June 1 is the start of the Atlantic hurricane season.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is forecasting a stronger season than normal. NOAA says up to 20 named storms are likely this year. Three to five of those could be major hurricanes.
Deanne Criswell is the Administrator of FEMA. She said FEMA has added COVID-19 guidelines for states to follows as they prepare for this year’s season.
“It does address a lot of the lessons learned from last year, and best practices so they can better prepare their responses and do their planning with the COVID-19 implications in mind,” she said.
She also said inland areas also have potential to be severely affected by these storms.
“Climate change is increasing the amount of rainfall we’re seeing from these events, and that rainfall is going to have a tremendous impact on our communities that may not have thought they were vulnerable to hurricanes,” Criswell said.
NOAA is predicting a 60 percent chance of an above-normal hurricane season this year.