National Hurricane Preparedness Week starts, locals offer their best hurricane advice

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - Sunday kicked off National Hurricane Preparedness Week.

Hurricane season doesn’t officially start until June 1st, but it’s critical to have ample time to prepare in the event a disaster strikes.

FOX10 News spoke to several locals who say they are well-accustomed to preparing for hurricanes, but it takes careful preparation.

“Get as much bottled water as you can and board up your windows. Get canned food. Anything that will last you over the storm,” said Sierra Levins.

No matter your age, if you’ve lived on the Gulf Coast long enough, you’ve likely experienced a hurricane or tropical storm.

”It was kinda scary, we were indoors and all you could hear was thunder and it felt like you were gonna die,” said someone.

“I have some advice,” said Christopher Snow. “Get a generator and gas because it gets really hot. The last one that came through here... we were without power for over a week. So a lot of gas and a generator if you don’t care about being hot. Because it gets really hot and muggy.”

“Mosquitoes are really bad out here so when you’re without power- you have to open up your windows and things like that so you get bit up my mosquitoes. Buy lots of bugspray,” added Levins.

“Get you some flashlights, batteries, candles, canned food and stuff, because you’re gonna need that stuff when the power goes out,” said another.

The National Weather Service in Mobile says they’re well-aware that new residents might not know what to do in a hurricane

“It’s really important- especially preparing before the season and getting things in order. Things like if you do have to evacuate to have a contact with somebody so they’d know where you’d go, just medical supplies and stocking up in general,” said Don Shepard.

“Board up windows, have hurricane shutters,” he added. “Just the basic supply kit with necessities you’d need everyday- several gallons of water, per person, per day. A big one is medication, a lot of times you want to get that refilled.”

“Do a review with your agent each year to make sure your insurance is in order because if we really get a healthy storm- there will be a big need for that,” stated Shepard.

Last year, hurricane season was fairly quiet on the Gulf Coast, but Shepard urges folks to stay alert.

“Regardless of whether it’s a busy year or not, even if it’s a slightly below normal year, it only takes one storm to make it a bad year for you. Be prepared on the chance you do get a storm,” he concluded.

Be sure to keep an eye out for more hurricane preparedness tips throughout the upcoming week.

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