With hurricane season officially starting June 1, 2013, now is the time to make important decisions to help keep your family, business and property safe.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Atlantic hurricane season outlook, there is a 70 percent chance of 13 to 20 named storms, seven to 11 of which could become hurricanes and three to six potential major hurricanes. This forecast exceeds the seasonal average of 12 named storms, six hurricanes and three major hurricanes.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony on the Spring Lake, N.J., boardwalk included Spring Lake Mayor Jennifer Naughton at Pier Beach and council members holding signs saying: "Spring Lake: Stronger Than the Storm."

Mayor Naughton thanked city workers for bringing the Hurricane Sandy-battered boardwalk back to the community ahead of schedule. 

The Spring Lake boardwalk was rebuilt using TimberTech, a splinter-free, low-maintenance, composite decking. 

When Hurricane Sandy slammed into the northeastern part of the United States, the level of damage was clearly devastating. It was the start of a tremendously difficult time for many residents of this highly populous region. When bad things happen, a silver lining often emerges. In this case, that is a positive impact on the home improvement industry.

The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation will offer about $2.75 million worth of Home Depot gift cards to Staten Island homeowners recovering from Hurricane Sandy, according to a report in the Staten Island Advance newspaper.

The plan, which is expected to be announced Tuesday at a Staten Island Home Depot, calls for giving out $250 Home Depot gift cards to residents of the New York City borough who live in damaged homes. 

Hurricane lamps

Bad weather has meant brisk business for the industry’s largest home improvement retailers, which for the second year in a row experienced significant sales gains from an East Coast hurricane.

Fourteen months after Hurricane Irene wreaked havoc on the Northeast, Hurricane Sandy ravaged the East Coast, particularly New Jersey and southeast New York, where damage totals continue to rise well into the tens of billions of dollars.

A fire that that heavily damaged Burton Bros. Hardware in Seaford, Del., sent one of the store owners to the hospital for smoke inhalation, according to an article in the News Journal.

Simpson Strong-Tie has announced it will make a $25,000 donation to assist in the relief response and recovery efforts throughout the East Coast in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. The funds were given directly to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund and will aid in providing food, shelter, emotional support and other assistance to those affected by the hurricane. 

Long before Hurricane Sandy arrived, hardware stores throughout the Eastern Seaboard found themselves swamped with customers trying to stock up on everything from batteries to rubber gloves. But now that the worst is over -- and property damage estimates are in the $50 billion range -- the effect on the home improvement industry is coming into focus. 

A slow-moving Hurricane Isaac is bad news for the people of the Gulf Coast, according to Thursday morning weather reports. 

By one estimate, Isaac could cause as much as $1.5 billion in insured losses. Nearly 650,000 people in the area are without power in the Gulf region and Arkansas.

Retail companies and distributors have mobilized.

Bill Kirk and Gerry Kress are weathermen. But not the television variety.

As owners of Weather Trends, they predict temperatures and atmospheric conditions around the country (they say they’re pretty good at it); but more importantly, they analyze the weather’s impact on retail sales.

Here’s one of the secrets to the analysis: Not all heat waves are created equally.