As residents in southeastern Louisiana, we're aware that June not only brings the sunny days and heat waves of a Louisiana summer but also marks the beginning of hurricane season. Folks from New Iberia to Morgan City avidly watch the Gulf and the Atlantic basin from June 1 through November 30 each year.
I remember being amazed at the thunderstorms, lightning, and falling trees from a category one hurricane as a child at my home in New Orleans. I thought it was a magical experience. However, as a parent, the threat of hurricane season brings much more of a heightened awareness for planning and preparation.
You need to openly discuss your plans for an evacuation route, what's the deciding factor if your family leaves or stays, and what supplies will you need if you decide to hunker down and stay home.
Being unprepared can mentally, emotionally, and financially, bring hardship to any family. That's why it's best to sit down with your family each year and review your family's hurricane preparedness plans.
 Image by George Clerk / Getty Images Signature |
Quick Tips and Questions to Review with Your Loved Ones
Normally we get several days of warnings to find out where storms could be headed. It's important to sit down and make a list now of things each member of your family may need if you have to leave town or are in a situation where there is no power for several days. Here's a quick list of things my family has discussed:
- Prescriptions and medications for every member
- Security for our pets including boarding options and food items they may need when they are with us
- Travel box with all of our important documents like birth certificates, insurance forms, family heirlooms or photos, and other private records
- Prepping a box for water, snacks, and other non-perishable items
- Plans for electronic devices, as well as phone chargers, extra batteries, and laptops
- Checking to make sure our generator is operational
- Plans for staying with family or hotels in designated areas if we evacuate
- Making sure our yard and items around the outside of the house are securely stored
- Checking in with other family members, including elderly parents or other members who may need our help
- Books, games, or toys that our kids want to make sure they don't lose
These are just a few things that come to mind each year for our family to discuss. Depending on the age of your kids, you can even assign small tasks for each member to be responsible for.
While you do not want to scare them, it's important to explain to your kids the importance of having a backpack ready to go with some clothes and a few personal items if the threat of an imminent storm heads to our area.
 Image by Meteorologist Adam Olivier News 15 / KADN / Lafayette |
I asked my friend, Meteorologist Adam Olivier to give our Macaroni KID New Iberia families some insights for the 2024 Hurricane Season. He happily gathered the information below for me to share with our families.
2024 Hurricane Season Insight by Meteorologist Adam Olivier
This hurricane season is expected to be one of the more active in recent times. Most forecasters see 20 or more storms forming through the end of the season - November 30. There are two main reasons for this above-average outlook: extremely warm water temperatures and La Niña.
 Image by Meteorologist Adam Olivier News 15 / KADN / Lafayette |
First, water temperatures have been, and continue to be, extremely warm. These are expected to only continue warming through the rest of the season. Warm waters are the main driving force of tropical cyclones, so any system that tries to develop will help plenty of energy to tap into.
 Image by Meteorologist Adam Olivier News 15 / KADN / Lafayette |  Image by Meteorologist Adam Olivier News 15 / KADN / Lafayette |
Second, La Niña, a cooling of the Pacific waters off the coast of South America, will lead to less wind shear that blows the cloud tops away from storms.
These two factors will likely lead to more tropical disturbances surviving the trek across the Atlantic and strengthening as they move westward. There is a real concern about in-close development and strengthening and rapid intensification (where a storm's winds increase 35 miles per hour or more within 24 hours). This will give us less time to prepare for any approaching storm system, so prepare now before any storms form later this season.
You can prepare by creating a hurricane preparedness kit for you and your pets. Things to include would be 1 gallon of water PER PERSON PER DAY, canned non-perishable foods, important documents, medications for both people and pets, flashlights and batteries, and cell phone chargers. Also, create an evacuation plan now of where you would go if a storm approached and know the evacuation routes you would take.
Here are the names for the storms this year:
 Image by Meteorologist Adam Olivier News 15 / KADN / Lafayette |
Make sure you stay tuned to trustworthy weather sources like the National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service, and News 15 to get updated information throughout hurricane season. You can also download the Storm Track 15 app for your iOS and Android devices to get the latest weather forecast.
