Hurricane Hunter to land in Cayman
(CNS): Although often found at the core of hurricanes, on Wednesday 23 March the Air Force Reserve Command’s WC-130J “Hurricane Hunter” aircraft will be on the tarmac in Grand Cayman. Since 1944, military air crews have been flying directly into tropical cyclones to gather critical weather data and as part of the NOAA’s regional tour ahead of the 2011 hurricane season they will sharing what they learned over the years with the public. The aircraft is scheduled to arrive at in Cayman about 10:00am. As well as being able to tour the aircraft in the afternoon, residents will have the chance to meet US National Hurricane Center Director Bill Read and members of the NOAA team.
“The 2010 season was one of the most active on record with the most significant impact occurring across the Caribbean and Latin America. The next hurricane season begins on June 1st and we want coastal residents to be ready for it,” said Read. “Lives and property are saved through awareness and preparedness.”
The data collected by the hurricane hunter is sent in real time via satellite from the aircraft directly to the National Hurricane Center for analysis and use by hurricane forecasters. During the 2010 hurricane season, the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron flew 100 missions in the Atlantic, covering 127 center fix requirements and 15 investigative flights for the National Hurricane Center.
"The squadron is the only remaining military unit in the world which routinely flies into tropical cyclones to aid in the United States Hurricane Warning Program," said Lt. Col. Jonathan Talbot, 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron chief weather officer.
See schedule below.
Category: Science and Nature
Tuesday 14:36 – “The protection of these brave men and women”???!! Who are they, God? Brave? Perhaps; Men & women? I’m sure. I’m not discrediting what they do but they are mortals who do a job and get paid (perhaps well) for it, not unlike anyone else. A CAL Captain has a greater degree of protective responsibility over his passengers than these hurricane hunter crews have over us. Their jobs assist in the forecasting of hurricanes and right-minded people living in the hurricane belt would be wise to protect THEMSELVES by making appropriate preparations, based on the resulting data collected by these brave men & women. Whether they fly or not, hurricanes will occur and follow paths that no man can direct. So plueeze don’t make it sound as if they are our guardian angels. If you are on this island, perhaps you should have taken a tour of the aircraft, met these crews and heard for yourself that their function is highly skilled technically and scientifically but certainly not divine.
Whaaaaaaaaat?? I hope the crew won’t get the usual work permit BS. Bow down on your knees and kiss the ground this crew walks on Cayman. You would be even more insignificant without the protection of these brave men and women.
This is a good opportunity for us to think abut disaster recovery.Good timing with the Tsunami drill.
Our businesses actually got lucky during IVAN. We had good insurance coverage and good people to help us rebuild.
However, the business environment has changed and we need to keep up with physical, data, and regulatory changes just as much as we get our hurricane shutters ready.
Continuity planning will be critical to our businesses, how we respond and how we protect ourselves will show how solid our businesses are.
Strange that its landing on the same day of the simulation of this pretend tsunmami????