TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. (WSAV) – We’re just two weeks away from the official start of hurricane season.

After seeing storm activity locally in the past few years, the time to start planning is now by making all the typical preparations like stocking up on water, shelf-stable items and pet foods.

For the City of Tybee Island, planning is looking a little different this year.

After a devastating hit from Hurricane Matthew in 2016, Tybee Island is changing the way it prepares for hurricane season. WSAV previously told you about a new hurricane shelter on Tybee that can house up to 700 people, set to break ground this year.

The project manager says it’s part of a much larger project on the island funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, with some changes already completed for this hurricane season. Alan Robertson says emergency services are changing the way they work in our area by preparing for disaster rather than just responding to it.

“Tybee has invested, as I’ve said, a lot of time and money in improving its storm resiliency, particularly enlarging its beach, building its dunes and assessing flooding on the back river,” Robertson said. “They recently completed an island-wide stormwater management system. The fact that FEMA, working through GEMA in Georgia is trying to get ahead of this and trying to protect against disaster is terrific policy and ultimately over the long-term should save money.”

The massive hurricane shelter is currently set to start construction this fall. News 3 will have much more about preparing for this upcoming hurricane season in our Storm Watch Special, which airs on June 3 on WSAV.