By: Trimmel Gomes
As experts predict one
of the busiest Atlantic hurricane seasons on record, they also recommended
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 second and third
floor of the garage, that were 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.
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