What to know ahead of new development heading toward Gulf of Mexico

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - The 2022 hurricane season has been unusually quiet so far in the Gulf of Mexico. However, WAFB’s First Alert Weather Team is turning its focus to possible new development.

“We’re getting a lot of attention on what is called Invest 98L. It’s gonna move into the Caribbean and about the time it has worked its way into the Caribbean, it’s probably going to get a name,” WAFB Chief Meteorologist Jay Grymes said.

He also added that while it appears to be aiming at the Gulf, it’s important to stay calm.

“That arrival time, the way it looks right now, won’t be until next Tuesday or Wednesday. So, it’s way out and there’s a lot of time for it to do a number of other things. But right now, it appears to be heading toward the gulf,” Grymes added.

So while there is still plenty of time to prepare, it’s a good idea to start getting everything in order

“Some people need to be thinking about evacuations if you live along the coast, what’s the options there. Some people farther inland just need to say okay am I going to be ready for 2, 3, maybe 4 or 5 days without power worst case scenario,” Grymes continued.

When asked if FEMA was making any preparations ahead of the next named storm, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R) said, “FEMA, the state of Louisiana, as well as oil and natural gas producers in the Gulf of Mexico and the refineries have contingency plans in place for when we get hit. This probably began before Katrina but after Katrina the amount of planning that goes into place is tremendous.”

Cassidy also says he’s working to get more disaster money for long-term housing after a hurricane. That’s in response to some of the conditions folks are still dealing with after Hurricane Ida in some coastal areas.

“Housing solutions that would be built to fortified code so that it’s not like you’re in a trailer and six months later you get out of it. No, you’ve made an investment in something where someone can actually live in it permanently and when the next storm comes their house does well,” Sen. Cassidy explained.

There are still about four to five more weeks before this hurricane season in the rear-view mirror.

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