The time to prepare for a hurricane is before the season begins, when you have the time and are not under pressure. If you wait until a hurricane is on your doorstep, the psychological research shows that you will be under duress and make the wrong decisions. Take the time now to truly think about, or even type up your hurricane plan. Know where you will ride out the storm and get your supplies now. As the rush of stores from COVID-19 reminded us, you do not want to be standing in long lines when a hurricane warning is issued, hoping to get supplies. Those supplies may be sold out by the time you reach the front of the line. Being prepared, before a hurricane threatens, makes you resilient to the hurricane impacts of wind and water. It will mean the difference between you being a hurricane victim or a hurricane survivor.

Taking all of the preparedness steps reviewed this week could make a stressful time a little less so. While it may seem elementary, typing up your plan will ensure you do not make mistakes when faced with an emergency—eliminating second-guessing. Document all of your possessions and valuables, taking pictures to support.  Gather your most important documents, like passports and medical records and stash them somewhere safe, that you can access quickly. Involve the entire family in planning and preparedness so that everyone is on the same page. Ready.gov provides a hurricane season preparedness digital toolkit that you and your family can follow, HERE.

Finally, remember this: you will hear pre-season forecasts every year that may call for above or below average activity. There is some skill to this and even scientific application. However, there currently is no ability to predict where those storms will develop or move, until they have formed. Much like a skipper may predict how many pitches the opposing pitcher may throw, there is no telling if they’ll hit the strike zone. That is why we need to be ready. It only takes one to make a bad season.

Throughout hurricane season, check in with the largest team of meteorologists in the Baton Rouge area. WBRZ Weather is with you on channel 2, digital channel 2.2, wbrz.com/weather, the WBRZ WX app., Facebook, Twitter and the WBRZ Cable Weather Channel. For the latest bulletins in the Capital City, please keep up with us on social media.

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