Breaking on MSNBC.... I know it's probably old news
LSU Researchers Assist State Agencies with Hurricane Response Plans
http://www.lsu.edu/highlights/052/pam.html
It is possibly the most exciting season of the year in South Louisiana. No, not LSU football season. Hurricane season, that June-through-November observance of satellite images of the tropics; of panicked citizens racing to grocery stores at the 11th hour to find shelves emptied of bread, bottled water, and flashlight batteries; of TV reporters dodging airborne trash cans in 100 miles per hour winds, yelling, "It stings!" as flying sand hits their wet, squinting faces.
Yes, it’s that time again. Are you ready?
Thanks to LSU’s hurricane experts, South Louisiana’s emergency officials are better prepared than ever to respond to the all-too-familiar threat of severe tropical weather.
This is Only a Test
Last summer, staff from the LSU Hurricane Center participated in the “Hurricane Pam Exercise,” a 10-day event designed to help emergency officials develop a response plan should a major hurricane threaten the greater New Orleans area.
Realistic weather and damage data generated by the National Weather Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the LSU Hurricane Center showed, with winds of 120 mph, the fictional Hurricane Pam would be a Category Three storm that would pour 20 inches of rain on parts of southeast Louisiana. In addition, more than one million residents would be forced to evacuate and nearly 600,000 buildings would be destroyed.
LSU Hurricane Center staff worked with the Louisiana Office of Emergency Preparedness, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and emergency officials from several parish, state, and federal agencies to help disaster response teams plan for search and rescue missions, medical care, sheltering, temporary housing, school restoration, and debris management.
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