The "Heart" Of Hurricane Season Is On Its Way
TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami) – The first few months of hurricane season have swept by and for the most part things have been pretty calm.
But emergency officials are urging everyone not to be complacent because the heart of the season is just around the corner.
Hurricane season runs from June 1 and continues through November 30th.
The federal government's top emergency manager, Craig Fugate and director of the Division of Emergency Management Bryan Koon held a news conference Wednesday to remind Floridians that the most substantial time of the hurricane season is approaching. Major storms get their fuel from warm water, which heat up in late August and September.
With Fugate's background knowledge as Florida's top emergency manager in 2004 and 2005, when seven hurricanes forced their way into the state, he fears people won't prepare accordingly this year because Florida hasn't seen a hurricane since 2005.
Fugate and Koon also warned people to focus less on the category of the storm because it doesn't determine how much damage it could cause. Damaging storm surge and flooding can come from any storm category.
"Don't focus on the number, focus on the impacts,'' said Fugate.
The News Service of Florida has contributed to this report.
