For anyone who has lived a significant part of their life in a Gulf Coast state, hurricane season is a time when we pay a little more attention to the weather report on the evening news or more often click the tropical update link on our favorite weather app.

As the news of Hurricane Matthew’s impact on Florida is still coming in, the rest of us in the Southeast stand ready to help if needed. We have done it before, and we have been blessed with help in the past.

A steady stream of power crews from not only Mississippi, but also Louisiana, Texas and elsewhere, began their trip to Florida this week, many making their way through Vicksburg on Interstate 20. The crew members did not know where they would be needed, but they knew their help would be needed.

But while we offer our prayers for those in Florida — and those who have suffered so much damage and death in Haiti, Cuba and the Bahamas — we must continue to keep a close eye, not only this storm, but the tropics overall.

Hurricane season does not end for another month and some forecasts suggest Hurricane Matthew will make a U-turn and again hitting Florida next week before crossing over into the Gulf of Mexico. From there, its path would be anyone’s guess.

This is all the more reason to again take stock of your storm preparedness plan.

Just because Vicksburg does not sit on the Mississippi Gulf Coast does not mean the impact from such a storm would not be felt here.

We have too many examples — and far too much experience — to think otherwise. We know better.

We hope and pray Matthew’s work is done and that it simply fades away, left to the headlines. But, just in case, stay tuned and stay prepared.