Click to edit Master title style,Click to edit Master text styles,Second level,Third level,Fourth level,Fifth level,Information Dissemination Technologies and Architecture:,Meeting the Growing Needs of Decision-Makers and the Public for Critical Weather Information,Mr.Samuel P.Williamson,Federal Coordinator for Meteorology,Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research,National Hurricane Conference,Training Session,April 6,2004,Training Session Overview,Why are we here?,Critical Weather Information Impacts,Training Session Purpose,Training Session Expected Outcomes,Logistic Questionnaire and Information Dissemination Technology(IDT)Listing,Training Session Panels,Summary,Critical Weather Information Impacts,Discuss getting natural hazard warnings(e.g.,hurricane warnings)to the public and emergency management,Watch/Warning message must be clear and consistent,So its relevant to the target community,Criteria may must be clearly understood,Facilitate understanding and promote,a safe,response,Key point the message must get to the public,Capitalize on state-of-the-art information dissemination technologies,like NOAA Weather Radio and Reverse 911,Partner with state/local governments and the private sector to fill information voids,Noteit has been reported that the greatest average yearly threat is posed by floods and flash floods,Warnings issued by the NWS reach the public through a variety of methods,For warnings to reach the public quickly and accurately requires cooperation,Success also hinges on the ability of the public to respond,In summary,each step of the watch/warning process must function efficiently,Critical Weather Information Impacts,1890,the Weather Bureau was createdhurricane of 1875 destroying Indianola,TX,without much warning was a contributing factor,1900,the Galveston hurricane killed 6,000 people-greatest natural disaster in United States historyno formal hurricane warning issued,1920s,several hurricanes hit with little or no warning,1926,a very strong hurricane brought great devastation to southeast Florida causing more than 200 deaths.The,warnings for that storm were issued at night when most residents were asleep,and unaware of the rapidly approaching hurricane,1928,another severe hurricane hit south Florida and killed an estimated 1,800 people who drowned when Lake Okeechobee overflowed,Critical Weather Information Impacts,1933,the largest number of tropical storms(21)developedtwo were hurricanes that affected the east coast of the United States,including Washington,and were badly forecast and warned,1999,Hurricane Floydover 20 inches in some areas of North Carolinafifty-one people died,and overall damage exceeded six billion dollarsin spite of ample warning of Floyds approach,most residents inland had virtually no warning of the floods that engulfed them,leaving many to rescue themselves in the middle of the night,2004,a Baltimore area water taxi capsized due to,sudden high winds,in the Inner Harbor area of Baltimore,Maryland,near Fort McHenry,killing five personinvestigation continues into warning support surrounding this incident,Critical Weather Information Impacts,While we are here at the NHC today to concentrate on the IDTs needed to get warnings out in a timely manner,we must not lose sight of the fact there are other issues,like social response,we will have to tackle also.Such as,It was,reported that after being warned of the tornado that struck Arkadelphia,AR,20 minutes later,an individual did the once-unthinkable act:she traveled into its path to retrieve her sister,There are also increasing numbers of people putting themselves in harms way by chasing tornadoes with video cameras or by watching and waiting too long after being warned at home,A large fraction of the total deaths in the Wichita Falls,TX tornadoes of 1979 and Huntsville,AL in 1994 were people that were caught in their cars during rush hour trying to get home ahead of the tornado,Critical Weather Information Impacts,Training Session Purpose,Examine:,Current and future IDT policy,Available information dissemination technologies and architectures,Acquire feedback:,How does the emergency management community view current and planned IDT resources,Are there any unmet IDT needs?,Training Session Overall Outcomes,Enhance knowledge of Federal policies and guidelines,Look at how policies and guidelines are implemented,Update on resources(programs,tools,etc.)available,Stimulate feedback!,Training Session Logistics,NHC Questionnaire-Natural Hazard Warning User,Need feedback,Existing IDT to receive warnings,Time and place limitations,Start to build an assessment of existing warning systems,IDT listing shows the kinds of existing technologies we are aware of today,Training Session Panel Structure,Two panels to help focus our information flow and feedback,Panel I:,Federal natural-hazards information dissemination policies,procedures,and technologies for decision-makers,Panel II:,An assessmen