A Conversation With National Hurricane Center Director Dr. Rick Knabb
MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Hurricane 2014: Are you prepared to survive the season?
Hurricane season starts Sunday June 1st so CBS4 Chief Meteorologist Craig Setzer recently sat down with the Director of the National Hurricane Center.
During their conversation, Dr. Rick Knabb shared his concerns about the upcoming hurricane season and his excitement about improved forecasting tools designed to keep us safer.
"There are some models being upgraded for this year, and based on running those new models, on past events, we have some indication that our models will be a little more accurate this year, including making a little progress on the model's ability to forecast intensity," Dr. Knabb explained. "We're not going to solve that problem this year, but we continue to make progress."
One of Dr. Knabb's big concerns is South Florida's heightened level of complacency, which is not surprising he said because it's been nine years since Hurricane Wilma.
On the flip side, the mere mention that a storm might be heading toward South Florida is enough to send many people into panic mode.
So how does Dr. Knabb deal with that?
"The key is to turn that anxiety into action, tangible things that you can do now to get ready for hurricane season. And that includes finding out if you have enough insurance to cover the contents in your home, and finding out if you live in an evacuation zone, and if so, if you're told to go, where would you go and how would you get there. Getting the right supplies, doing things to your house to make it stronger, all kinds of things you can do whenever you feel that pinge of anxiety, go do something tangible to make yourself more prepared."
Dr. Knabb also shared another crucial point.
"We are hurricane vulnerable, and no matter what your personal hurricane history is you need to fully realize that no matter what the season forecast says this year, that no matter what the past history has been that you have experienced, a devastating hurricane could hit South Florida this year, and you need to be ready this year and every year. No matter what."
You can also get help creating your emergency storm plan by downloading the CBS4 Hurricane Guide.
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