PAHO: prepare Health Systems for very active 2025 hurricane season

With the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season underway, running from June 1 to November 30, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is urging countries to review contingency plans and activate preventive measures to prepare health systems for potential hurricanes, storms, floods, and other extreme weather events.

The call follows a forecast from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which predicts “above-normal” hurricane activity for this season.

“Extreme hydrometeorological events, such as hurricanes, torrential rainfall and resulting floods and landslides, are a constant threat to the region, leading to injuries, loss of life and overwhelming health care systems,” said Leonardo Hernandez, Head of PAHO’s Emergency Operations Unit. “Activating preventive measures to protect people and health care infrastructure prior to an extreme weather event is crucial to reducing their impact, particularly on the health of vulnerable communities,” he added.

Beyond the physical impact and infrastructure damage which often disrupts access to and availability of essential services, the health consequences of extreme weather events also include increased risks of water-borne diseases, such as diarrhoea or cholera, vector-borne diseases, such as dengue and Chikungunya, and respiratory diseases, among others.

The NOAA outlook for the 2025 Atlantic Hurricane season predicts a 60% chance of an above-normal season, with a range of 13–19 named storms. Of these, 6–10 are forecast to become hurricanes including 3–5 major hurricanes.

The 2024 hurricane season was already highly destructive and caused some of the greatest economic losses on record. It included 18 named storms, among them seven tropical storms and 11 hurricanes—five of which were major. The season saw several Category 5 hurricanes, including Hurricane Beryl, which formed in June and became the earliest Category 5 storm ever recorded. It devastated the Southern Grenadines, which is still recovering from the hurricane’s impact.

To help countries of the Americas prepare for the upcoming hurricane season, PAHO is holding a readiness virtual meeting on June 10, which will provide an opportunity for representatives from Ministries of Health and civil protection agencies to exchange experiences with experts in disaster response and public health in emergencies.

PAHO said it also continues to work with countries to ensure that national emergency response plans are updated, and to strengthen inter-sectoral coordination mechanisms at both national and local levels to provide a timely and effective response in line with future emergency alerts.