An Inside Look At The Coast Guard's HighStakes Hurricane Preparation Jenn Jordan September 20, 2025 at 4:55 AM 0 When hurricanes and tropical storms threaten the U.S., the Coast Guard stands ready, preparing assets, reacting quickly and often heading straight into the chaotic aftermath.
- - An Inside Look At The Coast Guard's High-Stakes Hurricane Preparation
Jenn Jordan September 20, 2025 at 4:55 AM
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When hurricanes and tropical storms threaten the U.S., the Coast Guard stands ready, preparing assets, reacting quickly and often heading straight into the chaotic aftermath.
Every storm season forces the service to shift into high gear, from pre-staging boats and supplies at the first signs of trouble, to flying emergency missions into storm-devastated regions.
"Hurricane season is, it's legit," said Coast Guard Commander Daniel DeAngelo. "Don't take it as a given. Definitely don't disrespect it."
Before Landfall
The Coast Guard's first step when a storm threatens is to protect its own people and equipment so it can respond immediately once conditions allow. Smaller boats may be trailered and stored in hardened facilities, while larger cutters head out to sea to ride out the storm.
(MORE: The Coast Guard's Wildest Weather Missions)
Sometimes those cutters also serve as floating bases. "They can sit out there and house folks, or medical teams, and shuttle them in and out," DeAngelo said. "Sometimes they'll operate as like an offshore, onsite command center."
As some of the Coast Guard's most critical tools, aircraft must also be strategically relocated before a storm. Air stations in a hurricane's path move helicopters, planes and crews to safer locations, far enough from the storm track to avoid direct danger but close enough to respond quickly once it passes.
When The Storm Hits
Even in dangerous conditions, the Coast Guard pushes the limits when lives are on the line. "I've been thousands of miles offshore, in the outer bands of a hurricane, and typically you don't expect to find other people out there, but we go out there in the Coast Guard," DeAngelo said.
Still, there are times when even they must stand down: "Ultimately, there are cases and there are times where the weather just becomes too severe."
The service is inherently "very reactionary," he said. "That's the nature of the work, from the search and rescue aspect of it, and weather certainly plays a large role in that."
(MORE: Dramatic Cruise Ship Rescue During Tsunami Alert)
The Aftermath
Once winds die down, the Coast Guard mobilizes fast. "We poise ourselves for a quick response after the fact and we're close enough to come in behind the storm," DeAngelo explained. That response can include everything from ferrying supplies, to assessing damaged ports to flying search and rescue missions.
During 2017's brutal season of Harvey, Irma and Maria, DeAngelo was stationed in Clearwater, Florida, flying C-130s. He recalled a nonstop tempo: "Three eight-hour flights a day, in and out, moving cargo to and from the Texas region, the Florida coast region."
"We were able to facilitate a lot of that rescue operability," bringing in supplies, transporting support teams and helping displaced people get to temporary shelters, DeAngelo remembered, calling it "one of the most cherished moments of my career."
Always Ready
While the Coast Guard trains for the worst, DeAngelo stressed that the public's actions matter just as much. "If a municipality or government comes to say, hey, here's a storm track, it's tracking this way, it's coming, here's the timeline, I would heed that," he warned. "I would not roll the dice, as it were."
He emphasized that storm surge and flooding are the most dangerous parts of hurricanes: "If you think you're gonna be able to outrun or outpace flooding and storm surge, which is the number one killer in one of those hurricanes, it's usually too late by that time to even get out."
(MORE: Coast Guard Urges 'Respect The Weather, Respect The Water')
His advice is simple and urgent: "Heed the warnings from government officials, take the safety steps, be prepared. Don't act like it's not gonna come, because when it does come, it's gonna be too late if you're caught off guard," adding, "It's not worth the risk. It's truly not."
From tropical storms in the Atlantic to hurricanes battering the Gulf, the Coast Guard is always on call. "If it's a big storm, we'll go, little storm we'll go, no storm, we're there anyway, saving people," DeAngelo said. "That's the job."
Weather.com lead editor Jenn Jordan explores how weather and climate weave through our daily lives, shape our routines and leave lasting impacts on our communities.
Source: "AOL General News"
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