The best time to have started your preparation for hurricane season was weeks in advance of June. The second best time is right now.
Early forecasts say the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season will bring months of danger for millions of Americans, and the time to get ready for them is before the storms roll in.
Officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the most dangerous storms can intensify quickly and unexpectedly, so fully preparing households should be top-of-mind for residents well before storms start forming.
Here’s a one-stop guide to hurricane safety, including tips for preparing your home, making a hurricane readiness kit, making a first-aid kit, saving official help hotlines and even some tips for readying your pets before the storms.
Run through your emergency plan with your family to spot what needs updating
Now is the perfect time to run through your emergency plan with your family for a couple of reasons. First, it’s better to have an emergency plan ingrained in muscle memory rather than relying on actual memory.
Running through the plan will also bring up opportunities to update it. Did someone’s phone number change since last year? Do you need to include someone new in the plan? This will all come up naturally.
It’s also a good opportunity to make sure that external details like evacuation routes, shelters and evacuation zones haven’t changed since last year.
What should I have in a hurricane supplies kit?
A hurricane supplies kit should consist of everything you and your family need to survive for several days in the case of an emergency. It tends to consist of everyday household basics like food, water, first aid kits, batteries, flashlights and anything else needed to get by.
Create an inventory of your hurricane supplies, and if you have a kit leftover from last year, make sure you double-check what you have. For the items already in your kit, ensure nothing is damaged, expired or in need of replacing. Ensure that batteries and flashlights are still working, and start making a list of anything you might need to add this year.
Common supplies emergency officials and forecasters said you should have in your emergency kit include:
Here are a few sites offering disaster supply checklists:
Take care of your pets during a hurricane
Crafting preparedness kits to keep our homes and families safe is one thing, but what about our pets? How can we make sure they’re included in plans, and, if we have to evacuate, that they can be taken to safety as well?
Here are some tips.
It might be difficult, if not impossible, to find shelter for your animals in the midst of a disaster, so plan ahead.
Prepare survival kit for your pet for hurricane season:
A first-aid kit should prepared before hurricane season. Here’s what to pack.
Stores will be mobbed just before a storm and closed for days after. Keep a two-week supply of prescription drugs. Your first-aid kit should include:
Follow these water and ice tips when getting ready for hurricane season
Access to clean water is paramount to weathering a storm, but water lines could be compromised or impacted by hurricanes. Here are some tips to ensure you have clean water, and what you should know as you prepare.
Prepare the house before hurricane season starts
Florida emergency phone numbers and websites
Have these phone numbers and websites saved:
For more Florida hotlines in your specific county, go here.
Contributing: Brandon Girod/Pensacola News Journal, Kimberly Miller/ Palm Beach Post, Cheryl McCloud / Treasure Coast Newspapers, Doyle Rice and George Petras and Jennifer Borresen/ USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Hurricane season has started. Here’s a guide to prepare for storms
Reporting by Hana Khalyleh, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Treasure Coast Newspapers
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
