National Hurricane Center has new Director

Bill Read, who had been the acting deputy director at NOAA’s National Weather Service National Hurricane Center, was officially named to the top post in late January. “Bill has a proven track record of pulling people together, from the forecaster to the emergency manager, as severe weather threatens,” Jack Hayes, director of the National Weather Service, said in a prepared statement.

Read said his top priorities will be to try to better protect people from rapidly intensifying storms and help improve forecasting overall.

One of the biggest problems, he said, is not apathetic people, but rather those people who are in denial because they don’t believe a big storm is upon us. Prior to joining NOAA’s National Weather Service, Read served in the U.S. Navy, where his duties included an assignment as an on-board meteorologist with the Hurricane Hunters. He began his career in 1977 with the National Weather Service’s test-and-evaluation division in Sterling, Va.; developed his forecasting skills in Fort Worth and San Antonio, Texas; and served as severe thunderstorm and flash flood program leader at the National Weather Service headquarters in Silver Spring, Md.

Read was appointed to direct the Houston/Galveston weather forecast office of NOAA’s National Weather Service in 1992 and led it through the challenges of the National Weather Service modernization and restructuring program in the mid 1990s.

Calling All Pinellas County Volunteer Organizations!

In the event of a major disaster, relief volunteers will become a critical part of the recovery effort. Keeping these volunteers organized is an important function of a new volunteer association called the Pinellas Hillsborough Pasco Community Organizations Active in Disaster (PHPCOAD). This organization provides the framework for community associations, businesses and volunteer non-profits with humanitarian missions to participate in disaster recovery. PHPCOAD’s primary goal will be to foster efficient, streamlined delivery of aid while minimizing duplication of efforts.

While the volunteer agencies will work within a coordinated response framework, each will maintain its own identity and independence. This framework will help ensure that the right aid is going to the right people at the right time, greatly enhancing the recovery effort.

PHPCOAD has been in existence for just under one year and is growing by the month. If you work with a church, civic group or other volunteer agency that would like to help should disaster strike, please contact Sheri Taylor at (813) 274-0962 or staylor@uwtb.org for more information.

Make Preparation Your Business

What are five things a business can do to get ready for a disaster?

1. Know your zone. There are three easy ways to find your evacuation level:
   • Visit www.pinellascounty.org/emergency
   • Call (727) 453-3150 and key in your land line phone number
   • See your Utility bill and your Truth in Millage (TRIM) notice
2. Sign up for Pinellas County’s cellular text and e-mail alert systems. Call (888) 689-8905 from your cellular phone and enter your zip code (you must be able to make and receive calls as well as receive text messages), or visit www.pinellascounty.org/emergency/subscribe.htm and register your e-mail address to receive the E-Lert at your business. Pinellas County Emergency Management also offers local businesses and organizations the opportunity to receive special business-related timely and detailed emergency information electronically. If you are a Pinellas-based business, agency or organization and interested in being notified of significant weather threats or other emergencies, please contact Emergency Management at (727) 464-3800 and ask about this service.
3. Review your insurance policy and coverage to ensure that it is up to date and sufficient. Remember, neither home nor business insurance covers flood damage caused by a hurricane. Visit www.fema.gov/business/nfip for more information on the National Flood Insurance Program.
4. Develop a Business Continuity and Communication Plan. Ensure you can communicate with your employees, customers and vendors after a storm. Store their contact information in a safe place and take it with you when you evacuate. Back up your files and keep an up-to-date inventory of your business assets.
5. Establish Business-to-Business Emergency Partnerships. There is little work you can do in office space that has been reduced to ruins. Address that potentially crippling problem by partnering with another business – a non-competitor who is willing to offer a conference room or any available space to assist you as you recover. If they are the ones in trouble, make your space available to them. Contact your local Chamber of Commerce for more information on creating these relationships.

For more information on emergency preparedness for your business visit www.pced.org/hurricane.

Hazardous Materials: What Would You Do?

If an event such as a hazardous materials spill happens, you might be told to shelter in place. Basically, this means you should stay indoors until authorities tell you it is safe or you are told to evacuate. Here are some tips that can help keep you safe:

• Select a small, interior room with no or few windows as your shelter.
• Close and lock all windows and exterior doors.
• Turn off all fans, heating and air conditioning systems. Close your fireplace damper if you have one.
• Bring your family’s disaster supply kit and make sure the radio is working.
• Bring your pets into your shelter.
• It is ideal to have a land line telephone in the room you select (cellular telephone equipment may be overwhelmed or damaged during an emergency)
• Use duct tape and plastic sheeting (heavier than food wrap) to seal all cracks around the door and any vents into the room.
• Listen to your radio or television for further instructions or updates.

If you are in your car, close windows and turn off vents and air conditioning. Remember, in the event of an incident, stay calm and take these protective actions quickly to ensure your safety.

Dispatches from the Hurricane Conferences

The E-Lert’s editor Tom Iovino is slated to attend and instruct at the National Hurricane Conference (Mar. 31 – Apr. 4) and Governor’s Hurricane Conference (May 12 – 16). Look for daily updates from Tom about what’s new this year for the Atlantic Hurricane Season at www.pinellascounty.org/emergency when the conferences begin.

We take our show on the road

Hurricane season is coming, and if you’re looking for a presentation for your homeowner’s association, civic group, church, business or other gathering, Pinellas County can help.

Currently, there are four hurricane-related presentations that can be requested:

• Becoming Storm Savvy: While we are still in the hurricane preseason, now is an excellent time to learn how you can prepare yourself to prevent panic if we are affected by a storm. From learning how to put together a survival kit without busting your budget to planning ahead for evacuations, tips are offered for everyone.
• Hurricane 101: What is a hurricane? How do they form? What are their effects? Get the basics on these dangerous tropical storms.
• Busting Hurricane Myths: Learn the dangers of some commonly held beliefs when hurricanes approach. Not only will you find the real story, you may also save your life if the big one comes.
• Hurricanes for Kids: Hurricane season can be a very trying time for younger family members. By using experiments and easy-to-understand language, your youngsters can find some control over these scary situations.

To schedule a speaker, call Pinellas County’s Speakers Bureau at (727) 464-3000. Remember, knowledge is power. Nothing can be done about the weather, but by knowing what to do when bad weather threatens, you can gain control over your personal safety.

What does that mean?

Last month, we went high into the atmosphere to take a look at cirrus clouds. This month, we’re getting a little more down to Earth while taking a look at the clouds that call the middle levels of the atmosphere home.

Between a mile and a half and four miles above the ground, you’ll find the mid-level or alto- clouds. These clouds are formed from either ice or supercooled water. Basically, the water in the clouds is below the freezing point. Because the droplets are so tiny, they can stay liquid even at those low temperatures. Pretty neat trick. The alto- clouds can take two distinct forms:

Altocumulus: gray, puffy patches that sometimes form patterns or bands. They don’t typically cause precipitation that makes it to the ground, but they can signal that a cold front is on the way.	Altostratus: a layer of gray or bluish-white that covers the sky. The sun might look like a watery disc through the clouds, and sunlight will barely be able to cast a shadow. These clouds often arrive ahead of widespread rain.

Since these clouds are closer to the ground than the cirrus clouds, they can be more greatly affected by convection (the rising of warm air from the ground). You might see the altocumulus clouds blown into interesting shapes as this warm air rises.

Because some of these clouds contain supercooled water, they can cause trouble for low-flying aircraft. As planes fly through these clouds, the water can turn to ice once it contacts the wings, reducing lift and changing the plane’s aerodynamics.

Next month, we answer the question, “How low can you go?,” when we tackle low-level clouds.

Weather facts of the month

• March 20 marks the arrival of spring with the Vernal Equinox. While day and night are technically the same length, daytime will last approximately 14 minutes longer than night because Earth’s atmosphere bends – or refracts – the light.
• It is 94 days from the June solstice to the September equinox, but only 89 days from the December solstice to the March equinox. The seasons are not of equal length because of the Earth’s orbit is elliptical – not a true circle. This means that the Earth is closer to the sun in the northern hemisphere’s winter, making it move faster because of the sun’s gravitational pull. In the northern hemisphere’s summer, Earth’s orbit is at its farthest from the sun, which slows down the planet’s orbital speed.