Good morning and welcome to Thursday. Ahead of a forecast “super-charged” hurricane season, Florida’s emergency management director says the division is planning to get a clearer message across about evacuating during catastrophic storms. Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said Floridians ordered to leave their homes can expect to hear more about why, and about the exact dangers they’d face. He worries otherwise people will make the fatal mistake of comparing future storms to past storms they’ve ridden out safely by sheltering in place. Hurricane Ian, which claimed 149 lives, offers an example about why this is so important. Guthrie said he and other officials should have laid out the storm’s unique dangers: It was three times larger than Charlie had been in 2004. Because it came in from the Gulf, Ian carried devastating amounts of water onshore with it. In 2017, Irma didn’t see a similar storm surge because its path was across the Everglades, which absorbed much of the water. “I just believe in my heart of hearts that if we tell people what the difference is, and we warn them of the actual dangers that are about to come to them, and we treat that storm as its own individual storm, people will make the right decision and they will evacuate if asked to do so,” Guthrie said, adding that he’d used the fresh messaging during Hurricane Idalia. Guthrie also wants evacuees to know they don’t have to go far. In most cases, people only needed to get to shelters that are five to 20 miles away — not drive hundreds of miles across the state in all-lane traffic as is often shown in news photos accompanying disaster coverage. Some outlets raised questions about whether local evacuation orders had been fast enough during Ian, and Guthrie says he thinks they were, but people may not have understood how close they were to safety. Adding to better communication this season, the National Hurricane Center will feature an experimental “cone of uncertainty” alongside the old one to show not just a storm’s projected path but more details about how wind hazards from hurricanes can affect people inland, rather than just on the coast. Gurthrie said most homes built in the last 20 years, with the exception of mobile homes, can withstand winds under a Category 5 hurricane. But when local officials issue an evacuation order, it means they’re bracing for flooding, and that’s why people have to get out. Months before hurricane season starts, the division is testing flood control systems, setting aside food and water, preparing generators and readying fleets of equipment for search and rescue teams. And calls with county officials are already underway, checking on factors such as whether they'll need ambulances from FEMA or the state for evacuations. Guthrie said the division is checking in with each one to ask, “What are their needs? What are their gaps gonna be? And where is the state going to be expected to step up and come in?” WHERE’S RON? Gov. DeSantis is doing a press conference at 10:30 a.m. at the headquarters for the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for Playbook? Get in touch at: kleonard@politico.com | 
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