Hurricane Hunter visits Maryland
MEMA, the National Weather Service and St. Mary’s County Partner to Raise Awareness for Hurricane Preparedness
Reisterstown, Maryland (May 10, 2011) The Maryland Emergency Management 
Agency (MEMA), the National Weather Service and the St. Mary’s (MD) County Office of Emergency Management recently hosted a visit by a Lockheed WP-3D P3 Orion “Hurricane Hunter” aircraft at the Patuxent Naval Air Station in St. Mary’s County. The event, held on May 3rd, was designed to encourage the public to visit, tour the aircraft and speak with the crew about their duties and learn about the tools the NWS uses to monitor, and track hurricanes. Dozens of school children, their teachers, parents, elected officials and 1stResponders all came to view the aircraft nicknamed Kermit after a character in the Muppets. Several speakers, most notably Craig Fugate the Director of FEMA, welcomed the crowd and not only spoke about the technology involved but more importantly that citizens must 
be prepared. Technology will tell us it’s coming, he explained but it doesn’t prevent the storm from occurring and emphasized all citizen must be ready to react and respond.
Richard Muth, Executive Director of MEMA, also strongly encouraged citizens to be prepared. “Hurricanes are a destructive force”, Muth said, adding, “But there effects can be mitigated and injury and death reduced if people prepare before the storm.” The key, he offered, is awareness. “Technology, such as the Hurricane Hunter, can provide us a great deal of information about a pending storm”, Muth said. “But it is up to the citizens to pay attention to that detail and other reliable news and weather sources and take the appropriate actions before
the storm so they are properly prepared when the storm occurs,” he concluded.
The aircraft remained at the base for the day before traveling to their next destination. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Weather Service deploys this aircraft to different cities at the start of the Atlantic Hurricane Season to encourage family preparedness. The season begins on June 1st and runs through the end of November each year.
For more information about the aircraft log on to www.aoc.noaa.gov. Additional information about hurricanes and hurricane preparedness can be found at www.weather.gov and www.mema.state.md.us. Follow MEMA on TWITTER at www.twitter.com/mema_feeds