By Vanessa Orr

According to models from AccuWeather and Colorado State University, the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season is predicted to be above average, with more storms and hurricanes than the 30-year average. While an active season is nothing new in Florida, this year the state is facing other issues, including the current administration’s cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Weather Service (NWS) and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency).

More than a dozen positions have been cut at NWS offices across Florida, which is responsible for weather forecasts and warnings when there are storm threats. Approximately one-third of FEMA’s staff has been let go or have accepted buyouts. This could not only affect the timeliness and accuracy of forecasts, but also any assistance communities may require after a natural disaster.

“We’ve been paying close attention to what’s happening with NOAA and the NWS and FEMA, all of which are under some form of duress from these changes,” said Wayne Brackin, president and CEO of KIDZ Medical Services, and former Baptist Health South Florida executive who’s been recognized for leading hospital and health system hurricane and emergency preparedness efforts.

“What’s going on with FEMA is still a moving target, so no one can speak with absolute certainly yet. But if the FEMA staff was 6,000 people and 2,000 are no longer there, it’s safe to say we can expect to see some impact downstream.

“Unfortunately, we’re not going to know the full impact of all of these cuts and reorganizations until we actually need these services,” he added. “Every year since 2018, Florida has received approximately 25 percent of FEMA’s U.S. disaster funding, which is a massive percent. Any cuts to that budget could end up disproportionately affecting the state.”

Just as they do every year, hospitals and health systems throughout Florida are preparing for the season. For example, KIDZ Medical Services, a South Florida multispecialty practice that cares for neonatal, pediatric and women’s health patients across 15 office locations and 19 hospital partner sites, is making plans to close outpatient centers and to consolidate staff at hospitals to deal with the influx of patients.

“Most of the activity occurs in the hospital setting, so the majority of stand-alone facilities in the community will close. This is done to better concentrate resources at select strategic locations to provide the best response,” said Brackin.

He notes that hospitals are often inundated with people even before storms hit, making it more difficult to meet the needs of everyone who requires care.

“Two things happen in big buckets: prior to a storm, patients who have certain medical needs come to the hospital—those who are oxygen dependent, moms in the last stages of pregnancy, and people who are homebound but fragile,” he says, noting that while many of these patients could go to hurricane shelters, they choose the hospital instead. “This presents some challenges because hospitals need to be available for more acute care, and there are times that individual hospitals or emergency rooms get overwhelmed with these patients seeking shelter.

“Post-storm, it’s a lot of what you would expect: people with relatively minor injuries who tried to fix roofs or pull trees off houses, or who ran generators incorrectly without the proper ventilation,” he added.

While more storms are predicted this year, Brackin is less concerned with that forecast than with what each storm may do.

“The hurricane prediction business falls back on the total number of storms, but all that really matters is if you get hit with one,” he said. “The worst storm in our collective existing memories is Andrew in ‘92, and it’s the only hurricane that happened that year. It came later in the season, when everyone thought it was over.”

The good news, he added, is that the use of telemedicine grew during the pandemic, which makes it much easier for patients to be seen in post-disaster scenarios. “The one silver lining of the pandemic is that people not only learned to use telemedicine, but in many cases prefer it, which is beneficial not only for day-to-day care but in a post-storm situation.”

How to Prepare at Home

While hospitals will be at the ready to care for patients during the storm, it’s important that people prepare ahead of time to stay safe in their homes.

“Many people these days have multi-generational families living together, especially in South Florida where the cost and availability of housing is such an enormous problem,” said Brackin. “Having many people under one roof — of different ages and health circumstances — requires additional preparation.

“People should be able to sustain themselves for at least a week—to have enough water, food and medicine,” he added. “Historically, things have come back on line relatively quickly except in the most extreme storm cases, so if families are prepared to take care of themselves for a week, that should keep them out of the ER and reduce any unnecessary physician visits.”