What States are Most Prepared for Hurricane Season?

This year is projected to be a very active Atlantic hurricane season, according to forecasters at Colorado State University (CSU) in its first outlook for the 2024 season. Due to a warmer-than-normal tropical Atlantic, CSU’s tropical meteorology project team expects a well above-average probability for major hurricanes making landfall along the continental United States coastline and in the Caribbean. The CSU team forecasted 23 storms, 11 of which will become hurricanes and five of which will reach Category 3 status or stronger.

The Weather Channel reports these numbers are well above the 30-year average total for both hurricanes and storms. Additionally, this is the greatest number of hurricanes and storms the CSU team has predicted in any April hurricane season outlook since 1996. In 2023, the Atlantic experienced 20 stores, seven hurricanes and three Category 3-plus hurricanes. Last year, though, the continental U.S. only experience the direct impact of one hurricane, Idalia. Thorough preparations should be made every season, regardless of predicted activity, the CSU team said.

Many states that rank high for being ready to withstand a hurricane in 2024 have also experienced devastating storm damage previously, PropertyCasualty360 reported. Published every three years, the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety’s Rating the States report evaluates the 18 states along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts based on residential building code adoption, enforcement, training, education, and contractor licensing. The top five states for hurricane preparedness include Virginia, Florida, South Carolina, New Jersey, and Louisiana. Delaware, Alabama, Texas, Mississippi, and Maine ranked the lowest.

This year’s hurricane season will begin on June 1, and business owners and facility managers can prepare their facilities as CMM previously reported.

The hurricane forecast also aligns with record high global temperatures, as CMM previously reported. In turn, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) together with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS) released a new Heat and Health Initiative to protect Americans from heat exposure, particularly during heat events.