UF's Office of Risk Management is working to make sure students are prepared for this hurricane season.
Kenneth Allen, the emergency management coordinator for the Office of Risk Management, said students and residents need to look at hurricane season as a big picture.
Every year, the office updates the university's risk management website.
Part of the reason students must update their contact information via ISIS, Allen said, is because the university needs to be knowledgeable about where students are living and how many students are on and off campus.
Each dorm has its own evacuation plan that's established by the Office of Risk Management. These plans are updated annually and are posted on the risk management website.
For students living on and off campus, UF's environmental and health website offers videos to students that discuss the need to make preparations for hurricane season.
Allen said students' plans should include having enough supplies to last at least 72 hours and making sure all outside appliances are brought indoors.
He said it's always better to prepare, even if you don't think you will be affected by a hurricane.
"If you live in Florida, you have a hurricane problem," Allen said.
Peter Waylen, professor of geography at UF, said he is interested to see how this hurricane season will progress.
"We can have a busy tropical storm year and none of them come anywhere near Gainesville," he said. "People can begin to think it is not a worry, and next season one just blows right through your house. Then you remember it."
Allen said it is important for all on-campus students to learn their hurricane plan for their dorm. He said residents should look on the housing website to see the evacuation routes and make sure they are familiar with them
Brooke Van de Houten, a UF sophomore and a previous resident of Fletcher Hall, said she was never aware of the hurricane plan for her dorm.
"I don't feel like I need to prepare for hurricanes, because you know when they're coming," Van de Houten said.
On-campus students can find more information about hurricane safety at http://housing.ufl.edu. Off-campus students can find more information at http://www.cityofgainesville.org.
