CONTACT: Frank Lepore (NHC) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Chris Smith (NWS) 4/29/96
A P-3 "hurricane-hunter" aircraft and team of experts will visit five Gulf Coast cities, May 6-9, to promote hurricane safety by heightening public preparedness and education before the 1996 hurricane season begins on June 1, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced today.
Aboard the aircraft will be a team of hurricane experts who will join local emergency officials for the five-stop tour. Team leaders, Harry Hassel, director of NOAA's National Weather Service Southern Region, and hurricane specialist Max Mayfield of NOAA's National Hurricane Center will meet with local safety officials, news media and the public to increase understanding of a federal-state-local team approach to preparing for disasters.
Public outreach is important to the hurricane preparedness effort, notes Hassel. "The hurricane threat is real in the Gulf Coast. But you can prevent serious injury or loss of life, and you can greatly reduce damage to your property. Our objective is to encourage people to understand this threat, prepare for it, and then act," he said.
The touring hurricane-hunter is one of two NOAA aircraft that support the agency's oceanographic and atmospheric research and hurricane activities. The aircraft monitors hurricane movement and often flies directly into the eyes of approaching storms to gather data for the National Hurricane Center.
For this tour, the hurricane hunter serves as a backdrop for educational briefings for area school children and the general public. Evening "town hall" meetings with the team and community will provide a forum for families to learn more about hurricane safety and develop family action plans.
The aircraft will be open for public inspection on the following dates and times at these airports:
*Monday, May 6, 3:30 - 5:00 p.m.
Harlingen International Airport, Harlingen, Tex.
*Tuesday, May 7, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Scholes Field, Galveston, Tex.
*Wednesday, May 8, 3:30 - 5:00 p.m.
Lake Front Airport, New Orleans, La.
*Thursday, May 9, 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Mobile Regional Airport, Mobile, Ala.
*Friday, May 10, 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Page Field, Fort Myers, Fla.The Atlantic hurricane season begins June I and continues through November 30. During the hurricane season, NOAA's hurricane-hunters supplement aircraft flown by the U.S. Air Force Reserve from Keesler Air Force Base, Biloxi, Miss., and provide detailed measurements of severe tropical storms and their locations.
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