NOAA National Hurricane Preparedness Week

I just saw a link identifying that May 25 through May 31 is National Hurricane Preparedness Week. I guess it is time to get that Hurricane kit together!

In the next month I will be making my way from Eastern North Carolina to sunny St. Petersburg Florida. I will be beginning my new job as an Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at Eckerd College. I have experienced numerous hurricanes in North Carolina, but it will be interesting to see how things change when I go south. With the exception of maybe Wilmington, population density in Eastern North Carolina is completely different than the Tampa Bay/St. Petersburg area. There is a lot more infrastructure which will be vulnerable to storms. Recently a team of NOAA scientists predicted more intense storms as global temperatures rise.

For anyone interested in learning more about natural hazards research, check out "Managing Large-Scale Risks in a New Era of Catastrophes: Insuring, Mitigating and Financing Recovery from Natural Disasters in the United States." This publication from the Wharton Risk Management and Decision Process Center is very impressive. It is not exactly light reading, but any students thinking about doing Natural Hazards Research should check it out.