Hurricane season begins June 1 and extends through November 30, as we saw with Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee, coastal storms can severely impact the City of Philadelphia.
Take the time now during National Hurricane Preparedness Week (May 27 - June 2) to get ready:
- Familiarize yourself with the terms that are used to identify hurricane threats.
- Hurricane Watch: Issued when there is a threat of hurricane conditions in 24 to 36 hours.
- Hurricane Warning: Issued when dangerously high water and rough seas are expected in 24 hours or less.
- Develop a Household Emergency Plan and give copies to everyone in your household.
- Know your evacuation route and where you will go if you need to evacuate.
- Have a Go Bag of emergency supplies in case you need to evacuate.
- For those times when it's safe to stay home, have a Shelter-in-Place Kit.
- Keep a Health Information Card in your wallet with any medical conditions, allergies, medications and dosages.
- Keep all trees and shrubs well trimmed to reduce wind debris.
- If you have a car, always keep the tank at least half full in case you need to evacuate.
- Find Out First with ReadyNotifyPA, the region's emergency text and email alert system. To sign up, click the link, text PHILA to 411911 or scan this code: (The text messages are free but your wireless provider may charge for text messaging.)
Hurricanes can also cause severe flooding. For information on flood insurance and preparedness visit the Flood Preparedness page.
