help kids mentally prepare for hurricane season

Ask the Doctor: How to Help Your Child Mentally Prepare for Hurricane Season

By Last Updated

We are now entering the peak of the 2025 hurricane season and this can be stressful, especially after the destruction from Hurricanes Helene and Milton during last year’s historical season.

The Center for Behavioral Health at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital offers several tips to help families and children mentally prepare for hurricane season.

First, keep in mind that anxiety is contagious, and we need to be prepared, stay calm and have a strategy for speaking with our children about potential storms that head our way.

How do we mentally prepare for hurricane season?

We try to put ourselves at ease by taking care of as many of the things now—making sure:

  • We have a safety plan for our families
  • We have an evacuation plan
  • We are doing everything we can to harden our homes

Beyond that, recognizing that the words we use with ourselves and our kids can really impact how anxious they feel.

kids and hurricane season, mother with daughter at stormy beach

What’s the best way to talk to and help kids mentally prepare for hurricane season?

Recognizing our emotions and being able to say to our kids and to ourselves, “I’m experiencing anxiety.” Anxiety is worrying about something that we don't know whether or not it will happen. The way to combat this is to use big coping strategies to calm our down our bodies and thoughts, which will help bring everything back to a rational place.

Being a good listener and encouraging our kids to verbalize their fears is essential.

Elementary School: Keep it brief and simple. Explain how you’re preparing for hurricane season adding “we, as adults, are working to keep you safe.”

Middle School: Help your child dispel facts from hype, discuss your own safety plan (evacuating or storm hardening your home) and remind them that you’re there to guide decisions when the time comes.

High School: Provide honest, factual information and engage them in shared decision making about how you’ll stay safe during the next severe storm.

mentally prep for hurricane season

What are some reliable coping methods?

  • Deep breathing
  • Talking about emotions and how they impact our behaviors
  • Focusing on the positive, including all the ways you’ve prepped for a storm
  • Know when concerns are escalating—it’s okay to reach out to your child’s pediatrician or mental health provider

The unknown factor with storm season is the root of most stress and anxiety, because we can worry about every potential outcome. It’s important to plan for hurricane season, but not let it take over our/our children’s thoughts.

For more timely topics in pediatric healthcare, visit HopkinsAllChildrens.org/Newsroom.

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