By Trimmel Gomes, Florida News Connection
As experts predict one of the busiest Atlantic hurricane seasons on record, they also recommend Florida residents and visitors prepare so they will stay safe.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts between 17 and 25 named storms this summer and fall, with eight to 13 achieving hurricane status. For context, an average Atlantic hurricane season produces 14 named storms, seven hurricanes, and three major hurricanes.
Edwin Everham, professor of marine and ecological sciences at Florida Gulf Coast University, studies hurricanes and said predictions and modeling have only been getting more accurate. He emphasized when there are recommendations to evacuate, people should.
"A higher number of storms, a higher number of named storms, a higher number of intense storms is just increasing the number of places that are going to have a bad year," Everham explained.
He added people have to be ready for the increased likelihood a community will be hit by a cyclonic storm. The six-month-long hurricane season begins June 1 and ends in November.
A Category 4 storm struck Lee County in 2022, with around 150 fatalities. Reflecting on Hurricane Ian, Everham got emotional recalling the morning after, when he saw someone in a hammock on his campus. Initially thinking they were in distress, he said they turned out to be part of an emergency response crew.
"'We're here to help.' And had to be 30 trucks in the garage's second and third floor, all staged by the state and federal government, staged by FEMA," Everham recounted. "They were, you know, power line guys; they were people to clear roads. I'm not sure what all of the expertise they had."
In recent years, climate change has led to more frequent and powerful storms, resulting in costly damage and hundreds of fatalities in the United States. Everham also urged vigilance about flooding, storm surges, and other water-related hazards from storms, as he said they can be just as catastrophic.
