For commercial real estate owners and operators along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, the real story of this year's hurricane season is not the forecast itself, but the reminder that preparation cannot be seasonal. Even with NOAA projecting a below-normal Atlantic season, the work of tightening continuity plans, retraining staff and clarifying damage-reporting procedures is the same, because the first storm can expose the same operational gaps as the worst one.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, has a 55% chance of being below normal, a 35% chance of near-normal activity and a 10% chance of above-normal activity. The agency, with 70% confidence, is forecasting eight to 14 named storms, three to six normal hurricanes and one to three major hurricanes.
For owners and operators, though, the forecast is only part of the conversation.
"Our watch control teams work with our clients on reiterating that every year," Aaron Culbertson, U.S. real estate practice leader at insurance brokerage Lockton, tells GlobeSt.com.
Preparations include reviews of such things as continuity plans, potential weaknesses of properties, layouts of property usage, preparatory procedures and evacuation guidelines.
Culbertson said the message has to be repeated because property teams change and institutional memory can fade.
"There can be a significant amount of turnover in the staff that's actually on site at the commercial real estate property," Culbertson says. "So, ensuring that they're up to speed and they've been fully trained on what the hurricane preparedness procedures are for their specific asset every year is important."
The planning does not stop once a storm passes. Knowing how to respond to damage and who should be notified first can determine how quickly a claim moves and how well it is documented.
"Who do you call? How do you document damage? Because all of that, and the timeliness of that reporting, is going to lead to better claims outcomes," says Culbertson.
He said that is often where property teams stumble.
"Early notification of claims and knowing who to call, I find one of the biggest challenges we have with on-site management of a property. They just don't know who to call, because it could have been 5, 10 years since they've had a claim or any damage to reporting a property, and now they're in this situation with really significant damage, and they don't know who to call, whether in the risk management department or the CFO or the general counsel or whoever that may be," Culbertson explained.
"Just having very clear reporting instructions and being prepped on that, I think is one of the biggest things they can do."
Training tenants is another important piece of the equation, along with lining up contractors in advance for any work that may be needed after a storm.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.