NOAA CONCLUDES SUCCESSFUL HURRICANE AWARENESS TOUR
Continued Preparedness Efforts Urged

With the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season less than one month away, NOAA’s 2006 Hurricane Awareness Tour came to a successful conclusion today in Tampa, Fla., delivering its message of the need for hurricane preparedness to thousands of visitors and media audiences.

More than 4,000 students and other guests throughout the Gulf Coast region toured “Kermit,” one of NOAA’s Lockheed WP-3D Orion hurricane hunter aircraft, during stops in Brownsville and Beaumont, Texas; Mobile, Ala.; and West Palm Beach and Tampa, Fla., which were extensively covered by local and regional media.

Max Mayfield, director of NOAA’s National Hurricane Center, emphasized the importance of an individual hurricane plan. “We know that people who have a hurricane plan, and execute that plan, fair much better than those that do not,” said Mayfield. “Each person needs to take individual responsibility and make preparations now.”

NOAA’s National Weather Service forecast offices arranged the event with local governments, emergency managers, FEMA, schools, the public, and the media in a team effort to increase hurricane awareness and encourage preparedness in this vulnerable area of the nation.

“Educating the public is an ongoing mission. Hurricane season starts on June 1 and coastal residents need to be prepared,” said Bill Proenza, director of NOAA National Weather Service’s southern region.

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. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, over 61 countries and the European Commission to develop a global network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.

On the Web:

NOAA: http://www.noaa.gov

NOAA’s National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov