Hurricane Season is Upon Us

Hurricane season hasn’t officially started, but Hurricane Amanda is already churning in the Pacific off of Mexico. 

Ever wonder how hurricanes get named? The World Meteorological Organization is responsible for naming hurricanes noting distinctive names are quicker and less subject to error than the older, more cumbersome latitude-longitude identification methods.

This week, it’s appropriate to start thinking about the June 1 start of hurricane season because it’s National Hurricane Awareness Week. And Gov. Haley has declared next week as South Carolina Hurricane Awareness Week. Among other activities, the SC Emergency Management Division (@SCEMD) will engage in a statewide disaster exercise on Tuesday. Plus the state hurricane guide will be released on Sunday.

We, in South Carolina, know how important disaster preparedness should be in every city’s planning process. We also know that disaster preparedness means more than just know evacuation routes. Cities and towns must have a full IT disaster recovery plan to make sure technology resources can quickly be back up and running after a hurricane. 

When a disaster strikes, cities that are members of the Association’s property and liability insurance program, the SC Municipal Insurance and Risk Financing Fund, have access to an online disaster recovery planning program. This program gets needed resources into place quickly after a disaster and, perhaps more importantly, assists members with the often-neglected process of pre-planning.

In a training session for city communications staff last December, Derrec Becker with the SCEMD gave a presentation on the role the agency plays in a state emergency. 

Becker has long been a popular speaker with municipal leaders, and he will be presenting a breakout session t the Annual Meeting on the topic of disaster planning. As well, Becker will be speaking at the June 19 communications training workshop that will look at how cities responded to the winter storm disaster this year.

Take a look at all the disaster preparedness resources available from the Municipal Association here. 

Tweet #hurricaneprep to share FEMA's hurricane preparedness video and inland flooding video.