Hurricane season prep urged by Tallahassee, Leon officials
With the hurricane season set to begin June 1, public officials from Leon County and the city of Tallahassee gathered together at the Public Safety Complex to urge residents to prepare for the upcoming season.
Huddled together in the media room of the complex, officials from departments across all levels of local government gathered with the "Billy the Bucket" mascot as they showed and spoke to residents what they should be packing in advance of storms and to have a safety plan in place.
"This year's forecast calls for an above average season ... comprehensive preparedness requires the whole community, the young and the old, to get involved to start preparing for hurricane season," Leon County Emergency Management Director Kevin Peters said.
The event was underscored by last year's slew of storms which tore through Leon County, such as Hurricanes Helene, Debby and Milton and even some that occurred prior to hurricane season such as the May 10 tornado outbreak and the "Bicentennial Storm," the effects of which still are being felt in the community.
"County and city officials encourage you to keep your essential emergency supplies in a five gallon bucket ... these buckets are waterproof, easy to grab and multi-purpose," Peters said.
One by one, officials placed items into the bucket while speaking about their importance for storm preparedness, three-day supply of medication, batteries, weather radio, important documents and more.
Among the several speakers was Mark Wool with the National Weather Service who provided the numbers for the upcoming season.
"I bring you a forecast that favors an above normal season, specifically, the numbers are 13 to 19 named storms, six to 10 of which will become hurricanes and three to five major hurricanes," Wool said. "I always like to reference the 1992 season, where there was only six named storms that whole year, can you imagine that, but the first one was named Andrew."
Hurricane Andrew struck South Florida with sustained winds of up to 175 miles per hour, killing 44, and the storm continued all the way to Louisiana where it caused more deaths and an estimated $1 billion in damages, according to the National Weather Service.
"I don't know how many of you recall that Helene was predicted to come directly at us," Wool continued. "Had that forecast that was out as recently as 12 hours before landfall held true, we'd still be recovering today."
Outside of the Public Safety Complex, preparations will continue as Leon County looks to hold community engagement events for residents and the 2025-2026 Survival Guide will start being sent out to households.
Officials shared several ways that residents can stay connected and receive alerts when storms do arrive:
Leonready.com
Leon County Citizens Connect mobile app
Residents can sign up for text alerts from the city at talgov.com/subscribe
Arianna Otero is the trending and breaking news reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact her via email at AOtero@tallahassee.com and follow her on X: @ari_v_otero.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Leon County braces for active hurricane season, urges prep
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