Louisiana officials name new state climatologist, talk about hurricane prep

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) -- Louisiana leaders introduced the new state climatologist and urged residents to get ready for hurricane season Wednesday morning.

Gov. Jeff Landry introduced Jay Grymes as the new state climatologist. His role includes monitoring Louisiana's climate and archiving data, according to the Louisiana Office of State Climatology.

Grymes will be working with the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness in an expanded role to serve the state as a weather specialist.

"We want to make sure that our parishes, our industries and our citizens are getting the proper information directly from the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security as it relates to weather events," Landry said.

Hurricane Beryl quickly grew to a Category 5 storm late Monday, becoming the earliest to develop to that category. It weakened to a Category 4 Tuesday and is moving through the Caribbean, killing at least six people as of Wednesday morning.

Grymes acknowledged residents' concerns, saying the hurricane will be making its way into the Gulf of Mexico.

"I know that has a lot of people in Louisiana alerted. I want them to take the alarm and turn it off. This is not going to be a threat to Louisiana but this is going to be a very active season," he said.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released its prediction of a very active hurricane season in May with an 85% chance of being above average.

State leaders are urging residents to get prepared before a storm makes its way to Louisiana by visiting the Get a Game Plan website for resources.

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