Florida officials warn residents as peak hurricane season begins

In Brief:

🌪️ Peak Season Alert: 93% of hurricanes make landfall between Aug. 15 and Oct. 15.
📦 Prep Now: Officials urged Floridians to build supply kits, plan evacuations, and protect insurance claims.
🐕 Don’t Forget Pets: New pet-friendly shelters mean families can include animals in their evacuation plans.

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DEFUNIAK SPRINGS — State and local leaders warned Friday that Floridians must prepare now as the most active stretch of the 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season began on Aug. 15.

During a press conference in DeFuniak Springs on Friday, Florida Sen. Ashley Moody stated that 93% of hurricanes make landfall between August and October 15.

“Over the past decade, nine out of the 10 [Category] 5 hurricanes formed during peak hurricane season,” Moody said. “If you were waiting to get prepared, … now is when the activity ramps up.”

Moody urged residents to take advantage of tax exemptions on supplies and reminded newly minted Florida residents of the risk.

“The best time to get ready for a potential storm strike is well ahead of any storm being out there,” Moody said.

Walton County Sheriff Michael Adkinson Jr. said readiness is a personal responsibility.

“Hope is not a strategy, and luck is not a plan. You simply must put the preparation in advance for what you’re doing,” he said. “Nothing about us here in the government … relieves you of your own personal responsibility to take care of yourself.”

Rep. Jimmy Patronis echoed the call for preparation.

“It’s not if, it’s when a hurricane is going to hit the state of Florida,” Patronis said. “You’ve got to run from the water, okay? And you’ve got to hide from the wind. The storm surge is … where you’re going to have the greatest loss of life.”

Patronis advised documenting homes for insurance claims and warned against signing contracts after storms.

“There’s not a single insurance claim that requires you to sign anything. Your insurance company will send you money without signing a single document,” Patronis added.

He also reminded residents to plan for pets.

“I don’t know if we would evacuate if we couldn’t have a place to take the dog,” Patronis said, praising new pet-friendly shelters.

Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden outlined the Florida Sheriffs Association’s disaster role.

“Our team is like every other county. … Our primary mission is cutting trees,” he said. “The only way to get to people and to get them … when the storm’s over is to be able to cut through and get through.”

Walton County Emergency Management Director Jeffery Goldberg urged residents to follow three steps: make a plan, build a disaster kit, and sign up for alerts.

“When you evacuate, we want you to evacuate tens of miles, not hundreds of miles,” Goldberg said. “Our disaster recovery workforce is the people that live in this county … and that’s how we’re going to rebuild better than we were pre-storm.”

Goldberg also noted that a free ‘build-a-bucket’ event is being held on September 13 in Hammock Bay, where guests will have the ability to prepare their hurricane supply kits together.

Moody closed by urging Floridians not to delay.

“[Friday] is the first day of peak hurricane season… Make a plan and get a supply kit right now,” Moody said