Being Prepared During Hurricane Season

Though hurricane season officially starts on June 1, we start to see more activity in the Virgin Islands right about now.

5 Tips to Prepare Your Home for a Hurricane

1. Stock your home with provisions, especially water, non-perishable food, and important medications. Drinking water is important, but keep in mind that if power is out, you may also want water for household tasks, like cleaning and flushing the toilet!
2. Check your inventory of flashlights, batteries, candles, and matches. Rooms become very dark once those hurricane shutters are up!
3. Store any outdoor items that aren’t attached to the ground. This includes potted plants, patio furniture, pool accessories, grills, etc.
4. Fuel your generator and your vehicle. Restoring power to homes across the island can be a slow process.
5. Check your gutters, downspouts and cistern overflow to make sure everything is flowing properly. Trim brush that could blow into your home.

Thank you to GoToStCroix.com for sharing this useful guide from NOAA and the National Weather Center.

If you’re new to island, my best advice is to watch others around you. If a local or seasoned St. Croix resident starts prepping their home, follow their lead. You’ll hear folks start to talk about a storm about a week before it’s due in the Caribbean. Day-by-day you’ll get a better sense of its path.

Interesting Facts About Hurricane Names

As I was considering this blog post, I came across some interesting facts about hurricane names on geology.com, for instance:

• For each year there is an alphabetical list of 21 names. Q, U, X, Y and Z are omitted.
• The names alternate between men’s and women’s names.
• Names can be repeated after six years.
• Names of especially severe storms are permanently retired from use. Hugo was retired in 1989.
• In the early days of naming hurricanes, people living in the Caribbean Islands named storms after the saint of the day from the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar for the day on which the hurricane occurred such as “Hurricane San Felipe.”
• Here’s the line-up for the next six years:

Names used for Atlantic Tropical Storms
2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Arlene	Alberto	Andrea	Arthur	Ana	Alex
Bret	Beryl	Barry	Bertha	Bill	Bonnie
Cindy	Chris	Chantal	Cristobal	Claudette	Colin
Don	Debby	Dorian	Dolly	Danny	Danielle
Emily	Ernesto	Erin	Edouard	Elsa	Earl
Franklin	Florence	Fernand	Fay	Fred	Fiona
Gert	Gordon	Gabrielle	Gonzalo	Grace	Gaston
Harvey	Helene	Humberto	Hanna	Henri	Hermine
Irma	Isaac	Imelda	Isaias	Ida	Ian
Jose	Joyce	Jerry	Josephine	Julian	Julia
Katia	Kirk	Karen	Kyle	Kate	Karl
Lee	Leslie	Lorenzo	Laura	Larry	Lisa
Maria	Michael	Melissa	Marco	Mindy	Martin
Nate	Nadine	Nestor	Nana	Nicholas	Nicole
Ophelia	Oscar	Olga	Omar	Odette	Owen
Philippe	Patty	Pablo	Paulette	Peter	Paula
Rina	Rafael	Rebekah	Rene	Rose	Richard
Sean	Sara	Sebastien	Sally	Sam	Shary
Tammy	Tony	Tanya	Teddy	Teresa	Tobias
Vince	Valerie	Van	Vicky	Victor	Virginie
Whitney	William	Wendy	Wilfred	Wanda	Walter