Written by Paul Kirvan on September 18, 2008 in Business Continuity, Disaster Recovery, Emergency Response.
As the US coastal population continues to grow, so do the hazards when big storms approach. Now, a new on-line tool from NOAA, Historical Hurricane Tracks, helps users get a quick picture of coastal areas with the greatest frequency of hurricanes and tropical storms. This historical ‘snapshot’ can help business continuity and local emergency managers develop better plans for storm preparation and recovery.
NOAA’s Historical Hurricane Tracks includes data on storm strikes through 2007.
“When you know the history of hurricane landfalls in your community, you are better prepared to protect yourself from these potentially devastating storms,” says Margaret Davidson, the director of NOAA’s Coastal Services Center. “Historical Hurricane Tracks is part of a suite of products developed by the Center to help coastal residents, planners, and emergency managers prepare for — and reduce — the impacts of coastal storms.”
The website helps users generate customized maps showing the path of storms that have made landfall in the U.S. in years past. Users can search by US ZIP code, state or county, latitude and longitude, or a storm’s name or year. Searches can be narrowed to specific storm categories.
Developed by NOAA’s Coastal Services Center in partnership with NOAA’s National Hurricane Center, the site contains more than 150 years of Atlantic hurricane data and nearly 60 years of Eastern North Pacific Ocean data, which may be downloaded for use in geographic information system applications. The site also links to detailed reports on the life history and effects of US tropical cyclones since 1958.
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When a Hurricane or Flood Threatens:
- How do we maintain mission-critical operations?
- How do we protect and recover our workforce?
- How do we protect business assets?
- How do we recover from a catastrophic event?
The COMPLETE HURRICANE & FLOOD PLAN FOR BUSINESS provides a step-by-step planning template.
Tags: disaster preparedness, emergency preparedness, hurricanes
