Preparedness

Consumers to receive greater hurricane protection

June 25, 2007 -- TALLAHASSEE, FL – An agreement reached today between Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum and Home Depot will entitle some South Florida consumers to free replacement hurricane shutters and will improve customers’ options for hurricane safety. Consumers will also receive refunds of up to 25 percent of the prices paid to purchase hurricane shutters which may not have provided sufficient protection from dangerous storms.    » read more »

Senate Hearing in Washington, DC Raises Questions About Deliberate Administration Interference to Reassure New Yorkers their Air was Safe, Outlines Serious Inadequacies in EPA's Test and Clean Program and Reveals that the EPA is Unprepared to Deal with Future Disasters; Senator Calls on the Government Accountability Office to Conduct a Separate Investigation Into the EPA's Level of Prepa

June 20, 2007 -- Washington, DC - Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Superfund and Environmental Health, questioned Administration official    » read more »

Chapel Hill, North Carolina – Following the Army Corps of Engineers' report on the vulnerability of large parts of New Orleans in the event of another significant hurricane, Senator John Edwards released the following statement.

"The people of New Orleans continue to be ill-served by the federal government -- first, when tens of thousands were left to fend for themselves after Katrina hit, and now again by President Bush and the Army Corps of Engineers. It's unacceptable that the Corps has not protected large parts of the city from the next major storm.    » read more »

June 18, 2007 -- Whether the participants were new to civil support operations or veterans of real-world missions, all say they found opportunities to learn during the Texas Hurricane Exercise June 4-7.

The event in Austin, Texas, allowed the state and its federal partners to evaluate Brownsville and Houston-Galveston evacuation plans as the notional Category 4 “Hurricane Debbie” approached the Texas coast.

In a concurrent exercise, U.S. Army North’s Region VI Defense Coordinating Officer and Element tested its civil support concept of operations.    » read more »

June 15, 2007 -- EAGLE PASS, Texas -- In a potentially dangerous severe-weather situation would you (and your family) prefer to be among the first or among the last to know? A NOAA Weather Radio can make the difference.

The price of a no-frills NOAA Weather Radio is about $20. A weather radio provides instant access to the same weather reports and emergency information that meteorologists and emergency personnel use: information that can save your life.    » read more »

June 12, 2007 -- PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region III office is making preparations for an active hurricane season, which officially began on June 1. Region III’s jurisdiction includes Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.    » read more »

June 12, 2007 -- NEW ORLEANS, La. -- Scientists predict that 17 named storms and five major hurricanes will develop in the warm waters of the Atlantic and Caribbean this year. With hurricane season already underway, having a family disaster plan should be a top priority with Louisianans across the state, especially those who occupy the more than 48,000 travel trailers or mobile homes provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).    » read more »

June 13, 2007 -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will sponsor the fourth annual National Preparedness Month this September and encourage Americans to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses and communities. This year’s effort has a growing coalition of more than 625 national, regional, state, and local organizations pledging support.    » read more »

6/7/2007 -- MILLINGTON, Tenn. (NNS) -- Hurricane season officially began June 1 and the Navy has some tools to make sure Sailors, Navy civilians, and families are accounted for in a disaster.

The Disaster Muster Tool (DMT) pulls muster information from multiple sources and is designed to conduct a central accounting of the affected area, said Capt. Hank Vitali, the Director of the Navy Personnel Command (NPC) crisis-action team.    » read more »

June 7, 2007 -- MIAMI – Florida Governor Charlie Crist today joined the Crespo family of Miami as they purchased hurricane supplies and took advantage of the Hurricane Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday that runs through June 12. Earlier, the Governor toured the National Hurricane Center located at Florida International University in Miami.    » read more »

6/5/2007 - EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFPN) -- National Hurricane Center officials predict the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1 and continues through Nov. 30, to have a 75 percent chance of being an "above average" season.

NHC forecasters predict the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season will have 13 to 17 named storms, of which seven to 10 could become hurricanes and three to five of these could become Category 3 or higher major hurricanes.    » read more »

Learn What Your Community is Doing to Reduce Flood Risk

June 1, 2007 -- PORTSMOUTH, N.H. -- There are steps you can - and should - take now to prepare for the next flood. First, you should be fully aware of your flood risk and work with your community on what you and your neighbors can do to lessen losses from flooding. In your home, you can take simple steps to protect property and more involved measures to lessen the impact on the structure. One of the best things you can do to prepare for flooding is to buy flood insurance.    » read more »

Jun 01, 2007 -- As the United States enters the 2007 Hurricane Season June 1 the Department of the Army and its leadership are working to ensure that all components of the United States Army are fully equipped and trained to support the individual states in the event of a hurricane or crisis. The Stafford Act and the National Response Plan give the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) the lead in responding to any disaster. The Army is prepared to assist civil authorities, if requested.    » read more »

May 31, 2007 -- PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- When the next flood or other disaster strikes, getting your company back to business quickly may depend on emergency planning done today. "Planning for disasters, natural or manmade, will help protect your business investment and give your company a better chance for survival," said Peter J. Martinasco, federal coordinating officer for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).    » read more »

31 May 2007 -- Hurricane season officially begins on June first and runs until November and residents of the U.S. Gulf coast areas are anticipating the coming months with a certain degree of dread. Hurricane Katrina devastated the area less than two years ago. As VOA's Greg Flakus reports from Bayou La Batre, Alabama, many communities along the coast are still struggling to recover from Katrina.    » read more »