Hurricane Forecasters Hope for Continued Streak of Luck on U.S. Coasts

FT. WORTH, TX--(Marketwired - Jun 7, 2016) - Not a single major hurricane has made U.S. landfall since 2005, and that relatively lengthy streak of luck has made some coastal property owners a bit nervous. Experts at Interstate Restoration advise business owners and others along the U.S. East and Gulf coasts to take steps NOW to prepare for the hurricane season that began this month and runs through November.

Phil Klotzbach, a research scientist at Colorado State University, presented his 2016 forecast recently in a webinar sponsored by Interstate Restoration, a U.S. leader in disaster recovery efforts on a commercial scale. Klotzbach predicts the formation of at least 12 "named" storms (hurricanes or tropical storms) in the Atlantic Basin during this year's hurricane season. Included in that prediction: two "major" hurricanes, classified as Category 3-5 strength, with sustained winds of at least 111 miles per hour.

"The U.S. has been extraordinarily lucky over the past decade," Klotzbach said. He noted that while there has been significant damage in recent years from storms not classified as major -- Hurricane Sandy in 2012 is an example -- the last major hurricane struck the U.S. in 2005, when Hurricane Wilma hit Florida. Wilma was the seventh major hurricane of that season, which included the devastating Hurricane Katrina.

"We hope never to see another year like we saw in 2005, but we have to be ready for that kind of possibility," said Stacy Mazur, CEO of Interstate Restoration. "Should the worst happen though, Interstate's experts are ready to assist with recovery in every way, as we did recently for the victims of the fires in Ft. McMurray, Canada."

Interstate Restoration, headquartered in Ft. Worth, Texas, recently acquired FirstOnSite to become the second largest independent company in North America. Interstate Restoration offers its clients advice about the most effective ways to prepare for and respond to hurricanes, floods, fires and other natural disasters.

Interstate Restoration has partnered with Klotzbach for the past several years to give businesses the latest and best information in preparation for the hurricane and tropical storm season. For a snapshot of Interstate Restoration's experience in natural disaster recovery and restoration, click here. For a publishable infographic, click here.

About Interstate Restoration

Founded in 1998, Interstate Restoration, LLC, based in Ft. Worth, Texas, is one of the largest emergency restoration and reconstruction service providers for commercial enterprises in the United States. Interstate Restoration specializes in assisting property owners and businesses in recovering from fire, flood, natural and human-caused disasters. In combination with its FirstOnSite Restoration division, Interstate has 19 regional offices in the U.S. and 35 in Canada. Interstate Restoration has the scalability to respond to any-sized catastrophe and help people get back to business and back to life quickly and safely. For more information, visit www.interstaterestoration.com, call 800-622-6433 or follow us on Twitter at @InterstateRest. For FirstOnSite, go to www.firstonsite.ca or call 877-778-6731.