Experts are predicting four major hurricanes for this Atlantic hurricane season, which began on June 1 and ends on November 30.
At a recent meeting of the Barnstable County Board of Regional Commissioners, the county’s emergency preparedness director, Chip Reilly, encouraged people to plan ahead for an emergency.
“Having a plan; having supplies at home; keeping informed of what's happening around you; communicating with your friends, family and other loved ones,” Reilly said. “All of these play into what you can do to be a little more personally prepared.”
Being prepared to help yourself and your loved ones is important because local public safety agencies can get overwhelmed quickly in big storms, he explained.
Reilly also defined a term used to talk about emergency preparedness.
“YOYO72—you're on your own for 72 hours,” he said. “If you can prepare for that, you're not depending on fire, police to support you, it'll help us get through the crisis a little bit quicker.”
Reilly recommended introducing yourself to your neighbors, as you may need to help each other out in the event of an emergency.
He also recommended ready.gov, a government website that provides instructions on how to prepare for emergencies like hurricanes, and Woods Hole Sea Grant’s Homeowner’s Handbook.
Reilly went over predictions made by Colorado State University's hurricane research team.
“They're expecting 17 named storms, nine hurricanes, and four Category 3 or major hurricanes,” he said. “This is system-wide, but we like to remind everyone, it only takes one.”
