Two weeks into hurricane season, the city’s Department of Emergency Management is reminding residents to take steps to prepare before the next disaster strikes.

The city held the first of two free community workshops Saturday near downtown, where dozens of residents received information about preparing for hurricanes and tsunamis.

The next session of the Natural Hazard Community Preparedness Workshop on Oahu will be July 9 at Kapolei High School.

County-sponsored workshops also will be held Thursday on Kauai and later this month on Hawaii island.

Weather forecasters predict a slower hurricane season this year in the central Pacific, where about four to five hurricanes usually form. But experts emphasized that it takes only one powerful hurricane to cause a disaster.

National Weather Service meteorologist Victor DeJesus said the low frequency of hurricane landfalls in Hawaii can make residents complacent — until it’s too late.

Yesterday’s workshop was organized by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program, which disseminate scientific information from the university to the community.

Dennis Hwang, an affiliate member of the Sea Grant faculty, created a handbook of facts and information on preparing for natural hazards that was given out at the workshop. Copies of the handbook can be downloaded online.

He said he hopes to educate some residents who might believe a disaster won’t happen to them or that there’s not a lot they can do.

He told attendees they could prepare by having an evacuation kit and creating an evacuation plan for tsunamis and a separate one for hurricanes. He also told homeowners how to protect their homes.

"Before you make it pretty, make it strong," he said.

For example, a home’s weakest link is the connection between the roof and wall, he said. Hurricane clips, braces that connect the roof to the wall, can be installed by the homeowner over a couple of weekends and might reduce the cost of hurricane insurance.

Homes built in Hawaii before 1988 were not required to have them.

Koa Webster attended the workshop for extra credit for a college course at Kapiolani Community College and brought his mother, Mina Webster, who found the information useful.

"It’s good," she said. In preparing for a disaster, "knowledge makes a big difference."

She also appreciated how the safety tips were presented simply, so if a large hurricane or a tsunami hits, "you don’t panic."

"When it comes to a time of emergency, you want to keep it simple," she said.