Town emergency manager urges residents to prepare ahead of hurricane season

Sergeant Bob Beckman, the town’s emergency manager, told the Jupiter Inlet Colony Town Council on June 9 that the town has spent the last 18 months strengthening hurricane planning and response.

Beckman said the town coordinates its planning with Palm Beach County, neighboring municipalities and the county’s North‑County consortium, and participates in virtual preparedness exercises. He said the town has compiled response and recovery tools — tow ropes, chainsaws and water‑rescue assets — and bolstered its communications, public information and alert systems.

"What we do during blue sky is... we participate in bimonthly municipal meetings, local mitigation strategy meetings, and meet with the county year‑round," Beckman said, summarizing the town’s planning cadence. He urged residents to "have a plan, a family plan, a communications plan," and to prepare sheltering supplies and a go bag.

Beckman emphasized that shelters are run by Palm Beach County and that the county determines when and which shelters open; the town’s advice is to seek safe locations with relatives or in hotels ahead of relying on shelters. He warned residents not to expect first responders to operate during the height of a storm and to avoid returning home too early after an event.

The presentation covered post‑storm steps as well: staff will respond when it is safe, preliminary damage assessments will begin and debris removal in public rights‑of‑way will be coordinated with third‑party contractors. The town moved vehicles and response tools to higher ground in advance of storms as part of resilience measures.

Beckman’s remarks closed with a reminder that preparation is an ongoing civic activity and that residents should stay tuned to county and town websites for sheltering and emergency information.