Be ready for hurricane season. Today you can determine your personal hurricane risk, find out if you live in a hurricane evacuation zone, and review/update insurance policies. You can also make a list of items to replenish hurricane emergency supplies and start thinking about how you will prepare your home for the coming hurricane season. If you live in hurricane-prone areas, you are encouraged to complete these simple preparations before hurricane season begins on June 1.
The best time to prepare for a hurricane is before hurricane season begins on June 1. It is vital to understand your home’s vulnerability to storm surge, flooding, and wind. Here is your checklist of things to do BEFORE hurricane seasons begins.
- Know your zone: Do you live near the Gulf or Atlantic Coasts? Find out if you live in a hurricane evacuation area by contacting your local government/emergency management office or by checking the evacuation site website.
- Put Together an Emergency Kit: Put together a basic emergency. Check emergency equipment, such as flashlights, generators and storm shutters.
- Write or review your Family Emergency Plan: Before an emergency happens, sit down with your family or close friends and decide how you will get in contact with each other, where you will go, and what you will do in an emergency. Keep a copy of this plan in your emergency supplies kit or another safe place where you can access it in the event of a disaster. Start at the Ready.Gov emergency plan webpage.
- Review Your Insurance Policies: Review your insurance policies to ensure that you have adequate coverage for your home and personal property.
- Understand NWS forecast products, especially the meaning of NWS watches and warnings.
- Preparation tips for your home from the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes
- Preparation Tips for those with Chronic Illnesses
Whenever a tropical cyclone (a tropical depression, tropical storm, or hurricane) or a subtropical storm has formed in the Atlantic or eastern North Pacific, the NOAA National Hurricane Center (NHC) issues tropical cyclone advisory products at least every 6 hours at 5 am, 11 am, 5 pm, and 11 pm EDT. Similarly, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC) issues tropical cyclone advisory products for the central North Pacific at least every 6 hours at 5 am, 11 am, 5 pm, and 11 pm HST. When coastal tropical storm or hurricane watches or warnings are in effect, the NHC and CPHC issue Tropical Cyclone Public advisories every 3 hours. You can find these products on www.hurricanes.gov for the Atlantic and eastern North Pacific or www.weather.gov/cphc for the Central Pacific; on TV, radio, and cell phones; and NOAA Weather Radio. Information on NWS tropical cyclone watch, warning, advisory, and outlook products is detailed below. For more details on all NHC products, see the National Hurricane Center Product User’s Guide. Storm information and forecasts specific to your local area can be found from you local Weather Forecast Office (WFO) through www.weather.gov.
When a hurricane threatens your community, be prepared to evacuate if you live in a storm surge risk area. Allow enough time to pack and inform friends and family if you need to leave your home.
- Secure your home: Cover all of your home’s windows. Permanent storm shutters offer the best protection for windows. A second option is to board up windows with 5/8 inch exterior grade or marine plywood, built to fit, and ready to install. Buy supplies before the hurricane season rather than waiting for the pre-storm rush.
- Stayed tuned in: Check the websites of your local National Weather Service office and local government/emergency management office. Find out what type of emergencies could occur and how you should respond. Listen to NOAA Weather Radio or other radio or TV stations for the latest storm news.
- Follow instructions issued by local officials. Leave immediately if ordered!
- If NOT ordered to evacuate:
- Take refuge in a small interior room, closet, or hallway on the lowest level during the storm. Put as many walls between you and the outside as you can.
- Stay away from windows, skylights, and glass doors.
- If the eye of the storm passes over your area, there will be a short period of calm, but at the other side of the eye, the wind speed rapidly increases to hurricane force winds coming from the opposite direction.
Please help the NWS spread the word about Hurricane Preparedness Week (May 1-7, 2022) on social media! Everyone is welcome to use the text and images provided below to help the NWS build a Weather-Ready Nation.
- Hurricane Preparedness Week Kick-Off
- Sunday, May 1
- Monday, May 2
- Tuesday, May 3
- Wednesday, May 4
- Thursday, May 5
- Friday, May 6
- Saturday, May 7
