Being informed is good, but well informed is better
On Facebook and Whatsapp groups, we exchange screenshots of brightly colored and alarming graphics, without context. This can be very anxiety-inducing, even though local authority sites provide precise information and clear recommendations. Other internet pages allow everyone to assess the risks. These are the links that we recommend you visit to know what to do, not to read anything, to listen to anyone, not to panic, but to act.
1. Florida County Emergency Plans
Counties – “ counties » – where you live, inform you locally, in particular of the measures to take, such as the ultimate measure: evacuation. But be careful, read carefully, because even an evacuation may only concern certain types of homes that are particularly fragile in the face of strong winds. You will also find various local information such as the location and availability of shelters and sandbag distribution sites.
To find the information provided by your county, you can go to FloridaDisaster.org, and consult the County Emergency Management page (https://www.floridadisaster.org/planprepare/counties/).
2. The National Hurricane Center website
This is THE site you need to look at to understand and measure Florida’s wind and rain risks from tropical storms and hurricanes. The nuance between the two is important, in particular because of the speed of the winds. And you don’t have to be a meteorologist to understand.
It is very important when you consult their graphs to carefully read the information below, the legends, which tell you probabilities, wind speeds and rain levels. The colors are bright to be visible, but the captions may be more reassuring.
Finally, the notion of “cone” must also be put into perspective. “Am I in the cone?” » – passage of the hurricane. You should know that hurricanes that pass through Florida, or part of Florida, are approximately the size of Florida. So the disturbances can be larger than the cone and we can feel the effects of a hurricane several hundred kilometers from its path.
This is the National Hurricane Center website (https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/). “Select” your hurricane and consult the different graphs. Those who do this are the best informed.
An easy to remember shortcut: hurricanes point gov (https://hurricanes.gov).
Also see the section “How to read the forecast map from the National Hurricane Center bulletins?” from our article “Preparing for hurricane season”.
3. Mike’s page, the Florida Weatherman
Mike Boylana Floridian from the Tampa area, created this site in 2004. He has since become a storm chaser and maintains the website and a video update every day during hurricane season. This site is particularly useful when the path of a hurricane is difficult to predict. Mike takes the information from the National Hurricane Center, obviously, with extra spaghetti, you will understand by visiting his site: SpaghettiModels.com
Finally you can visit the Consulate websitehowever, it will very quickly show you other links, American, which are the sources of good information. The information being by definition alive in relation to the developments of a hurricane, the Consulate cannot translate all the information, from all the counties, from all the schools… But the links are there. Here is their website: Miami.ConsulFrance.org
We wish you good information and above all, as they say here: “ Stay Safe ! »
The links
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