Hurricane season is near, and experts are encouraging people to be prepared in case a storm heads to southeast Texas.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — This week is National Hurricane Preparedness Week across the country, a reminder that hurricane season is just around the corner. Hurricane season begins on June 1 and lasts all the way through the end of November. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Weather Service, and ABC13 want to encourage you to begin preparing for hurricane season now so you can be ready if a storm were to make its way toward Houston.

Some examples of what to do now are restocking hurricane kits and reviewing the latest evacuation procedures if you live within an evacuation zone.

And we’re no stranger to tropical storms here in southeast Texas. The last system to make landfall in the region was Hurricane Nicholas in September 2022. It made landfall near Sargent Beach in Matagorda County as a category one hurricane, with 94 mph measured in Matagorda Bay. Over half a million people were left without power across the state because of that. Nicholas also dropped up to 15 inches of rain, mainly near the coast.

On Tuesday, ABC13 visited the First United Methodist Church in Dickinson. Feet of floodwaters filled the sanctuary of the church during Hurricane Harvey, and nearly everything had to be replaced. Greg Goodman is a member of the congregation and was there to help clean up the church after Harvey. The lessons learned from the recovery after the storm are something he carries with him today and is reminded of during this time of year.

For more on this story, follow Elyse Smith on Facebook, X and Instagram.