(L to R) MIC Paul Trotter, WFO New Orleans; MIC Alan Gerard, WFO Jackson, Miss.; WCM Frank Revitte, WFO New Orleans; WCM Roger Erickson, WFO Lake Charles, La.; MIC Andy Patrick, WFO Lake Charles; NWS Southern Region Director Bill Proenza; MIC David McShane, WFO Mobile, Ala.; WCM Gary Beeler, WFO Mobile; and, WCM Steve Wilkinson, WFO Jackson. (Photo: WFO Mobile)
(April 14 - 18, 2008) - The 2008 Hurricane Awareness Tour was a resounding success as thousands of students, visitors, local officials and representatives from the media turned out to tour NOAA's WP-3 Orion Hurricane Hunter aircraft on its five-day, five-city tour of the Gulf Coast.
In addition to the flight crew and hurricane specialists, National Weather Service Southern Region Director Bill Proenza, National Hurricane Center Director Bill Read and numerous staff members from National Weather Service forecast offices were on hand to greet the visitors and answer questions.
The tour included stops in Corpus Christi and Galveston, Texas; New Orleans, La.; and, Apalachicola and Fort Myers, Fla.
The team of hurricane experts was also joined by local and state emergency management officials and various non-profit organizations, such as the American Red Cross. Over the last 25 years, the hurricane awareness tours have alternated between the Gulf and Atlantic coasts.
WP-3 Orion Hurricane Hunter aircraft in Corpus Christi, Texas (Photo: WFO Corpus Christi)
Designed to encourage hurricane awareness and preparedness, each year's tour is a forerunner of NOAA's national Hurricane Preparedness Week, which will take place the week of May 25. The Atlantic hurricane season begins June 1 and ends on November 30.
For more information on hurricane preparedness, visit: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/intro.shtml.
National Hurricane Center Director Bill Read talks to Galveston TV crew (Photo: WFO Houston/Galveston)