This time of year we're used to sales tax-free holidays for Back To School items, but the kids are, well, back to school.
But, with weather forecasts that continue to predict an acting hurricane season, even though only five named storms have formed into late August, the state of Florida has authorized a second Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday, in order to purchase supplies to harden your property and keep families and pets safe. It starts Saturday and runs through Sept. 6.
It's much like the last one held at the start of hurricane season in the beginning of June.
“All Floridians should be prepared for natural disasters,” said Jim Zingale, Executive Director of the Florida Department of Revenue. “This hurricane season is predicted to be unusually active. This sales tax holiday will help consumers save when they build their emergency supply kits.”
Among other things, shoppers will be able to avoid taxes on reusable ice packs costing $20 or less; portable radios, fuel tanks and packages of batteries costing $50 or less; food-storage coolers costing $60 or less; tarps costing $100 or less; and portable generators costing $3,000 or less.
Also, the tax exemptions apply to such things as wet dog or cat food costing $10 or less; pet leashes costing $20 or less; cat litter costing $25 or less; pet beds costing $40 or less; and over-the-counter pet medications, pet carriers and bags of dry dog or cat food costing $100 or less.
For the full list of exempt products and price points, go to the Florida Department of Revenue's sales tax holiday page.
Meterologists across the board, from AccuWeather to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to the Colorado State University experts, note the "silence will be shattered" across the Atlantic Ocean, with the statistical peak of the season coming Sept. 10.
"It’s been an already been a costly year for hurricane damage and impacts, and we haven’t even reached the peak of the season," AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter said.
While the air over the Atlantic Ocean's main development area has been dry due to a steady stream of Saharan dust from Africa, the atmosphere is moistening at a high time for storms.
"I think things could get very active potentially very quickly here as soon as that dry air goes away," AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Expert Alex DaSilva said, "We could see a parade of storms."
Between six and 10 tropical systems are predicted for September, according to AccuWeather meteorologists, a similar to the pace of the record-breaking 2020 hurricane season — which went deep into the Greek alphabet after exhausting the National Hurricane Center's naming list — which had 10 September storms.
