Family 2min Read

Don’t Get Caught in a Whirlwind – Prepare Now for Hurricanes!

It only takes one bad storm to cause serious damage. One hurricane sounds like a calm hurricane season in the Atlantic, but one hurricane is enough to cause major devastation. One storm can obliterate hundreds of homes. One storm can displace thousands of families. One storm can reshape our Florida landscape. When you think about it like that, one storm is something to worry about. That is why you have to prepare now for hurricanes.

Hurricane season is June 1 through November 30. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts 13 – 19 named storms and a very active 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season. All it takes is one hurricane to cause widespread devastation.

It just takes one

Hurricane Andrew hit during a below-normal hurricane season. This Hurricane had winds of 165mph and caused about $25-26.5 billion in damages in Florida alone, along with 44 hurricane-related deaths in Florida. In Dade County, over 160,000 residents became homeless. The County Grand Jury released this statement, “The lack of adequate preparation by our community and our state was obvious. Even more obvious was the total lack of coordination among the various disaster relief agencies after the hurricane had passed. No one was in charge. No one knew what to do. There was no plan. As a result, a large segment of our community that had been reduced to a ‘third world’ existence remained that way.” The biggest disappointment was the lack of hurricane preparation.

Family matters

One thing my family did was create a disaster plan. We had a family meeting and discussed what to do if a hurricane were to hit. We designated a “safe room,” my parents’ walk-in closet in the middle of the house, with no windows. We gathered supplies, stocked up on water, and made plans for evacuating with our cat if needed. This preparation came in handy during the 2004 hurricanes. I was only 14, but remember it to this day. When Hurricane Charley was headed for Florida (before making a last minute turn for the Carolinas) we decided to evacuate; it’s better to be safe than sorry. We packed quickly as the major threat approached. We waited in traffic for hours and hours. When we finally arrived in South Carolina, all of the pet-friendly hotels were booked. Lucky for us, someone invited us to stay in a church. The church opened its doors to our cat and us and gave us a room of our own. Although we had family meetings and were prepared, it was still stressful and chaotic when the storm approached. If we hadn’t been prepared, it would have taken a lot longer to leave, and we could have been stuck on the road or in harm’s way when the storm hit.

Learn more about hurricane preparedness here.