(NSF) – The six-month hurricane season officially begins June 1st, as the Florida Division of Emergency Management surpasses 450 days responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The hurricane season is projected to be above average for storms and got off to an early start as Tropical Storm Ana has already formed and dissipated.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration last week predicted a 60 percent chance of 13 to 20 named storms, with six to 10 reaching hurricane strength and three to five considered major hurricanes.
Kevin Guthrie is the Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
“We are expecting to have an active season again. But, one of the things you’ll hear a lot of emergency managers say over time is that it doesn’t matter if we have 20. It only matters if we have one. If that one is the one that hits you, you’ve got to be prepared for it.”
On Monday, President Joe Biden announced that $1 billion is being made available to states, territories, tribes and rural communities for what he said is typically the busiest time of the year for disasters in America: hurricane season in the South and East and fire season out West.
Last year, the Atlantic spun a record 30 named storms, with 14 hurricanes.
Guthrie also wants people to review their residential insurance policies, particularly because property values and costs of building materials have been on the rise while Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance tops out at $36,000.
(From The News Service of Florida)