This page will be updated with preparedness information and advice related to the 2009 Atlantic Hurricane Season as well as disaster recovery information during landfall incidents.

Last update: August 19

Latest hurricane forecast:
National Hurricane Center
Forecast and information feeds

August 19: Hurricane Bill
Businesses in Bermuda, the north east coast of the United States and SE Canada are keeping an eye on the track of Hurricane Bill. Later next week this storm system also has the potential to bring unseasonal gales to the UK and northern Europe. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

Preparedness news and information

Caribbean catastrophe pool renews successfully
Aon Benfield has announced that it has successfully renewed the reinsurance programme of one of the world’s most prominent multi-government catastrophe insurance pools. All 16 Caribbean member governments renewed their catastrophe policies with the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) for the 2009/10 policy period. The CCRIF was established in 2007 on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) heads of government under the guidance of the World Bank, with donor funding to provide immediate liquidity in the aftermath of a catastrophe event. More details

Fugate meets with private sector representatives
FEMA Administrator consults with private sector associations on disaster preparedness, the 2009 Hurricane Season and emergency management.
Read article

Are We Ready?: A Status Report on Emergency Preparedness for the 2009 Hurricane Season
The US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery is to hold a hearing with the above title.
Date: 6/4/09 Time (EST): 2:30 PM
Place: Dirksen Senate Office Building, Rm. 342
More details

Texas's first responders partner with Sprint in two large-scale emergency training exercises
As the Atlantic Hurricane season begins on June 1, Sprint will continue its long history of supporting Texas's first responders and public safety agencies in crisis situations by serving as the official wireless communications provider for two concurrent emergency training exercises that will simulate rescue and recovery efforts following a Category 3 hurricane. These exercises are:
- A five-day Department of Defense Interoperability Communications Exercise (DICE) at Camp Mabry, a military installation in Austin, June 1-5.
- A three-day emergency training exercise hosted by the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council in Brownsville, June 2-4.

For these two events, the Sprint Emergency Response Team (ERT) will deploy three Satellite Cell on Light Truck (SatCOLTS), hundreds of Nextel Direct Connect devices, and various ERT personnel to facilitate interoperable wireless communications among the dozens of federal, state, and local relief and response agencies and military units.

www.sprint.com/hurricaneinformation

Overview of US state and local government hurricane preparedness activities
FEMA has published an update on what various hurricane states and local government areas are doing to prepare for hurricane season. Read the press release here.

Administrator Fugate and Gen McKinley meet to discuss partnership and preparedness
The Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator W. Craig Fugate met on May 20 with the Chief, National Guard Bureau, Gen. Craig R. McKinley, to discuss working together on issues of partnership and preparedness as the 2009 hurricane season approaches.

The meeting was a helpful exchange of ideas, lessons learned and best practices as the two organizations work to synchronize efforts on behalf of the American public. In the coming weeks Fugate will hold similar meetings with local, state, tribal and federal officials to build relationships and increase the nation's focus on preparedness.

Read the full FEMA press release

Remarks by Secretary Napolitano and FEMA Administrator Fugate at May 19 media availability on hurricane preparedness
Read DHS press release

General information

Four hurricane names retired from list of storms
Three hurricane names in the Atlantic and one in the eastern North Pacific were retired from the official name rotation by the World Meteorological Organization’s hurricane committee because of the deaths and damage they caused in 2008.

The names Gustav, Ike and Paloma in the Atlantic and Alma in the North Pacific will not be used again. Those names would have been used again in 2014. In their place will be Gonzalo, Isaias and Paulette in the Atlantic and Amanda in the North Pacific. The committee issues the list of potential names for tropical cyclones to be used every six years for both the Atlantic basin and eastern North Pacific basin.

List of 2009 Atlantic hurricane names:
Ana
Bill
Claudette
Danny
Erika
Fred
Grace
Henri
Ida
Joaquin
Kate
Larry
Mindy
Nicholas
Odette
Peter
Rose
Sam
Teresa
Victor
Wanda

Submit information
To send information, useful articles, webinar and other events notices related to the 2009 Atlantic Hurricane Season, email editor@continuitycentral.com

•Date: 21st May 2009• Region: Various •Type: Article •Topic: DR general
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UPDATED 19th August