It's back, whether you're ready or not. The 2023 Atlantic hurricane season begins in the wake of a destructive 2022. First, Hurricane Ian devastated Fort Myers and flooded swaths of Central Florida. Then, when the season was nearly over, Hurricane Nicole devastated homes and businesses along the Space Coast.

As many affected neighborhoods continue to rebuild, local, state and federal authorities all say now is the time to get ready for whatever may come our way this year.

From supply kits to home insurance, preparing for the Atlantic Hurricane season isn't a one-day project, but it doesn't have to be difficult. Spectrum News 13 has everything you need to know to stay safe.

Stocking Up

When a storm approaches, store shelves empty out. So, it's best to buy everything you'll need — and want — to have on hand way ahead of time. You don't want to end up with the leftovers after the canned food aisle has been combed though.

Here's a list of all the basics:

Protecting Your Home

When a storm is forecast to affect Central Florida, it's not a good time to find out your most expensive possession isn't protected. Contact your insurance company before an emergency to make sure you are covered if a storm strikes.

Protecting your home and its contents is more than just a financial exercise. It's physical. Before a tropical storm or hurricane storms across Central Florida, homowners should take several simple steps.

Recovering from 2022

Sometimes, no amount of planning and preparation is enough. Many Floridians are still dealing with the affects of last hurricane season, when hurricanes made landfalls on both sides of the state. 

Hurricane Ian's storm surge bulldozed beachfronts and coastal communities in September, swamping neighborhoods across Central Florida with flash flooding and record-breaking rainfall.

Then, in November, Hurricane Nicole slammed the Space Coast, leaving water-logged damage as it stormed inland.

Conversations with those most directly impacted reveal recovery doesn't come easy, and it isn't cheap.

Home and business owners all along Florida's Space Coast share similar stories of determination in the face of costly damages. 

When Hurricane Nicole hit just days before the end of hurricane season as a Category 1, the winds weren't devastating. But, as is often the case, the water was most worrisome.

While Nicole wasn't the most powerful of hurricanes, it's effects remain in some areas almost six months later.

Satellite Beach is among the cities still undergoing repairs and restorations made necessary by the severe erosion of its beautiful beachline.

Earlier in the season, after Ian made landfall near Fort Myers, the hurricane dumped never-before-seen amounts of rain over parts of Central Florida. Some local business owners have worked for almost a year to repair and reopen. Now, for some with more recovering left to do feel like they're in a race against time with another with another hurricane season upon them.

Tracking Storms

When a tropical system forms, Spectrum News 13 Weather Experts leverage their combined decades of experience and critical information from the National Hurricane Center to forecast storm tracks and development.

That includes interpreting the forecast cone and spaghetti models to determine a storm's potential path and projected intensity.

Hunkering Down

In the event of an approaching tropical storm or hurricane, counties open storm shelters for people who live in evacuation zones, low-lying areas and mobile homes. 

Emergency management officials say shelters should be treated as a last resort.

Specific shelters are set up for people with special needs. It's important to pre-register with the state.

Not all shelters accept pets, so pet owners need to make additional preparations.

Restoring Power

Tropicals systems mean power outages — the more powerful the storm, the more widespread the interruption usually is.

Local crews work around the clock to repair the power grid as quickly as possible, enlisting help from other parts of Florida and across the country, if needed.

When the lights go out, you can check outage maps and see estimated repair times here.

Understanding Storm Surge

It's not the wind. It's the water. 

Most hurricane-related injuries and deaths are the result of water hazards, not the eye-popping wind speeds — and storm surge is among a hurricane's most lethal threats. 

If you live along the coast, and a storm is heading your way, evacuation orders will be issued. Following those orders is paramount because emergency crews won't respond until the worst of the weather has passed.

How Fort Myers is Faring

The city and its famous barrier island beach town, along with Sanibel Island and other areas along Florida's southwest coast, received the brunt of the storm surge when Hurricane Ian came ashore.

As the 2023 hurricane season gets underway, many communities there remain far from any sense.

What Hazards YOUR Home Faces

Of course, hurricanes aren't the only natural phenonemon that can threaten Florida. So, how do you know if your property is really ready to stand up to anything that arises — even seabreeze storms and sinkholes.

A local professor of environmental science and public administration has developed a free tool that allows users to search their home address across the state's 67 counties to receive a score. It's meant to provide homeowners with a sense of how resilient their property is and provide information on the costs of potential mitigations.