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hurricane conference
Hurricane
Forum
The
National Hurricane Conference covers a full range of hurricane mitigation,
planning and recovery.
by
Howard Shingle
|
The
25th annual National Hurricane Conference held April 14 to 18 at the
Hyatt Regency, New Orleans, LA, brought together civic and state emergency
planners, law enforcement and EMS officials, government agencies and
relief and recovery organizations for five days of training sessions,
workshops, seminars, exhibits and an awards luncheon.
The hotel’s exhibit hall made room for some 70 organizations
covering every aspect of hurricane mitigation, planning, protection
and recovery—from desktop hurricane tracking and analysis software,
to emergency radio warning and communications equipment, debris contractors,
document recovery, preparedness consulting, even evacuation and traffic
solution providers.
Wind and debris protection was not overlooked. The hurricane protection
industry’s interests were addressed through an International
Hurricane Protection Association (IHPA)/ Hurricane Protection magazine
booth, including Frank Storms, president, and Don Leggett, membership
committee chairperson. Other industry representatives included Metal
Tech, Inc.; Lookout Shutters, Inc.; and Hurricane Protection Industries,
Inc.
Several independent agencies with vested interests also were on hand
including the International Code Council, the Institute for Business
& Home Safety (IBHS), the National Weather Service, the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the American Red Cross and the
Humane Society of the United States.
The exhibit hall was a resource for information gathering. It was
open for two of the five days the conference ran.
WORKSHOPS, GENERAL SESSIONS
At the heart of the conference were the workshops, training and general
sessions. The first three days, basically, were taken by training
sessions, many sponsored by Emergency Management Institute covering
recovery from disaster, emergency operations centers and hurricane
mitigation planning for local government.
Other training sessions covered search and rescue, risk assessment,
developing and conducting hurricane response exercises, applied hurricane
climatology and evacuation decision-making.
The opening general session on Wednesday included an overview of the
2002 hurricane season by Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane
Center. Michael Brown, FEMA deputy director, spoke on FEMA’s
role related to hurricanes and how it fits into the concept of homeland
security. Brown was named Under Secretary for Emergency Preparedness
and Response in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
That afternoon several sessions were held to discuss the lessons learned
form Hurricane Lili, the only hurricane to make landfall last season.
The topics included Lili’s effects on coastal Louisiana and Mississippi,
decision making as the storm approached the coast and what could have
happened had Lili not downgraded from a Category 5 to a Category 3
hurricane before landfall.
Some 39 concurrent workshops were held throughout the day on Thursday.
They were arranged by topics: meteorology, engineering, evacuation,
fire/EMS, mitigation, private industry, recovery, utilities, response,
public awareness and insurance.
AWARDS
An awards luncheon paid tribute to distinguished service and outstanding
achievements. Dick Fletcher, chief meteorologist for WTSP-TV, St.
Petersburg, FL, was presented the Distinguished Service Award. The
Miami Dade Building Code Compliance Office was presented the Outstanding
Achievement Award in mitigation. The Pioneer Award went to Lt. Col.
Ralph O’Hair, USAF (Ret.). O’Hair was the first Air Force
pilot to fly through a hurricane and into its eye.
Friday’s closing general session featured a discussion on in-residence
shelter as an alternative to evacuation by Ernst Kiesling, wind science
and engineering research center, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX.
The session was highlighted by a forecast for the 2003 hurricane season
by William Gray, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO.
Next year’s National Hurricane Conference is scheduled for April
5 to 9 at the Wyndham Palace Resort & Spa, Lake Buena Vista, FL. |
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