Hurricane Season Is Underway

Marylanders are strongly encouraged to be prepared.

 

 

 

 

 

Photo from The Weather Channel

 

 

Reisterstown, Md (KM) The National Weather Services is predicting a busier than normal hurricane season this year, but not  as active as 2020 which had 30 named storms.

Spokesman Ed McDonough with the Maryland Emergency Management Agency says while these storms mostly affect communities on the Atlantic Coast and the Lower Chesapeake Bay area, inland communities like Frederick County are not immune to hurricanes. “Now it is true that central and west central Maryland may not in the bull’s eye particularly for the storm surge that they might see down in Ocean City and the Lower Bay. But the reality is particularly around Maryland, inland flooding is the biggest danger.” he says.

McDonough says Frederick County was affected by Hurricane Agnes in 1972. “And that is still deadliest named storm on record to hit Maryland, even though it actually made landfill on the Gulf Coast and meandered up along the east side of the Appalachians and then basically slowed down with a lot of moisture over central Maryland and south central Pennsylvania and caused huge amounts of flooding,” he says.

One way to get ready, says McDonough, is to make sure you have an emergency kit with non-perishable food and bottled water. . “We want them to think about having a battery operated radio and some spare batteries,  a hand can opener  for some of those non-perishable foods they should have in there,” McDonough says.

Even though the effects of the pandemic are declining, McDonough says you should still stock your emergency kit with COVID-19-related supplies. “But if you wind up having to be sheltered with other people, you still, I think, are going to want to have some extra masks and some extra hand sanitizer around,” he says. “Yes, the effects of it are beginning to wane. But being thrown into a situation like that on short notice, I think it still beneficial  to have those COIVD-type supplies.”

Along with the emergency kit, McDonough says you should make arrangements to shelter if you must evacuate your home. “We always suggest that if it is possible, financially feasible, and you’re fortunate enough to be able to do that, if it’s going to be a longer type of shelter situation, you probably be more comfortable staying with relatives, or staying a motel if you can afford it,” he says.

For more information on hurricane preparedness, you can visit mema.maryland.gov or ready.gov. You can also go the FEMA, the National Weather Service and the American Red Cross websites.  .

Hurricane season is June 1st to November 30th.

 

 

By Kevin McManus