Coastal communities mark the start of hurricane season

Hurricane season kicks off today, and forecasters hope an expanded warning system will encourage coastal residents to prepare and evacuate earlier. The National Hurricane Center will issue experimental advisories indicating when tropical-storm force winds are expected to come ashore. By the time they do, it’s usually too late for residents to hang storm shutters or pack up to leave. The new advisories will give residents a deadline officials hope they will heed. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts more storms than usual this season in the Atlantic: between 11 and 17 named storms, with between five and nine reaching hurricane strength. As many as four of those could spin into “major” storms with sustained winds of at least 111 mph. Forecasters will have more data to work with in analyzing this year’s storms, thanks to new weather satellites and an expanded network of underwater gliders. At an event in Miami today attended by Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, Florida Gov. Rick Scott urged residents to “hope for the best and prepare for the worst.”