CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — It's been a tough year for many of us, first the pandemic and then the major Texas freeze. Now, hurricane season is next.
"Texas has been hit eight times in June during hurricane season," 3News Chief Meteorologist Alan Holt said. "June is obviously the first month of the season and then it gets more active from there. So the best practice is to be prepared on, if not before, June first."
First on the list is insurance.
"You're going through this check list now to get all of your supplies together, it's probably also a good time to talk to your insurance agent to make sure you understand what all's in your policy and what all will be covered," Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the National Weather Service Melissa Huffman said.
Except for adding facemasks and hand sanitizer, most of the recommended items to pack away are the same as always.
"Enough food and water to last each member of your family 7 days, and I know that seems like a long time but as we've seen, even from the winter weather event that we came out of, lots of supply chain interruptions and so even though things may seem like they've gotten back to normal following a hurricane it can still take several days to weeks before we see a lot of these materials come back into your grocery store," Huffman said.
The list includes non-perishable food item and water, battery powered portable TV or radio, flashlights, first aid kits, toilet paper. feminine hygiene products, a can opener, cash, documents and even a paper map.
"Your cell phone might go down and what do we all do right now? We go to the cell phone and we put in the address and it takes us to our location. Get a map. Keep it there and keep it with you," Billy Delgado, Corpus Christi Emergency Management Coordinator said.
Remember food and water for pets and don't forget to touch base with anyone you may be counting on to stay with during an emergency.
3News will be giving away hurricane kits for the entire month of May. You can register for a kit here.
For the latest updates on coronavirus in the Coastal Bend, click here.
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