Atlantic hurricane season, chance to save on prep starts Saturday in Florida

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Hurricane season is officially underway in Northeast Florida and it’s expected to be a busy season ahead according to the First Alert Weather Center. So, there’s no better time to get ahead on storm preparation than now, while saving some money in the process.

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Saturday also marks the start of Florida’s Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday, which runs through June 14. The sales tax holiday gives much needed savings on all the hurricane essentials, a relief for customers for Dan Lyman.

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“Getting a break on sales tax is pretty cool. You know, I mean, nobody wants to pay it,” Lyman said. “But you know, it’s a little incentive to come out and buy some of the things you need.”

The items covered under the sales tax holiday include flashlights, portable generators, radios, tarp, sandbags, and more.

Rodney Rodgers with Ace Hardware outlined for Action News Jax on Saturday some of the items that tend to fly off the shelves first over the sales tax holiday.

WATCH: Get ready for hurricane season with the First Alert Weather special ‘Preparing for the Storm’

“The first things are the batteries naturally. All different sizes, flashlights that will we’ll run out of flashlights, sandbags, we run out of those,” Rodgers said.

Aside from just the savings, Rodgers added there’s no better time than now to come out and get those hurricane essentials, as once that storm’s on its way, often it can already be too late.

“When the storm comes up, everything gets wiped out you need batteries, even generators which we have now,” Rodgers added.

You can find the full list of what’s covered under the sales tax holiday by clicking here.

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