Local meteorologists on hurricane season: ‘Start preparing immediately’
Hurricane season officially kicks off June 1 and while there’s no way to say for absolute certain what the next few months will bring, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center is forecasting “above-average” tropical activity in 2022, with conditions ripe for more than a dozen named storms and three to six major hurricanes.
With this in mind, several of Central Florida’s most well-known meteorologists have some advice for Central Floridians looking to get ahead of what looks to be a very busy hurricane season: Get prepared now.
WFTV Channel 9 chief meteorologist Tom Terry says one of the first things he does to prepare for hurricane season at his home is to make sure his generator is ready to go.
“I still have a generator that I bought in 2004 and it has required maintenance over the years as most generators do. So generally, I will take it out. Check everything out, fire it up, let it run,” Terry said, adding “I also like to check my trees because that’s something that we always tell people at home to do and I try to follow my own advice.”
Terry also encourages Central Floridians to start working on their hurricane kit.
“Go ahead and get some basics, including extra non-perishables or water, things like that,” he says. “As we know from the pandemic, things can go in short supply, people can swarm stores and buy every [thing] that there is. So I like to make sure that people have at least some basic stuff.”
And though some might think that it is too early to think seriously about hurricane preparedness, Terry says it’s important to get in front of any rapidly-intensifying storms.
“Michael in 2018 went from barely a tropical storm to a Cat 5 in under three days, which is extremely fast, which means we don’t have a lot of time. So that’s why I always try to get people to do some basic stuff early.”
Bryan Karrick, chief meteorologist at Spectrum News 13 Orlando also emphasizes that preparing needs to happen as soon as possible, saying Central Floridians “should start preparing immediately,” for this year’s storm season.
“We don’t want to be rushing to the stores [and] trying to gather items, especially with the supply chain issues. We don’t want to be doing this during a storm.
So we want to make sure we’re doing it now, well in advance. And even if we go through an entire season and have very little activity, all items that you have stored will come in handy for severe weather season or for a donation to one of the local shelters at the end of the season.”
While it can be scary to think about a major hurricane hitting Florida, Karrick says preparing early can help ease worried minds. “The first thing I always think and say and it’s just become our team motto [is] just don’t be scared. Don’t be scared, be prepared.”
Karrick also says it only takes one storm turning into a major hurricane to make all early preparation worth it.
“We could have a very active season and barely get scratched here in Florida, but it only takes one storm to create issues, so we want to be prepared for that one storm if and when it does occur.”
Central Floridians also need to remember that low-level storms can also pose a serious threat.
“We need to be prepared for what could be damaging wind or torrential rain and frequent lightning,” Karrick says.
Tony Mainolfi, chief meteorologist for WESH 2 echoed his colleagues about the importance of preparing early for an active hurricane season.
“For me, the biggest thing is educating the large amount of folks that seem to be moving here every year,” he said, adding “my philosophy is prepare for the worst and hope for the best [and] make sure that you have the hurricane plan ready.”
Mainolfi also says it is important not to put off until tomorrow what can be done today.
“A lot of times people say oh I’ll go check [a hurricane preparedness checklist] a little bit later on. They know it’s there and then they don’t check it until they’re in the cone [of a storm] and then they’re freaking out. And they’ve got so many things to do in a short period of time.”
According to Mainolfi, some have criticized him in the past for causing undue anxiety around the possibility of dangerous storms, but he wants to stress that he’s not trying to worry anyone.
“I’m not stressing people out,” he says. “I’m making sure that they get their plan going and are not waiting T minus 12 hours before something’s coming through.”