State, county officials meet in Jacksonville ahead of predicted ‘above average’ hurricane season

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A roundtable Thursday morning with Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie, as well as officials from Duval, St. Johns, Baker, Nassau, and Putnam counties ahead of the start of hurricane season in just over a week.

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“We cannot sit here and tell our ask our citizens to get prepared for hurricane season if we’re not getting prepared for hurricane season,” said Guthrie at Thursday’s roundtable.

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Ultimately, being prepared means addressing the unique needs of all the different counties across Northeast Florida.

“City of Jacksonville probably won’t need us until a strong cat two, cat three type storm, whereas Baker County just to the west is probably going to need us very early on for maybe even a high-end tropical storm, cat one hurricane,” Guthrie explained.

The needs of each county vary from more resource distribution centers to more aid in shelter but also vary greatly in urgency across the counties of Northeast Florida as well.

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“When our partners around us, whether it’s Baker County, Nassau [County], have that need, we will step up and we’ll deploy those assets that are here in Duval County,” reassured Duval County Emergency Management Executive Director Andre Ayoub at Thursday’s roundtable.

Whether living in Jacksonville’s Northside, the Westside, or in high-risk areas like in San Marco, it’s important for residents to have hurricane kits ready with nonperishable food and know their evacuation zones, so they’re prepared as well come hurricane season.

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