As of June 1, hurricane season has arrived and the time to prepare is now.
City of Boca Raton Communication & Marketing manager, Annie Marie Connolly said that the City encourages people to start to prepare as hurricane season begins.
“The City is taking appropriate measures that include putting procedures in place for its Emergency Operations Center, coordinating safety protocols for emergency staff, and staying in close communication with other agencies to ensure necessary resources are available to be deployed to our area if needed,” Connolly said. “We are asking our residents to do the same and put necessary plans in place to protect yourself, your property, and your family.”
Some ways that the City of Boca Raton advises include:
- As always, be sure to inspect your residential roofing system if it needs roof repairs or roof replacement, trim your trees and clean out your garages, carports, and storage areas throughout June. Here’s a link to a website of a company that offers roof restorations. We all must be proactive in cleaning out our homes and properties, so we don’t overwhelm our sanitation systems. And when disposing of household debris and even COVID-19 related items such as gloves and masks, please be as considerate and sanitary as possible and place your garbage in tight, closed bags to help keep our sanitation crews safe. If you live in a flood-prone area, make sure that you have the contact information of a water damage restoration company in case your property gets flooded.
- If you live in an evacuation zone, on the barrier island, or in low-lying areas, it’s never too early to discuss plans regarding possible evacuations
- The Florida Department of Emergency Management recommends having 5-7 days worth of food supplies ready.
- Stock up on hurricane supplies and take advantage of the hurricane sales tax-free holiday week which will run May 28 – June 6.
- Organize your important papers and documents, test generators, and plan on what you’ll need if you’re without power for a week or longer. If your generators are not working, call services that provide generator installation in Oklahoma City, OK.
- Stay connected with the City before, during and after the storm by visiting MyBoca.us and learn how you can receive information from the City.
- Boca Raton is one of the only cities that operates a citizen’s information center where phones are answered by staff and volunteers throughout the storm: 561-982-4900.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, the average hurricane season has been updated. NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, used the last 30 years to update the Atlantic average to be 14 named storms and 7 hurricanes. The only average that remains the same is 3 major hurricanes.
Before the average was 12 named storms and six hurricanes.
“As always, the City highly encourages all employees to be prepared before hurricane season begins,” the City of Boca Raton statement read. “These next six months may continue to be challenging given the continued presence of COVID-19 in our area.”
Running until June 6, Florida’s disaster preparedness sales tax holiday is here.
Originally the sales tax holiday was scheduled to run for 7 days. Now, it has been expanded to last 10 days by the Florida legislature and signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The holiday exempts certain items from sales tax including self-powered light sources, reusable ice packs, gasoline, and generators.
For more information, visit https://www.myboca.us/1106/Hurricane-Information.