Objective: This project supports the World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) Tropical Cyclone Programme (TCP). The objective is to publish a generic international resource guide for disaster preparedness and emergency management officials, and educators. This guide would assist them in creating awareness programs for citizens of their respective tropical cyclone-prone nations.
Rationale: Literally millions of lives are affected
and billions of dollars lost each year as a result of tropical
cyclones. During the period from 1980-1996, a total of 670
tropical cyclones, typhoons, and hurricanes occurred worldwide.
Over the past three decades, significant advances have improved our
ability to prepare for and mitigate against the damaging effects of
tropical cyclones. Concerted international efforts have resulted in
a better understanding of tropical cyclone events. Technical
advances in weather monitoring equipment enable scientists to
vigilantly monitor tropical cyclones as they form, track them as
they move, and predict, with greater accuracy, where they are
likely to impact people and property.
While great strides have been made to understand and cope with
tropical cyclones, more must be done. We must expand our basic
knowledge, upgrade equipment needed for monitoring and
prediction, improve warning and communications systems, and
strengthen meteorological services. The need for continued
effort is reconfirmed by the deaths and destruction left in the
wake of each tropical cyclone that affects populated areas
today, a problem that will undoubtedly increase as coastal
populations continue to grow.
Improved meteorological services alone are not enough to prevent loss of life and reduce property damage due to tropical cyclones. Officials and the general public must understand the importance of taking precautionary measures to protect themselves and their property, the significance of warnings when they are issued, and the possible hazards posed before, during, and after tropical cyclone events.
The process to achieve this state of readiness is accomplished with the help of an awareness program. The resource guide provides a framework for the development, modification, and implementation of local tropical cyclone awareness programs. In addition, development of a resource guide as a website on the World-Wide Web would make the information even more accessible to a greater number of tropical cyclone-prone nations.
Method:The prototype for the resource guide is Tropical Cyclone Programme Project No. 14: A Resource Guide for United Nations Members of Tropical-Cyclone-Prone Regions (Friedman and Ressler, 1983). The original guide has been revised and updated. The Internet was used extensively to obtain up-to-date information on worldwide issues concerning tropical cyclones. The guide's design encourages interactive use by disaster preparedness and emergency management officials and educators. By providing questionnaires and checklists, officials and educators can assess the viability of their nation's or region's tropical cyclone awareness programs and, where appropriate, create new programs or modify existing ones. The chapters on tropical cyclone meteorology are being updated, and an FAQ (frequently asked questions) section (after Landsea, 1997) is included as an appendix.
Accomplishments: A manuscript, Tropical Cyclone Awareness Programmes: Preparing for the Twenty-First Century, is nearing completion. The WMO has continued to express its interest in publishing the final manuscript. A paper describing the project has been accepted for presentation at the Seventh Symposium on Education-AMS, Phoenix, Arizona, January 11-16, 1998.
Other Work In Progress: An interactive website for hurricane
awareness, to be used by educators and by the general public, is
being planned. A grant proposal to partially support this
effort was submitted to the Department of Community Affairs
Division of Emergency Management in Tallahassee, Florida. If
the proposal is funded, a pilot project will be developed for
the coastal counties of Florida. The website will contain
material that supports and enhances the curriculum objectives
of the State of Florida. The website will also be used to
increase knowledge of hurricanes as geophysical events and to
deal with socio-psychological aspects of the hurricane problem
in Florida, including preparedness and mitigation issues. The
program will include interactive lessons, quizzes, and
simulations. The initial effort will be in English; however,
Spanish and Haitian versions are also envisioned.
If the program is successful, plans are to enhance the scope of the
material on the website to include site specific examples of
hurricane problems in coastal states westward along the Gulf of
Mexico to Texas and along the Atlantic coast northward to Maine.
Key References: