Credit NOAA
# 7321
Today kicks off this year’s National Hurricane Preparedness week, and as I do every year at AFD, I’ll be using this week to talk a little bit about hurricanes, hurricane history, and hurricane and general preparedness.
As a 2nd generation Floridian, I’ve experienced my fair share of these storms, and have nothing but respect for the power they can wield.
For more than 50 million Americans living in and around coastal areas (and millions more in other countries), hurricanes and their byproducts (flooding, tornadoes, lightning) are probably their greatest natural disaster threat.
From Escambia County Hurricane Preparedness Information
While South Florida and the northern Gulf coast are at highest risk, even those areas not shaded in – even hundreds of miles inland – can still feel the effects of a hurricane.
This is the first of 7 Public Service Announcements created by the National Hurricane Center to kick off this preparedness campaign.
Although the tropics don’t usually begin to seriously pump out storms until August, early season storms can occur. Below are a few notable June Hurricanes, including 1957’s Audrey – a CATEGORY 4 storm.
So Memorial day weekend isn’t too soon to be preparing.
Preparedness isn’t just for those of us who live in Hurricane country. Earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, blizzards, wildfires . . . and yes, even pandemics . . . are all threats worth preparing for
When it comes to getting the latest information on hurricanes, your first stop should always be the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida. These are the real experts, and the only ones you should rely on to track and forecast the storm.
NOAA’s NWS National Hurricane Center in Miami also has a Facebook page, where you can keep up with the latest tropical developments.
The second official information source you should have bookmarked is your local Office of Emergency Management. Here you’ll be able to access local warnings, flood maps and evacuation information.
To find it, you can Google or Yahoo search with your county/parish name and the words `Emergency Management’. Below you’ll find a screenshot of the entry page to my county’s page.
If you are on Twitter, you should also follow @FEMA, @CraigatFEMA, @NHC_Atlantic, @NHC_Pacific and @ReadyGov.
And finally, if you haven’t already downloaded the updated Tropical Cyclone Preparedness Guide, now would be an excellent time to do so.
It is a short (12-page), easy to follow guide that will walk you through the basics of understanding (and surviving) hurricanes and tropical storms.
