The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center predicts a 60% chance for an above-normal hurricane season this year, which means severe storms are more likely to occur.   

Jackson EMC offers these tips on how to plan for the potential for an active storm season.  Taking steps now to prepare for severe weather could help your family stay safe and mitigate potential challenges after a tropical storm or hurricane. 

Start planning now. If you haven’t already, make a written storm plan. This plan should include how you’ll keep up with essential information during a storm, like important documents and files. Refer to www.ready.gov/plan for guidance on creating a plan. Share this plan with your family, so everyone knows how to respond should a storm occur.  

Create an emergency storm kit. Create an easily accessible emergency kit full of items you might need in a storm. Include items like water, food and medications. Visit jacksonemc.com/storm-center/storm-preparation for a complete list of items to include in your emergency storm kit.

Protect your home. Trim trees around your house and move loose items inside, like outdoor furniture. Strong winds can cause these items to produce significant damage to your home. You should also secure all doors, including garage doors and plan for a safe location to move your car.  

Know your risk. Hurricanes often affect areas at different levels of intensity. Depending on your location and storm conditions, these storms can also produce floods and tornadoes. Visit weather.gov for more resources on the potential storm threats for your area, as well as information on hurricane categories and what they mean.  

Stay updated. NOAA weather radios, weather apps, local TV stations and websites like weather.gov are all great resources for receiving weather alerts. Be sure to follow local weather stations and Jackson EMC on social media for timely updates. Try to fully charge your devices before the storm and make sure you have extra batteries or portable chargers to keep these devices on in case of power outages. 

Use the MyJacksonEMC mobile app to easily report outages. Outages can also be reported online at outage.jacksonemc.com and via phone by calling 1-800-245-4044. 

For more information on how to prepare for severe weather, visit jacksonemc.com/storm.  

Jackson Electric Membership Corporation, the largest electric cooperative in Georgia and one of the largest in the nation, is headquartered 50 miles northeast of Atlanta in Jefferson, Ga. The cooperative serves more than 241,000 meters on 14,494 miles of energized wire. For more information, visit jacksonemc.com.