NOAA HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS CAMPAIGN GOES AIRBORNE FOR GULF COAST AND FLORIDA RESIDENTS April 28, 2006 � With the impact of a record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season still etched on the coastline from Texas to Florida, and recovery on the minds of its residents, forecasters from the NOAA National Hurricane Center will join the aircrew from the NOAA Aircraft Operations Center on a hurricane hunter aircraft tour from May 1 - 5. The five-city, five-day mission will increase hurricane awareness and encourage preparedness in vulnerable coastal and inland communities along the Gulf coast and Florida. (Click NOAA image for larger view of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Biloxi, Miss., showing tractor trailers and huge rolls of newsprint destroyed and scattered in the storm’s wake. Click here for high resolution version. Please credit “NOAA.”) The team of hurricane experts, aided by local NOAA National Weather Service officials, will ride a WP-3 Orion four-engine turboprop hurricane hunter, nicknamed "Miss Piggy," to meet emergency managers, media and the public. Cities on the route include Brownsville, Tex.; Beaumont-Port Arthur, Tex; Mobile, Ala.; West Palm Beach, Fla.; and Tampa, Fla. "The brave men and women who fly into the heart of the hurricane are our sentinels in the storm," said retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. "They, and their U.S. Air Force Reserve Command counterparts, gather data critical to producing more accurate forecasts vital for warning the public." (Click NOAA image for larger view of the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina in Bay St. Louis, Miss. Click here for high resolution version. Please credit “NOAA.”) "Working
in partnership with federal, state and local emergency managers and
the media—we can help educate the public," said retired Air
Force Brig. Gen. David
L. Johnson, director of the NOAA
National Weather Service. "But the public should also take
responsibility for preparing themselves to recognize and respond appropriately
to severe weather threats." The NOAA National Hurricane Center will continue its hurricane hazard education campaign during national Hurricane Preparedness Week from May 21-27.
NOAA, an
agency of the U.S. Department of
Commerce, is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national
safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related
events and providing environmental stewardship of the nation's coastal
and marine resources. Relevant Web Sites NOAA National Hurricane Center NOAA Aircraft Operations Center NOAA Satellite Images of 2005 Storms Media
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