Are you ready for hurricane season? 

Well, here it is nearly the end of July already and we have so far been blessed with a quiet Atlantic hurricane season. However, as most good Floridians know, we are entering the more active part of hurricane season now. (And any new Floridians will quickly gain this knowledge!)

In June, we reminded you to start to get organized now. Think about water stocks and canned and easy to prepare food items. Make sure your keep any needed medications in good supply. Extra batteries and a good weather radio go along way to having peace of mind- and it’s always nice to not have to fight the crowds and panic that sets in prior to an impending storm.  Think ahead!

This month I would encourage you to include any “fur family” you may have in your storm preparations.  Make sure you have plenty of pet food and their medications on hand.  Is your pet micro-chipped? It is an awfully inexpensive way to make sure you can readily be reunited with your beloved pet if an unexpected separation were to occur. Have you located a shelter near you that would be pet friendly if you needed to move to a shelter? A bit of extra preparation now can ease anxiety if a storm should approach our area.

I would also like to pass on a weather page I have found very informative.  Mike’s weather page, on Facebook and the internet, is a wonderfully informative site during storm seasons. Mike has received numerous awards and recognition for his service to the Florida community in weather related events. He really enjoys watching the weather and sharing his knowledge. I include links below to his pages:

https://spaghettimodels.com/default.htm

https://www.facebook.com/mikesweatherpage

If you would like a call from the UCG Emergency Volunteer Phone Tree about any hurricane warnings issued for the Gainesville area, please email Shanna at shannas@ucgainesville.org so she can add your name to the list.