Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/101169
from the editor Getting ���Weather Ready��� STORM& SECURITY P Superlatives only begin to tell the story: devastating, largest, deadly, costly ��� Hurricane Sandy, which morphed into Superstorm Sandy after coming ashore near Atlantic City, NJ, on October 29, stretched more than 1,000 miles across. By one count, the storm affected 24 states including the entire East Coast from Florida to Maine and as far inland as Michigan. Much of this area is still reeling from Sandy���s hurricane-force winds, storm surge, heavy rain and snow, and inland flooding. In December, President Obama proposed more than $60 billion in relief funds be appropriated���mostly for New Jersey and New York. Sandy was the second time in as many years that the mid-Atlantic and Northeast suffered devastating impacts from a named storm. In 2011, it was Hurricane Irene. Perhaps too slowly, but certainly steadily, we are becoming better prepared to deal with these storms. No, we���re not going to see 100-year-old subway tunnels dug up and rebuilt with drainage systems large enough to handle the flooding we saw in Manhattan, but even with Sandy there are success stories (see ���Surviving Sandy,��� page 12). Homes along the coast are being built above the high-water mark, or with flow-through designs that anticipate storm surge. Stronger construction methods and storm shutters are protecting homes and the lives within from the brutal forces these storms bring. We���ve still a long way to go, but we are ���getting it.��� There are reports the National Hurricane Center is reevaluating when it issues hurricane warnings. A proposed change would mean a hurricane warning could be issued 36 hours in advance of the anticipated onset of expected tropical-storm force winds within a specific area in association with a tropical, sub-tropical or post-tropical cyclone. In addition, the warning can remain in effect when dangerously high water or a combination of dangerously high water and waves continue even though winds are less than hurricane force. The destruction we���ve seen from these storms has to be emphasized���again and again���so no one ever underestimates these events. Sandy was never a major hurricane. At its peak strength it was a Category 2 storm in the Caribbean. It was a Category 1 hurricane as it crossed the New Jersey coastline. ���This year proved that it���s wrong to think that only major hurricanes can ruin lives and impact local economies,��� said Laura Furgione, acting director of NOAA���s National Weather Service. ���We are hopeful,��� she said, ���that after the 2012 hurricane season, more families and businesses all along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts become more ���weather ready��� by understanding the risks associated with living near the coastline ��� Mother Nature reminded us again this year of how important it is to be prepared and vigilant.��� Howard Shingle Editorial Director Kerri Caldwell Publisher Storm & Security Protection 4 STORM & SECURITY PROTECTION / IBS PREVIEW 2013 R O T E C T I O N IBS PREVIEW 2013 Vol. III No. 4 Web site: stormsecuritymag.com Publisher National Sales: Kerri Caldwell (773) 775-9293 kcaldwell@kasnicmedia.com Editorial Director Howard Shingle hshingle@kasnicmedia.com Office Manager/ Circulation Director: Tammy Cook tcook@kasnicmedia.com Design & Production: Lynda Cassidy (480) 276-3991 lcassidy@kasnicmedia.com Editorial Contributors: Joseph D. Belcher Barbara Harrison Don Leggett kasnicmedia, LLC KasNic Media, LLC 6430 North Central Avenue Suite 206 Chicago, Illinois 60646 (773) 775-9293 The views and comments expressed by contributors do not necessarily represent those of the publisher. Advertisers assume complete liability for all content of advertisements including text, representation and illustrations.