Lake County emergency management warns of another above‑normal hurricane season, urges preparedness

Megan Milanese, director of the Lake County Office of Emergency Management, told the Board of County Commissioners on June 10 that forecasters expect another above‑normal Atlantic hurricane season and urged residents to prepare now.

Milanese said Colorado State University is predicting 17 named storms, nine hurricanes and four major hurricanes for 2025, and that the National Hurricane Center projects a range of 13–19 named storms with 6–10 hurricanes. "One of the things that obviously the county is doing is we're preparing year round," Milanese said.

Why it matters: county staff said recent seasons showed how even strong tropical storms can cause major local damage. Milanese reviewed the county's response to recent storms, noting Hurricane Milton in 2024 produced extreme rainfall (about 15 inches in impacted areas), new record river flooding at Astor (cresting about 4.8 feet), peak utility outages near 115,000 customers and more than 2,700 damage reports countywide. The county opened 15 shelters and reported sheltering more than 1,800 people (about 300 pets) during Milton; staff also distributed nearly 150,000 sandbags and processed over 1,300 missions through the Emergency Operations Center.

Details and guidance: Milanese laid out hazards and household steps: know your safe room, plan where you will shelter (home, friends/family or an open shelter), prepare a disaster supply kit and sign up for local alerts via AlertLake.com. She recommended NOAA weather radios and cited the county information line at (352) 253‑9999 as a resource. "If folks do need to seek shelter, we do open up to 15 primary shelter locations depending on the needs of every individual storm," she said, and added that five shelters are configured for special‑needs populations and nine are pet‑friendly.

Commissioner questions and follow‑up: commissioners thanked Milanese and asked staff to expand public messaging on likely post‑storm issues such as debris staging and safe driving when traffic signals fail. Commissioner Parks asked for short instructional videos on intersection safety during outages; Milanese said the emergency management office would coordinate with communications to produce video guidance. Commissioners also emphasized early messaging about where to take debris and asked staff to continue monitoring social media during events to correct misinformation.

What happens next: staff reiterated routine hurricane‑season coordination with nongovernmental partners and invited the public to county outreach events (hurricane expos and preparedness materials). Milanese said the agency would post checklists and videos online and continue public engagement throughout the season.

Ending note: Milanese closed by urging residents to prepare early: "Make a plan. That's probably the number one thing that people should be doing right now as we're entering the first part of hurricane season."