Hurricane season has just begun. In Leon County, that means everything from reviewing emergency plans to staying informed as forecasters outline what residents can expect this year.
While the Atlantic hurricane season is looking comparatively less busy than past seasons, it is still important to be aware of weather patterns and have preparations in place. That is the topic of today’s Speaking Of.
Host Gina Jordan sat down with Leon County Director of Emergency Management Kevin Peters and Leon County Director of Community Relations and Resilience Matt Cavell to discuss information residents should know.
“One of the things that we hear people say is, ‘I’m from Florida, I’ve lived here my whole life, I know hurricanes,’” Peters said as one of his main concerns for Leon County residents in any hurricane season. “That can be a little bit of a dangerous attitude because you have to treat every hurricane as different because every storm is going to be different.”
Peters and Cavell emphasized getting familiar with Leon County's emergency management resources and hotline as well as organizing hurricane plans, emergency kits (“go-bags)”, and building an offline reliance — taking steps such as printing your list of phone contacts and reviewing the disaster survival guide sent in the mail.
Speaking about the anticipated less active season, Florida Public Radio Emergency Network Meteorologist Megan Borowski reminds listeners that “seasonal forecasting does not give us insight into the potential track of storms, it just gives us a basic overview of totals compared to average.”
Click LISTEN above to hear the full conversation.
