Local leaders encourage Floridians to begin making preparations ahead of start to hurricane season

With the official start of hurricane season just days away, officials across Florida are advising residents to make sure they’re prepared. “We are six days...

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With the official start of hurricane season just days away, officials across Florida are advising residents to make sure they’re prepared.

“We are six days away from the start of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season,” said Michael Brennan, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s director in Miami.

As the calendar turns to the start of summer, so does the beginning of the annual hurricane season. As experts predict a historic super El Niño, which would potentially supercharge the atmosphere, triggering intense weather around the world, officials say there’s no time to waste for residents to make sure they have everything they need in the event of a catastrophic storm in Florida.

“There are going to be storms and this is the time to get ready,” said Brennan.

“It just takes one,” said Florida Sen. Rick Scott.

Despite experts predicting up to 10 hurricanes in 2025, the season ultimately only produced five, with four of them becoming major storms.

Officials say that better-than-expected result from last year doesn’t mean it’s safe to forego any emergency preparedness this year.

“We were very, very lucky last year we didn’t any have hurricanes hit,” said Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia.

Republican state and federal leaders held events with local leaders for both Miami-Dade and Broward Counties urging South Floridians to not waste any time and start making essential preparations in the coming weeks while there’s no storm on track to come our way.

“The most dangerous part of the storm is that water, especially if you live in the eastern parts of the county, that storm surge, it only takes three feet of storm surge to kill you,” said Miami-Dade Department of Emergency Management Director Pete Gomez.

“Coordinate and work with your friends, your families and your neighbors to develop a plan,” said Broward Department of Emergency Management Director Clay Pacheco

Officials emphasized the importance for residents to know what they need to do in the event they need to evacuate their homes.

“Are you in a flood zone? Are you in an evacuation zone?” said Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie. “If you’re in a home that can withstand hurricane force winds and you’re not electrically dependent, you’re not dialysis dependent, you don’t have any medical issues, you’re not in an RV, you’re not in a manufactured home, you’re in an actual constructed home for the Florida building code and you’re outside the evacuation zone, you may not need to evacuate at all.”

It’s recommended to check your hurricane shutters or grab whatever you need now to secure your property if a storm hits. Even more critically, officials say it’s important for everyone to keep a supply of nonperishable food, water and medicine to last for about seven days.

“Make sure you have a plan for everyone in your household to include pets, buy your water now, buy your basic supplies now. Those are things that you can add to your shopping cart each and every week to just build up a small supply,” said Guthrie.

It’s also suggested for people to create digital copies of important documents at home in the event the originals ever become damaged by flooding.

WSVN will be sharing a special “Surviving a Storm” broadcast to help offer tips and suggestions for those looking to begin making preparations for the hurricane season. You can watch that special on Channel 7 at 7 p.m., May 29 and on ABC Miami 18 at 7:30 p.m.