The 2024 Hurricane Season is fast approaching – and the forecast is predicting an active one.
“We prepare for the next storm. And whether there's one storm or 20 storms, we're preparing for whatever comes our way next,” said Ben Abes, the Lee County Public Safety Director.
For Abes, part of preparing means having a plan. Every 4 years, the county updates its Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan, and that process is happening right now.
“There's a lot of inputs into that plan that didn't exist before [Hurricane] Ian," Abes explained. "So now we're able to take that information and improve the plan so that [it’s] better for the future."
In the wake of the storm that claimed dozens of lives in Lee County alone, county leaders were scrutinized that evacuation orders came too late and didn’t follow their own plan.
The current version uses a storm surge matrix. It indicates the need to evacuate a certain zone but does not address the timing or when to do so.
That’s about to change with the new plan.
“There will be changes to that section that address the timing. And how we communicate that timing,” Abes explained. “It may be the way we communicate that that evacuation is coming. Or that we intend to announce evacuation orders at some point. But there is going to be new guidance on how we get to that decision to evacuate – what the timing is like – and how we communicate."
The county has already gotten feedback from the state on the plan. It will bring the final version to the board of commissioners this summer.
Abes urges people to prepare for hurricane season in three main ways:
- Have an emergency plan and an emergency kit
- Know your home – and your evacuation zone
- Be ready if an evacuation is called for
The county has created an
All Hazards Guide
to help people prepare for this hurricane season.