Hurricane Preparedness in the Golden Isles
A hurricane threatening the Golden Isles community can be scary and stressful. Natural disasters are occurring more and more frequently, and it’s essential to have the tools, resources, and information to ensure that your home and family stay safe (and sane!).
Hurricane Season
The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30 each year, with September typically being the most active month. During the Atlantic hurricane season, you can expect daily thunderstorms, generally occurring around 3 pm, and can be short-lived (also bringing welcome relief from the humidity). If you don’t yet have one, buy rain jackets for the family. We promise they’ll get used!
Lucky for us, hurricanes don’t develop quickly, such as tornadoes. Storms can be detected and tracked weeks in advance. Meteorologists can predict when and where the hurricane's cone (the assumed path the cyclone will take) will be days beforehand, giving you ample opportunity to make crucial decisions for you and your family. In the meantime, we recommend you follow and register with local and state outlets for weather-related information.
Hurricane supplies
It's best practice to keep a hurricane kit full of all the supplies you need to get you through hurricane season. In May, you should pull your kit out and ensure your batteries are working and you have what you need, so you're not out at the stores and waiting until the last minute (speaking from experience). Southern Living has a great article on what to keep in your hurricane kit. A few extras that we'd throw in include:
- Food - Add way more food and snacks than you think, especially if you have kids
- Battery-powered lantern
- Battery-powered fan (trust us on this, get at least one)
- Battery-powered candles - much safer than traditional candles if you have little ones around
- Portable power bank - get one with at least 10000mAh, and be sure to charge it fully before you lose power
- Cards and board games (for kids and adults)
- Manual hand-cranked can opener
- Weather radio
- Cash in case power is out and you can't use an ATM or your credit card
- Water and adult beverages - you're going to need both if you're cooped up in the heat with no AC
- Generators - We just went through Idalia and lost power for 24 hours. Even if you get a smaller one to hook up your refrigerator and freezer to, you'll be thankful you did. According to the CDC, you must throw out perishable food in your refrigerator (meat, fish, cut fruits and vegetables, eggs, milk, and leftovers) after 4 hours without power.
Sites and Pages to Follow for Hurricane-Related Information
CodeRED Emergency Alerts – Register to receive alerts from state and local agencies that deliver time-sensitive information specific to your county, such as evacuation orders.
Glynn County Emergency Management Agency – Includes information on hurricane preparedness and evacuation zones. Their Facebook page is also very resourceful during and after a hurricane, providing up-to-date information on island re-entries.
Glynn County Emergency Management Dashboard - Provides evacuation routes and centers, critical facilities, current weather forecasts, and power outage maps.
Georgia Power Updates – Outage alerts let you know when there’s an outage in the Golden Isles and when your power is expected to be restored. A great resource to have!
Brunswick - Glynn Joint Water & Sewer Commission Boil Water Advisories - Get alerted of a variety of situations including boil water advisories, emergency road closures, hazardous materials spills, and service outages.
Mikes Weather Page – If you step foot in coastal Southeast Georgia or Florida, chances are someone will share Mikes Weather Page with you. The page has been accredited by the CDC and FEMA, among other organizations, and was honored by Florida’s Governor DeSantis with the Tropical Meteorology Award. Along with a great sense of humor, Mike provides valuable information to over a million Facebook and Instagram followers regarding the Atlantic hurricane season without scare tactics or clickbait.
Things to Consider Should a Hurricane Threaten the Golden Isles
- Our coastal Georgia communities have been historically lucky to avoid a direct hurricane hit. In fact, before 2016, the last hurricane to require evacuations was in 1999.
- Unlike the movies, evacuations in the Golden Isles will not happen all at once. CodeRED Emergency Alerts will begin with voluntary evacuation orders and move into mandatory ones should there be a need. Mandatory evacuation orders will go by zones on the Glynn County Weather Evacuation Zone Map.
- You are not required to leave your home during a mandatory evacuation. However, should you stay, you forfeit your right to any emergency personnel, meaning that an ambulance is not required to come to your home if you’re struck by lightning or require emergency assistance.
Hurricane Preparedness For Your Home
- Measure and cut wood boards for your windows. Lowes or Home Depot will cut the wood to your specifications for a small fee. Boarding up your windows will protect them from trees and debris breaking the glass and exposing the interior of your home.
- Keep your essential documents in a weatherproof safe. If you don't have a secured and waterproof place to put important documents or photo albums, consider putting them in your dishwasher temporarily as they're watertight.
- Install surge protectors to protect your electrical devices from voltage spikes caused by lightning strikes. If you don’t have a surge protector, unplug your appliances before a storm hits.
- Turn off your main water valve.
- Secure outdoor items so they don't become projectiles.
- Fill your bathtub with water so you can still flush the toilet.
- Put water bottles in the freezer a day or two before the storm. They'll help keep your freezer cool and can also be used to line a cooler.
- Ensure there are no power strips on the floor or anywhere low enough you might get flooding.
- Learn how to manually open your garage door in case the power goes out.
- Take a home inventory. This is critical to post-storm recovery if your home or belongings are damaged. Snap photos of the contents within each room of your home.
Preparedness for Golden Isles Evacuation
- Things change, be prepared to go with the flow.
- If you reside on one of the coastal islands, you will likely lose power before Brunswick and the surrounding counties. If you are concerned with power outages, consider booking a hotel away from the coast, west of I95.
- Don’t be afraid to book a hotel, knowing you may cancel. During natural disasters, hotel chains waive their cancelation policies and allow flexibility within bookings. If you have young children, an elderly parent, or don’t want to wait out a power outage, be proactive and book a room!
- Take your pets. Hotels and rental properties often welcome family pets in a natural disaster.
- Don't assume that you will return overnight. Even if there is no flooding, local agencies will canvas the communities to ensure no downed power lines or trees that could be hazardous.
Preparedness for Returning to the Golden Isles After an Evacuation
- Like an evacuation order, you can return based on your zone.
Remember to stay calm and know that hurricanes have a mind of their own. Even with all of the technological advances in hurricane tracking, they can always make last-minute turns, so better to be over-prepared than under-prepared.
