The season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 each year. But officials said the hurricane story this year is not so much in the numbers, as in the devastation caused by rain and flooding. Our department's technology and people accurately defined the threats in the case of hurricanes Floyd and Irene, yet there is much we can and must do to increase the public's awareness of these additional threats and reduce the toll from collateral effects. The tragic loss of life and economic disruption caused by Hurricane Floyd's wide-spread flooding from eastern North Carolina to New England and the rainfall from Irene reminds us that we cannot lower our guard for the seemingly weak storm. Improved technology gives us advanced warning of these events.
Government can inform and lead, but it's ultimately individual action that saves lives.
NOAA's investment in a new computer to replace the Cray C-90, already at the end of its service life, makes us less vulnerable. In this day and age of technological interdependence, we rely on each other. At no time was service seriously degraded. Floyd turned north and northwestward while slowly weakening to a Category 2 hurricane. As it paralleled the southeastern coast from Florida to the Carolinas, emergency management triggered the largest coastal evacuation in recent U.S. history.