- Hurricane Preparedness Weeks is from May 5th-11th.
- Hurricane Idalia toppled trees and flooded streets in August of 2023.
- Watch the video to hear how neighbors are preparing for any future storms.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT
With less than a month until Hurricane Season, neighbors in Valdosta are getting ready after what they went through during Hurricane Idalia.
"If you've ever heard the thud of a pine tree, you don't forget it.
I'm Malia Thomas, your neighborhood reporter in Valdosta,
I'm tracking how the Azalea City is prepping for the upcoming hurricane season.
Diane Satterback has been living in her Lakeview home since 1963.
"This neighborhood got hit so hard."
She tells me that her street has taken the brunt of Hurricane Idalia and other major storms in the last fews months.
"I felt so sorry for the people that hadn't even fixed their homes from Idalia or we're almost finished. With their repairs from Idalia and then we had the other storm."
Her home saw some damage to her roof as well as her backyard in the storms; a contractor is expected to come and begin the work on her home Monday.
She gives me a word of advice: stay ready, and you won't have to get ready.
"I used to camp quite a bit, so I have a lot of. Battery operated lamps and fans and all that kind of stuff, so I just get my camping gear out if we lose power."
Hurricane season starts June 1.
Lowndes county is expecting neighbors to prepare now.
Be sure to stock up on...
"...Non-perishable items medications any other item that they may need in the event that they are without some sort of power throughout the day."
Which Diane tells me she's been spending her doing.
"I want to just like have water on hand have matches on hand have food on hand that you can fix in a pot of water on the stove you know stuff like that."
FEMA and its federal partners have provided more than $820 million to help with disaster recovery from Hurricane Idalia in the Big Bend and South Georgia.
In Valdosta, I'm Malia Thomas, reporting for ABC27.
