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Thursday, March 28, 2024
James Franklin

James Franklin, chief hurricane forecaster, looks at an image of Tropical Storm Erika as it moves westward towards islands in the eastern Caribbean, at the National Hurricane Center, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015, in Miami.

Gainesville has not been hit by a major hurricane in the last decade, but the city wants to make sure residents are prepared for anything.

Hurricane season began Wednesday, and Gainesville is encouraging all residents to be vigilant until it ends Nov. 30.

“Not only students, but a lot of people in the state think, ‘It hasn’t happened to me, so I don’t have to worry about it,’” said Mike Spranger, an extension community development specialist.

Spranger, who also serves as a professor of family, youth and community sciences at UF, said Gainesville residents should plan ahead for the season.

“It only takes one (hurricane),” he said. “You cannot be complacent.”

Gainesville should be at low risk for major storms this year, though it is hard to tell and can change at any moment, he said.

It is still recommended for residents, especially UF students who live on campus, to have emergency and evacuation plans, Spranger said.

Coinciding with the first day of hurricane season, the City of Gainesville officially launched a new event and information website to help residents prepare.

The site includes traffic and weather information, bus routes, emergency shelters, evacuation routes and emergency guides, according to a press release from the Gainesville Communications Office.

Amaleah Mirti, a 20-year-old UF biochemistry and history junior, said she thinks this site could be useful to students because it is accessible on mobile devices, but it could still prove difficult to use.

“But I feel like the internet in times of emergency isn’t great because sometimes it can go down,” she said, “but if UF pushed it at Preview then I don’t doubt that students would use it.”

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Mirti said she and her housemates keep bottled water in case of an emergency, and she said it is important for college students to be aware of how power works in their homes.

Spranger said the most important things to have are water, a tank of gas and food for three days.

Filling old milk cartons with tap water and buying ramen noodles are cheap ways that students can prepare, he said.

“If you wait until the last minute, things may happen to you that wouldn’t have otherwise,” he said.

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