, keep in mind that the battery life does depend on what you're charging or powering. You'll get more life charging phones than you would laptops or powering a TV.

Full chainsaws are widely used when doing after-storm cleanup, but they can get a bit heavy to lug around, especially if you're only knocking down smaller harder-to-reach tree limbs. If you're trying to build your Milwaukee outdoor equipment, the M18 FUEL 10 Inch Brushless Pole Saw With Attachment Capability can be a game changer because it's part of the company's Quik-Lok Attachment System. The pole saw set comes with the necessary coupler shaft plus the three foot attachment extension for extra reach. You can also invest in other attachments such as the string trimmer, edger, or rubber broom among other tools.

This pole saw has a 10-inch bar length which allows for a maximum cut diameter of eight inches. The pole length is 10 feet, but with the included extension, you can get a whole 13 feet of tool to work with on top of your height and arm length. It's not terribly heavy either, weighing 12.7 pounds. Additionally, it has a 4,600 RPM, can reach full throttle in under one second, and can deliver up to 150 cuts per charge. Milwaukee doesn't indicate what battery Ah correlates with that cut allowance, so do keep that in mind. This pole saw attachment system comes with a 4.6 out of five-star rating from over 2,100 consumers and can be purchased from Home Depot for $249.

Whether you need to dry a recently flooded floor, circulate air, or cool a room down, having a fan large enough to perform the job is key. Milwaukee sells several fans in its M18 battery lineup, but the largest, and according to Home Depot a best seller, is the M18 Brushless Hybrid 18 Inch Variable Speed Fan. It comes with a 4.4 out of five-star rating and is priced at $249.

This drum fan can be powered by either an 18V battery or a plug-in due to the AC port installed on the back for an extension — speaking of which, check the fan's manual to make sure you use the right extension cord. For battery life, using a 12.0 Ah battery, it has a five-hour runtime on high and a 23-hour runtime on low. Using a 5.0 Ah battery, runtime reaches two hours on high and nine hours on low. Air circulation can reach over 50 feet with a 13.5 MPH air speed, which is perfect for drying out a large room or creating airflow throughout multiple rooms in a home. It also has three speed settings and a 360 degree head rotation to manipulate the airflow direction. Even more, if you were to purchase multiple fans, they stack nicely on top of each other for storage. 

Milwaukee has an abundance of lights that can assist in the dark hours of the night, but during a massive power outage from a severe storm, you're going to want something bigger. Home Depot sells a two pack set that comes with the M18 Rocket Dual Power Tower Light with a M18 Flood Light Set for $250. This set gives you a larger lit space along with a smaller light to place where you need to see just a bit more. The kit comes with a four out of five-star rating from over 1,300 users.

The tower light pushes out 2500 lumens on high and can be powered by an 18V Milwaukee battery or an extension cord. It starts at four feet but can tower up to seven feet for even more light extension. If you're worried about stability, especially when dealing with debris or uneven terrain, the light has a lower center of gravity, which is convenient given its height. The flood light is a bit smaller with 1500 lumens, but it is a bit more mobile, so you'll be able to easily use it around the home.

A wet/dry vacuum can make all the difference when you have a bit of a leftover mess to clean up around the house, and essentially, it'll help save you from having to use all your towels to pick up the last bit of water. Costing $200 and coming with a 4.5 out of five-star rating from over 4,700 users, Milwaukee's M18 FUEL PACKOUT 2.5 Gallon Wet/Dry Vacuum is in the mid-size range for the tool company's collection of wet/dry vacuums — depending on your budgets and needs, you can opt to go as low as one gallon and as high as 12 gallons.

This vacuum has a 47 inch water lift, which is over double what Milwaukee's transfer pump offers, and it can pull both dry and wet debris. One downside, though, is that the sound power level is a bit loud at 87 dB, but that's usually something easy to cope with given the power behind the tool. It is also part of Milwaukee's innovative Packout modular storage system. Whether you're wheeling around the rolling toolbox or have a storage setup in your home garage, this vacuum can easily stack and unstack from any of Milwaukee's packout boxes for easy transport and convenient storage.

The products in this article were chosen based on two concepts: storm clean up necessities and user review and ratings. We picked power tools that we believed would come to good use after a big, torrential storm. Of course, there are others such as chainsaws and blowers, but we wanted to showcase ones that potentially could have been overlooked. The tools mentioned have ratings of at least four out of five stars from an appropriate amount of users. Additionally, they are all relatedly affordable being under $250.

Keep in mind that the prices listed in this article are based on tool-only products. This means you'd still need to invest in Milwaukee batteries, which contain a variety of ranges. However, even if you're just starting out, the popular tool company has several of the best tools for beginners, some of which would come in handy during an emergency like a storm aftermath.