The Atlantic hurricane season starts in June and goes through November, but the most active month is September. On average more major hurricanes hit Florida in September than in the other five months of hurricane season combined. Are you and your family ready? Being ready for hurricanes and other disasters is easy to do and can make the whole ordeal much less scary for you and your loved ones.
- Gathering Supplies
The first part of getting ready is gathering the materials you'll need to create an emergency kit. A basic emergency supply kit should be stored in a water proof container, be easy to access, and could include the following recommended items:
Water (one gallon per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation) Food (at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food)
- Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert
- Flashlight
- First aid kit
- Extra batteries
- Whistle
- Dust mask
- Plastic sheeting and duct tape
- Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties
- Wrench or pliers (to turn off utilities)
- Manual can opener
- Local maps
- Cell phone with chargers and a backup battery
- A list of important phone numbers, such as: power outage or downed power lines, natural gas emergencies, local emergency information, county emergency management, medical facilities, police department, fire rescue, local shelters, etc.
To get help with making or maintaining your emergency kit please visit the Ready.gov website.
- Plan Ahead
While it may be far too easy to wait until the last minute, taking a small amount of time to plan ahead for disasters can save you valuable time if/when it does strike. The Alachua County Emergency Management website has some great links for residents to help them prepare for disasters like tropical events, tornados, severe thunderstorms, cyberattacks, terrorism, and civil disturbances. It is more important than ever to make sure that you and your family are informed, prepared, and ready year-round for any type of event that could affect our area.
If your family includes children, remember that these situations are frightening for adults, and can be traumatic for children. Your family may have to leave home and change your daily routine. Be prepared to give your children guidance that will help reduce their fears. The Red Cross has a great section on their website about how to prepare and talk to your children before, during, and after a disaster. They have even developed a fun and education app just for kids called Monster Guard.
If your family includes members with disabilities it is important to consider individual circumstances and needs to effectively prepare for emergencies and disasters. Below are a few tips to help out these members of your family during this difficult and often scary time. The Alzheimer's Association has information and resources for caregivers, including their updated guide. For more ideas visit Ready.gov/Disability.
- Plan ahead for accessible transportation that you may need for evacuation or getting around during or after disaster.
- If you use medical equipment in your home that requires electricity, talk to your doctor or health care provider about what you may be able to do to keep it running during a power outage.
- An emergency can make it difficult to refill prescriptions or to find an open pharmacy. Organize and protect your prescriptions, over-the-counter drugs, and vitamins to prepare for an emergency.
- Wear medical alert tags or bracelets, and add pertinent medical information to your electronic devices.
- If you have a communication disability consider carrying printed cards or storing information on your devices to inform first responders and others how to communicate with you.
If you have pets, there are many other things to consider in your preparation.
- Stay Informed
There are several ways to stay informed before, during, and after a storm, such as: watching the news, downloading and checking weather related apps or websites, or listening to a weather radio. Weather Underground has a section of their website dedicated to just hurricanes. There you can track current storms from all over the world. AccuWeather is another good site dedicated to current and past storms. There you can see activity and maps for any storm this season. The Weather Channel's Hurricane Central has a large library of hurricane related videos and news articles. Each of these sites mentioned have apps you can download for your Android or Apple devices.
Alachua County residents can call 3-1-1 for shelter and storm information. They can also check out the Alachua County Emergency Management page for more preparedness tips, shelter information, and instruction on how to register for the emergency notification system Alert Alachua. This system enables the county to provide residents with critical information quickly in a variety of situations, such as severe weather, unexpected road closures, missing persons and evacuations of buildings or neighborhoods. You will receive time sensitive messages wherever you specify, such as your home, mobile or business phones, email address, text messages, and more.
- Hurricane Facts
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Hurricane Categories
Hurricanes are categorized by their wind speeds on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. The scale was first developed by Herb Saffir, a structural engineer, and Bob Simpson, a meteorologist.
Hurricanes are split into five categories based on the wind speeds they produce.
To be considered a “major” hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center, a storm must reach Category 3 or above.
A hurricane’s strength matters because it helps meteorologists give residents in its path an idea of what type of damage is possible.
Did you know?
The word "hurricane" comes from the Mayan god of wind Hurakan.
- Storms get a name when they display a rotating circular pattern and wind speeds reach 39 miles per hour.
- Each year there are only 21 regular hurricane names, names beginning with the letters Q, U, X, Y, and Z are not used. If more than 21 tropical storms or hurricanes are formed then the remaining storms are given names from the Greek alphabet, such as: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, etc.
- Atlantic hurricane and tropical storm name lists repeat every six years, unless one is so destructive and/or deadly that the committee votes to retire that name from future lists.
- This year's Atlantic names are Arlene, Bret, Cindy, Don, Emily, Franklin, Gert, Harold, Idalia, Jose, Katia, Lee, Margot, Nigel, Ophelia, Philippe, Rina, Sean, Tammy, Vince, and Whitney.
- During even numbered years, such as 2024, men's names are given to the odd numbered storms and during odd numbered years, such as 2023, men's names are given to even numbered storms.
- Typhoons are hurricanes that form in the Western Pacific Ocean, while Cyclones are hurricanes that form in the Indian Ocean.
- Due to the earth's rotation, hurricanes north of the equator spin counterclockwise while hurricanes south of the equator spin clockwise.
- Florida gets hit with about 40% of America’s hurricanes.
For an up close and fun look at this season's hurricanes make sure to stop by the Children's Department of the Headquarters Library. Their large Hurricane Tracker display shows where every hurricane from this season has been. Along with some fun and familiar characters just hanging out in the Atlantic Ocean.
Want to know more about hurricanes? Here are a few items in our collection that you can pick up at your local branch.
All About Hurricanes: Discovering Earth's Wildest Storms by Cody Crane
j551.552 CRA 2022
Conditions on Earth are becoming more and more extreme and kids want to learn about it! Is it true that hurricanes can be seen from space? Yes! Weather satellites track hurricanes. Pictures from these satellites tell us where a hurricane is going and how big and fast it is.
Little Cloud: The Science of a Hurricane by Johanna Wagstaffe
j551.552 WAG 2020
Follow our little cloud on an adventure through the sky and learn the science behind how it transforms from a simple cumulus cloud to a full-blown hurricane. Meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe weaves a comprehensive narrative about a powerful weather system that's so compelling readers won't even realize they are on their way to becoming budding meteorologists.
Soul of the Hurricane: The Perfect Storm and an Accidental Sailor by Nelson Simon
363.3492209 SIM 2021
It was October 1991, and the ship was Anne Kristine, the oldest continuously sailing vessel in the world. What awaited the crew was Hurricane Grace, the southern end of what came to be known as the “Perfect Storm.” Soul of the Hurricane tells an unlikely tale that begins with an unexpected invitation and ends in the dead of night somewhere far from home, with a Coast Guard helicopter above and a dark, angry sea below.
The Furious Sky: The Five-Hundred Year History of America's Hurricanes by Eric Jay Dolin
363.3492209 DOL 2020
Hurricanes menace North America from June through November every year, each as powerful as 10,000 nuclear bombs. These megastorms will likely become more intense as the planet continues to warm, yet we too often treat them as local disasters and TV spectacles, unaware of how far-ranging their impact can be. As best-selling historian Eric Jay Dolin contends, we must look to our nation’s past if we hope to comprehend the consequences of the hurricanes of the future.