Getting ready and staying informed during stormy weather

It happens almost every year now – people in the Keys wake up one morning and find ourselves in the dreaded cone that shows the projected path of a hurricane or tropical storm.

Here’s how you can be ready and stay informed when a storm is approaching:

• Follow Monroe County Emergency Management and sign up for Alert Monroe to get emergency alerts. You can follow Emergency Management on Facebook as well as Monroe County – and follow Monroe County on Twitter.
• Follow the National Weather Service Office in Key West, which posts frequent updates on Facebook and Twitter. The National Hurricane Center (which you can remember as hurricanes dot gov) is also on Facebook and Twitter.
• Being ready for a storm doesn’t just mean having food and water – there are lots of considerations for the storm and its aftermath. Find more information here.

After a storm, Monroe County libraries will open as soon as safely possible and provide information to residents. The library locations are here.

And don’t forget to load up on ebooks and eaudiobooks while we still have power! Charge up your devices and remember the battery on your ereader will last a lot longer if you turn off the wifi (after downloading the books, of course).

Please stay safe out there – and keep your eyes on reputable sources of information.