Preparing for the Storm: Inside PriorityEvac’s Playbook for Getting Florida’s Elite Out of Harm’s Way

Hurricane season in Florida no longer waits for landfall to disrupt lives. It arrives the moment a forecast cone appears, triggering a scramble for flights, fuel, and lodging that leaves even the most prepared families exposed. Jason Murgio spent three decades in insurance and M&A watching that scramble play out from the sidelines, until he decided to build the infrastructure that was missing: a membership-based evacuation service that moves people before the crisis, not during it.

PriorityEvac, Murgio’s Florida-based venture, pairs objective National Hurricane Center activation criteria with a leadership bench that includes a retired USAF colonel and an 18-year NHC forecaster, plus a partnership with disaster-response veterans Project DYNAMO. The result is a pre-secured jet evacuation network spanning six Florida airports and contracted flights to Atlanta, designed to turn a closing window into a planned departure.

We sat down with Murgio to talk about the moment that convinced him evacuation needed to be a membership model, how the activation system actually works, and where he sees the industry heading as Florida’s storms grow more intense.

1. You spent 30 years in insurance and M&A before founding PriorityEvac. What moment convinced you hurricane evacuation needed a membership model?

After spending decades helping businesses prepare for risk, I saw that hurricane evacuation remained one of the biggest gaps in personal preparedness. I also saw the challenges firsthand through friends and family trying to evacuate during major storms. Families were paying thousands of dollars for last-minute flights, and in many cases couldn’t even get seats on the same flight together. Having lived through hurricanes while living in New York City and Connecticut, I also experienced firsthand how disruptive they can be and how difficult it is to make travel decisions under pressure.

Those experiences made it clear there had to be a better way. PriorityEvac was created to give members a pre-arranged evacuation plan before a storm threatens. Our goal is simple: remove uncertainty from hurricane evacuation and help families make decisions before conditions become more difficult.

2. Walk us through what actually happens when a member activates their PriorityEvac membership during a storm.

PriorityEvac uses objective activation criteria based on National Hurricane Center forecasts. When those criteria are met, members receive instructions from our team throughout the evacuation process.

Upon an activation, members are notified through SMS, email and phone. They are assigned a dedicated case manager who coordinates their flight information, and are guided through each step, from departure at one of our designated Florida airports to arrival in Atlanta. Our team provides ongoing communication through the case managers as well as logistical support at the airports so members know when and where they need to be.

3. You brought on a retired USAF Colonel and an 18-year NHC meteorologist. Why was building that team non-negotiable?

Hurricane evacuation requires expertise across forecasting, operations, and logistics. We wanted a leadership team with firsthand experience making decisions in high-pressure situations.

Tim Houston brings decades of operational leadership, including overseeing large-scale evacuation operations during his military career. Wally Barnes spent 18 years as a Lead Forecaster at the National Hurricane Center before retiring, and brings more than 30 years of operational forecasting experience to our activation process. We also partnered with Project DYNAMO, whose extensive experience in disaster response, logistics, and field operations helps ensure members receive support throughout the evacuation process. A portion of every PriorityEvac membership supports Project DYNAMO’s mission. Together, their expertise and our strategic partnerships help ensure our operational planning is informed by proven experience. We want our members to know that the team planning their evacuation has done this before in real world scenarios.

4. How does the NHC-tied activation system decide when it’s time to fly people out?

Our activation process is based on objective National Hurricane Center criteria rather than subjective judgment.

The system considers both the projected impact to a member’s coverage area and the expected severity of the storm. By relying on predefined National Hurricane Center data, we can make consistent, disciplined activation decisions based on evolving conditions. The activation we built was not centered around a storms landfall, rather based on the Earliest Reasonable Arrival Time (“ERAT”) of the winds which obviously affect aviation. The triggers were designed to allow our team to use the operational window between the warnings and the arrival of the winds which close airports and ground flights. By having the aircraft pre-secured, this window becomes a planned departure window rather than a closing door.

5. Six departure airports, flights to Atlanta, GlobalX as your aviation partner. How did you land on that specific logistics setup?

Our goal was to build a reliable, scalable evacuation network before hurricane season begins. We partnered with Global Crossing Airlines (GlobalX) for contracted air transportation and selected six Florida departure airports to provide broad geographic coverage.

Atlanta was chosen because it’s a major airline hub with extensive hotel capacity and is typically outside the primary impact zone for Florida hurricanes, making it an ideal destination for members to continue their travel or stay until it’s safe to return.

6. What’s the biggest misconception people have about hurricane evacuation, and how does PriorityEvac address it?

The biggest misconception is that evacuation is a decision you can make when the time comes. In reality, evacuations fail because a storm creates instant demand on a limited number of resources. Everyone wants to leave at once, but capacity — flights, fuel, roads, lodging — is fixed. When demand spikes against that fixed capacity, the system seizes, and that’s exactly when families find themselves stranded or separated.

PriorityEvac is built around preparedness rather than reaction. Members have a pre-arranged evacuation plan in place before a hurricane threatens, so their capacity is secured ahead of the surge rather than competed for during it. Every person we evacuate also removes strain from an overburdened system — one less car on the road, one less fuel tank to fill, one less lodging accommodation needed — which means fewer people competing for limited resources.

7. Your partnership with Project Dynamo stands out. What does that relationship add that a purely commercial operation couldn’t?

Project DYNAMO brings extensive operational experience in logistics, communications, and field support, having evacuated more than 7,500 people. Their team works alongside ours to help manage the member experience when activation criteria are met. A portion of every PriorityEvac membership supports Project DYNAMO’s mission.

By combining contracted air transportation with experienced operational support, we’re able to provide members with coordinated guidance throughout the evacuation process.

8. Florida’s hurricane season keeps intensifying. Where do you see PriorityEvac, and the evacuation industry generally, in five years?

Preparedness will continue to play an increasingly important role in hurricane planning. Our focus is on expanding access to a dependable, pre-arranged evacuation option while continuing to grow responsibly alongside our operational capabilities.

Evacuation planning will continue shifting toward solutions that emphasize preparation before a storm rather than reacting once conditions have already deteriorated. PriorityEvac is designed to be part of that evolution by helping remove uncertainty from hurricane evacuation. https://www.priorityevac.com/