June 1.

It's a day that looms large in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and throughout the Southeastern United States. The beginning of hurricane season.

Gulp.

Storm-weary residents of the region are dreading a repeat of last fall, when Hurricane Katrina arrived and brought with it unparalleled devastation. Then Rita and Wilma lashed Texas and Florida, adding insult (and many millions of dollars' damage) to people already on the brink of collapse.

The federal government is also extensively reviewing its emergency response measures in the wake of intense criticism. State and federal emergency management teams are concerned that residents will be resigned after dealing with two years of continuous evacuations, cleanup, and general turmoil.

The silver lining, if there ever were one, is that this year, hurricane preparations and weather safety are at the forefront of people's minds.

With weather experts predicting 16-17 named tropical storms this season, 5-6 of which will have a good chance of turning into potentially deadly hurricanes, residents cannot be too careful. People in Florida have learned from the past couple of years, as evidenced by a Gov. Jeb Bush lifting state sales tax for 12 days on select items. This has helped people obtain the items they need to ensure their own safety and that of their property. Gone are the days of candles and canned foods. This year it's batteries, gasoline containers, even generators.

Much of the responsibility, however, lies with individual residents of threatened areas. Helpful as such measures are, preparing for a weather event of Katrina magnitude involves much more than planning an evacuation route, installing new shutters or investing in a generator. It requires financial forethought as well.

With Florida insurance premiums already sky-high, citizens are scrambling to make sure their policies make the grade. Hundreds of thousands of Americans are learning the hard way that property insurance is the key to surviving a storm -- financially, at least. Residents of the Southeast won't be able to predict how extensively a storm such as Katrina will damage their personal property, but they can ensure there's money around to rebuild.

Having insurance policy that doesn't go far enough, or not having sufficient liquid cash reserves to ride out a rough period, could lead to disaster of an entirely different kind than flood waters rising. In the aftermath of Katrina, Rita and Wilma, thousands of Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Florida home loans became past due, then ended in foreclosure. If you don't plan ahead regarding your money and insurance, you could lose everything.

Secure your family first, but also secure your finances and personal information, so that if the worst case scenario happens, you can begin a new life. The last thing you want to do is become a victim of identity theft or leave yourself waiting for an insurance claim that isn't coming. Even those who feel they have comprehensive plans in place ready should discuss and review them. If 2005 taught us anything, it is that hurricanes can be catastrophic -- both physically and financially. Don't let it happen to you.