Natural Disasters

“When is hurricane season?”

That question was posed by Ernesto Morales with the NOAA Weather Forecast Office (WFO) in San Juan, Puerto Rico at a recent preparedness workshop. Officially, the Atlantic Hurricane Season runs from the first day of June through the last day of November each year – but Ernesto wasn’t looking for the official response.

Preparing for a disaster isn’t that different from preparing for a sporting event or just about any activity in which planning benefits from past experience. We learn from past events and apply that knowledge to future events — or we at least like to believe that we truly do learn and make better future decisions from experience.

This feature is part of a monthly series profiling scientists and technicians who provide exemplary contributions to the mission of NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R). This month’s featured scientist is Kim Albins, emergency management planning specialist for OR&R’s Disaster Preparedness Program.

The OR&R Disaster Preparedness Program is one! Established in November of 2017, the DPP has made great progress in a small amount of time toward its mission to prepare the National Ocean Service and its partners to respond to and recover from pollution events and natural disasters. In this past year, the DPP developed a foundational strategic plan, expanded partnerships, and most importantly, worked closely with NOS staff and partners to improve our preparedness and response culture.

OR&R works with partners all over the U.S. to respond to all kinds of hazardous material (hazmat) emergencies. We’re always excited to learn from our partners about how they handle hazmat situations, from oil spills to hurricanes … and even lava flows.

During the first week of September, Hurricane Florence, a Category 4 hurricane still located hundreds of miles offshore, was setting its sights to make landfall somewhere along the North Carolina-South Carolina coast. While some residents waited to see exactly where its path would lead, others decided to heed warnings issued by the governor of North Carolina to evacuate their low-lying coastal homes. As impact became imminent, NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) began tracking the storm’s path and intensity. 

WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, Sept. 25, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross presented NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration with the Department of Commerce Gold Medal for leadership in the aftermath of the 2017 Atlantic hurricanes during a ceremony in the District of Columbia.

The Department of Commerce recognized OR&R for its ““innovative leadership in responding to coastal threats resulting from three Category 4 hurricanes in under 27 days during the 2017 hurricane season.”