Disaster response teams prepare for Hurricane Bonnie in Florida

The potential for Hurricane Bonnie to reach Florida grew larger on Thursday as the tropical storm in the Atlantic appears to be growing larger. The storm system which is presently outside of the Bahamas appears to be growing in size and strength and carries the potential for wind gusts in excess of forty miles per hour. The origination of a storm from the Atlantic Ocean is more rare than typical hurricanes which originate out of the Gulf of Mexico.

Tropical storm Bonnie is expected to reach Florida on Friday and then carry into the Gulf of Mexico early next week. The storm has already delayed some of the cleanup efforts following the BP oil spill as the Coast Guard and cleanup contractors are now taking defensive measures to try and protect the oil well in the event of a hurricane or tropical storm. Cleanup efforts have been underway for the last 90 days and there remains a great deal of uncertainty as to what the potential effects of a hurricane on cleanup and containment efforts. Should the winds carry the polluted water to shore beyond the beaches and coastline the damages could exponentially become more difficult to repair and the cleanup costs could soar.

Hurricane Bonnie Photo, Via Weather.com

Jarvis Property Restoration has hundreds of disaster response plans in place with property owners throughout Florida in the event that a large storm reaches landfall and causes flood damage, wind or property damages. The national disaster response team is on call and ready to deploy to the region to provide additional support should the conditions warrant extra personnel from the potential storm.