With ever-increasing population growth in coastal areas, the U.S. has become more vulnerable to hurricanes. In order to help focus national attention on hurricane threats, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service, an agency of the Department of Commerce, proposed designating the third week in May (May 21-25, 2001) as Hurricane Awareness Week and unveiled a prototype of a new Web site, located at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov, that offers hurricane education and safety information.

Speaking at the National Hurricane Conference in Washington, D.C., this week, weather service Director, retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Jack Kelly, encouraged participants to increase their information and education outreach activities. "I invite our hurricane partners on the state and regional level to join us in creating a nationwide coordinated outreach effort, aimed at offering the public critical information related to hurricane awareness and safety," said Kelly.

"Our goal is to build on state and regional efforts to create an effective national outreach campaign. A Hurricane Awareness Week campaign coupled with 24 hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week access to updated hurricane and safety information through our new Web site increases the public's access to valuable knowledge they can use to prepare for and minimize risks in the event of a hurricane," Kelly said.

The new Web site prototype highlights five different topics central to saving lives and property, one for each day of Hurricane Awareness Week: Day 1: Coastal and Marine Hazards (Storm Surge & Ships); Day 2: Wind Hazards (Tornadoes and High Winds); Day 3: Inland Flooding; Day 4: The Forecast Process (Uncertainty); Day 5: Disaster Prevention (What You Can Do).

Hurricane Awareness Week is a cooperative effort between NOAA's National Weather Service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and participating states and regional hurricane authorities. These cooperative efforts resulted in shared funding and resources for the Hurricane Awareness Week education campaign and Web site.

Other Web sites of interest include:

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om
resource for information on hurricane awareness, natural hazard statistics, and printable publications

http://www.education.noaa.gov/
resource for teachers and students to use in the classroom or background reference material for the classroom