Hurricane Stuff

So now we have our first possible hurricane, Alberto. Like everyone else, I started looking on the Internet to get information about it.

Last year I wrote about my sources for hurricane information.

I whined that "At work we get SitReps emails from the from Hillsborough County Emergency Management Office. They are very good. They tell me where the hurricane is at and how it will affect us. Plus there is a bit of humor involved, with quotes from Yogi Berra. However this great information is not available on their web site. Well sort of. Today I looked again again at their website and found the September 21 SitRep in pdf format. September 21!!!!!. Frankly their website is worthless. With the blogging software available there is no reason they can't have the SitReps posted as soon as the generate them."

I went back to the site and found they still do not have realtime information. I could not even find the SitReps. They have improvved the site though, adding more static information. You can sign up for Emergency News emails. They have something I did not see last year, "The Hurricane Evacuation Assessment Tool (HEAT) has been created to assist residents of Hillsborough County by providing evacuation and sheltering information in the event of a hurricane or other natural disaster. This interactive program was designed to assist the public in easily determining if they are in one of the five evacuation zones. It also provides information on shelters, hospitals, fire stations and sandbag locations."

Again one of the best sites is Skeetobite Weather. I like their spaghetti models

Of course I check the National Hurricane Center. The Florida Division of Emergency Management is a very good site that either was not very good last year or else I did not think of checking it.

Newsmediawise last year I found the best to be WFLA/TBO.COM/Tampa Tribune Hurricane Center site and WFTS - ABC Action News. I have not closely looked at the various news sites to see who is best this year.

What are your favorite sites for hurricane information?

Also, please feel a bit safer (as far as flooding) living in Seminole Heights as compared to South Tampa. Last year in my article The Heights in Seminole Heights I posted a topographical map that shows the elevation and contour lines for Seminole Heights. I live in the 50 foot mark as do many of us in Seminole Heights, except for those along the River.