weary and valued men. history will always record where that road began. it began here with the first footprintsnches of normandy. 202-748-8004 the 150,000 souls set off towards the tiny sliver of sand on which hung more than the fate of a war. rather the course of human history. >> today we remember those who fell and the honor a who fought right here in normandy.

[inaudible conversations] good morning everyone and welcome. thank you to the reporters in the room and also to those that are joining us virtually on today's hurricane season kickoff

media day. on the public affairs office of the national hurricane sees center in the press conference is currently beingon liv through the national hurricane center youtube channel and their facebook app. briefing will be available on the hurricane channel after the briefing isis over. we had 15 to 20 minutes or so on remarks followed by q&a right ah reporters in the room. our speakers were today we have the national hurricane center director michael bennett followed by the fema deputy administered or eric hooke and congressman moskowitz. we have eric with us todayri joining us and with that i will pass it on to the doctor michael bennett. and i think you and good morning everybody. thanks for coming here to the

noah national hurricane center on the precipice aboooks to 2be an act of 2024 hurricane season. if you point to want to emphasize today. between the seasonal forecast thatna come out the highest seasonal forecast at the high-end of range of numbers that no has eschewed in me. we are looking at 25 main storms eight to 13 hurricanes and 47 to expect to become major hurricanes so a high chance of an active hurricane season. as we head to the season of preparation have to be the same every year regardless of what the forecast says. only takes one storm to affect you and your community to make it a hurricane season at the things i want to emphasize in particular doesn't take a major hurricane making landfall in your state or your area or locality especially from the water hazard. rainfall flooding is then the deadliest hazard and tropical storms in the united states of

the last 10 years and more than half of the fatalities could rainfall flooding is almost entirely unrelated to the strictest door. doesn't matter what category does her fits of tropical depression storm or hurricane but all that matters is how hard it rains at how long it rains in the given location for any given amount of time. [inaudible] lost more than 40 lives in these events and the currents are an underappreciated hazard and looking at the storm surge last 10 years in nine states especially along the east coast facing beaches and four north

carolina new jersey the most■ dangerous spot by hurricanes that might be hundreds of miles away. they don't get a lot of attention. again you have to know your risk for that's a the first step to getting prepared for hurricane season. the evacuation zone is the foundation of your o awareness you will be asked to leave your home by local or state emergency management official. you need to know where you're going to go how you're going tau how you will get your friends and loved ones ofti harm's way. you only have to evacuate miles to get out the storm. again preparation is the key. if you're going to shelter in placeyour emergency kit in plact you want to start collecting now will couple days

worth of non-partial food water medicine batteries and anything you'll need to survive the aftermath of the major hurricane making landfall and there may be power outages for days and no access to medical emergencies. that plays into post-storm safety which is another point almost as many people after hurricanes and storms in this country last 10 years were in the path of the storm itself. particular in florida we have lost over 200 people in the indirect accidents including power issues cardiac arrest improper generator gives heat exhaustion lack of medical access. we want to make sure people are safe after thehe storm. what are we doing to help communicate this? we are rolling out from the hurricaneenter ai translated spanish-language products across their entire tropical segment in the atlantic and eastern pacific to speak to a large number of our constituents and public in the u.s. and internationally

primary language is spanish for those prts are available at hurricane.gov and will be available throughout the■; seas. we are rolling out an experimental version of the cone graphic. soby mid-august it will show the inland extentricane watches and warnings the united states to the wind hazard which can extend many miles away from the coast especial in major hurricane landfall. again just to wrap up a couple of reminders it only takes one storm affecting you and your community. let's make this a hurricane preparedness community project but we have to take care of ourselves are mily friends and neighbors to get you have new neighbors new family new friends who have moved into your area that is hurricanean prone to coe from area that's not exposed to hurricane hazards help them understand what that risk is. finally find your trusted sources of information. follow thene national hurricane■ your your local national weather service forecast office. e,weather.gov and

for fema or state and localy mad government officials follow them on social media and find out that information now still aren't scrambling to find out how to get■! that important information when a storm threatens you storm storm threatens you threatens you put this point about to her great ementra agency deputy management eric to say if the words.r >> thank you director ben and it's an honor to be a thank you for being a trusted voe this important community and also thank you for hosting us herere severe weather events including hurricanes continue to increase in frequency and duration. the collaboration between fema and the national hurricane center is more important thanrt ever. i want to acknowledge the journalists and media better here in the room along with the national weather service onpersonnel and the congressman for all the critical work that you do to ampli the lifesaving messaging that needs to take place.

we are going to focus on prepared eis hurricane season. tomorrow marks the start of the 2024 atlantic hurricane season, and as we heard from noaa could be an active one. so we are getting down to the wire when it comes to ensuring that our community is prepared for this season. my message to the american people remains the time to make sure that you have a clear understanding of your unique area is things you should prepare for an account to be risk ready. do you have medication that requires refrigeration? do you have a medical device that runs off of electricity? you have mobility challenges that make itth more difficult to evacuate and when was the last time you did an insurance check including flood insurance? not the time to ask yourself

these questions, understand your particular risk for you and your community and put her plan together so that you are prepared when disaster strikes. that's what resilience is anticipating the risk taking steps to mitigate them, taking action at the appropriate times which in turn helps jumpstart the recovery process. let me remind you as michael has earlier that this information is not just for coastal regions. we have seen impacts of storms hundreds of miles terms like hurricane's eyeor then hillary that had significant impact far away from the coastal impacts. again i want you to ask yourselves these particular questions. all off us from the federal level, the tribal government stayed in community and individual levels need to start getting risk ready now.

we are well postured coming into this atlantic hurricane season premiere this year we open a new distribution center in greencastle pennsylvania tripling our capacity to better position us to rapidly respond to communities in the mid-atlantic in the northeast. as i have said before time can be a great asset for rpo proces. we are posturing earlier and pre positioning earlier so we can reach people faster than ever. we have also delivered hurricane readiness training to 4000 emergency managers to ensure that they are in lockstep with our partners and first responders have made historic us for individuals and families to receive assistance to increase flexibility in our program and jumpstart recovery more efficiently. we contained work with communities and our partners on

the stateribal local and community t level to prepare for the we are emphasizing for all of us to be in the know. we want to know that disasters can strike quickly and without warning. this hurricane season we want to make sure everyone is ready and equipped with air evacuation plan. we want people to know where to go, what to bring and where to get good and trusted information. the past is not always the victor the future because it's very important. preparation is always our best ally in our bestan defense. commit to preparedness together. this is a hole with community approach. so here are four steps that i believe we should take. one, know your risk to identify specific hazards that you face. note to communities face the same extreme weather conditions

so it's important to understand or location's risk which you will find on a the risk index that fema.gov. two know when and where to go. whether it's a designated shelter at the home of a a loved one who's outside of the affected area or an inland location. make sure you know your evacuation destination having dó these plans in place will save valuable time and most importantly save lives. more states designated evacuations of them. dead -- predetermined routes management web site can be invaluable on the emphasis of saving lives. know what toknown what to bring to help you evacuate quickly andçq safely. a the go bag with the essentials you might need. i can mention the number of those make sure everyone ine yor

household knows how to locate these items and where they are stored and who will be responsible for retrieving them. as always don't forget your pets as well. our own emergency kit■t should include things such as water nonperishable foodsat■m and fore family and pets, medication clothing important documents that you believe you might need mentioned before and again know your information resources identify where you can findb" reliable information so you can make important decisions before a disaster strikes your you recover.help keeping up to date with the latest developments is key success in the key to saving lives. check with your local emergency manager and the national weather service which will provideti updates on conditi■s shelter

locations and other important safety information. keep an eye out or text alerts from these trusted sources and your local authorities but i urge everyone to download the fema app we can get additional preparedness and emergencyem alerts. the things i mentioned are really no cost and again we never can put on what a life is worth. these are low cost save lives. so everyone here is a role to play in making sure that families, loved ones and our they need toe what stay t safe. if you haven't done so already ask you to take the time to think about the things that you hear about today but don't delay. don't think too long time to act is now paid the time to prepare yourself and your loved ones is now. i t thaoun and my pleasure to introduce to you our congressmen

derek lived the experience and is here with us today. congressman. >> good morning everyone. it's good■p to be here back at e national hurricane center although i'm happy to be in a different role than i was bacnte gentlemen and their teams and the folks in these buildings are the folks at fema, these are the folks that are preparing all year in advance and prepared to respond and help communities recover along with their state partners state local emergency managers out there getting ready for hurricane season. i want to thank everybody for their service. as the only former emergency management director in congress i'm especially concerned with

the finance role. the fincng sure that congress provides the resources needed to respond to this hurricane season. we know that fema's disaster relief fund is going to run out inru mid-august right in the middle of hurricane season. the same thing happened last year dustier way on a bipartisan basis were able to pass the fema supplemental. fema provides lifesaving resources to a disasters all around the nation. emergency management cannot be something that gets caught up in today's partisan politwil work s on a bipartisan basis in congress to make sure that we solve this problem to make sure that communities have the resources to respond and recover from natural disasters. as you heard today hurricane seasonhe official state guardd is tomorrow. i want to encourage all floridians to prepare and this

means taking advantage of the disaster preparedness sales tax holiday, stocking up on the items that you need during a storm. the first day of the holiday starts tomorrow saturday june 1 and will end on friday, june 14. use this opportunity to go out and buy your flashlights, your lanterns, your batteries or tarps and all approved items and you can do this now without having to pay any taxes for the state of florida has done a great job. kevin guthrie did director along with the governor to ensure these tax holidays can help people all across the state save money on hurricane supplies. one thing that i learned duringe director of florida is how important it is to have real resources on hand. now's the time to prepare. use this time. you have seen the forecast. don't wait until the last

that's true not just on the individual level but the government level cities counties and states. now's the time to take advantage the heart of hurricane season. inoe have seen big hurricanes in the past in last two years in august or september or october but don't wait. now is the time to get yourself prepared. and also when preparing your hurricane supply kit do not forget to include your pet. here in florida we have mandatory pet shelters so every single county has a place that if you have to shelter you can bring your pet. as far as florida's concern florida's battle tested we have responded to several large storms and years with ian and ae response for hurricane michael.y management team in the country as do many of the other states

who have dealt with disasters in their own region. please pay attention to what your local emergency management team andnd emergency managers he to say. please don't cut it out. information can change but just morning it could change by thehe afternoon so please stay in constant attention while a storm might be headed in your general vicinity. the track of the storms can as you know and if they tell you please heed the warning. iffo they aren't telling you tht for any other reason than to help save your life, your family's life and your pets. now's aood time to know your home and know what evacuation zone you currently live in. you can find your evacuation zone it www.florida disaster.orgknow your zone. again www.florida disaster.org's

know your zone. get out there in the next couple weeks and make the most of the sales tax holiday and they stand. now i want to turn over to marie with the national hurricane center for any questions. thank you.u. >> thank you congressman moskowitz question answer press briefing p your nr affiliation and we will direct your questions a. qany questions? michael bennett that the average person -- we want them to be prepared and aware however it

doesn't matter if you're predicting one storm or 50 and we understand that here have liver i've seen p the publicdone for. how can i best understand the number where it does not necessarily -- and is there something i can get through to them do not go extremist. or we are done for the season. >> at a basic level the public shouldn't care what the seasonal forecast actually says because it's not■(■ó a preparedness too. singapore test like this people should beasured and as we have d here this morning this is the timemakema every year. at the enterprise the media of the hurricane enterprise emergency management inf governe

careful not to over hype and use dramatic words to describe it for the reason he said. you want people to see it and tune decide to throw for hands and say i'm not going to prepare but the message test to and again mi same. here in south florida the entire hurricane season is upon u for director brennan or whoever wants to address it here in florida we are battle tested in the past few years some of the parts of the country have learned that a tropical depression is extre scenario. there are parts of the country if you had a magic wand where would that be? >> i think it would be everywhere. you could look at parts of florida and you could look in south florida where we are here

with the risk being high but we haven't had a major hurricane landfall in a generation. again justm is happening in a gn place you still have people moving in and out of hurricane prone regions in the risk profiles change. it's a great reminder is a talk about rainfall flooding has been the deadliest hazard and has nothing to do with how strong a storm as i went perspective did want people to focus on hazards watches and warnings from the national weather servi especially the water storm surge and evacuation flood watches and warnings that highlights the areas of risk for flooding by rainfall. that is to be w the magers -- message not about the category now with track or the strength the storm. you have to get into that hazard space and just■# 2020 we had hurricane or tropical storm watches and warnings thatwa toucheds every inch of united states coastline from texas to

maine including puerto rico and the virgin islands. we have had many impactful storms of last years especially along the gulf coast the carolinas. they have been impacts almost across the entire country to go back over or four seasons again it's that constant reminder that constan refresher of what that risk is. people lead busy lives and there are many■@ things they are thinking about. hurricane season is coming around and it's time to look at the risks. [inaudible] >> that's a great question. your identification and rapidly developing a intensifying source or wrist with a golf course and for florida in particular but the strongest hurricanes that it

ever hit the united states behind category for the category fives were tropical storms or less three days before in that region in particular don't necessarily have a week■ir more to watch a hurricane come across the atlantic. the biggest threat for a storm to form the caribbean the goal for the southwest atlantic rapidlyfying to make landfall on for five days everyone needs to have a short fuse hurricane emergency plan and that's why it's so important to know as eric said know your risk now. have your evacuation plan in place and have your go kit ready in your supplies ready because if one of the storm develops and threatens your area within two or three days you won't necessarily have time to pull up altogether. this is the time to take advantage of the sales tax holiday that's going on now. get those supplies ready and gradually build up your supplies your kit your readiness and be ready for those short emergencies but that's why it's important to find a trusted source of information so you can

when the storm threatens. >> thank you for the question. as i mentioned last wee up a nen center in pennsylvania to more■f quickly respond with pre-positioned commodities and assets to the mid-atlantic area and the northeast area. we are also working with our state and local travel partners to feel capacity at t level so we are training thousands of emergency managers to be a op to address any threat that may come and at all hazards approach as well. we are being more forward forward-leaning than we have before because we don't want to jbe slow. pre-positioned at not just commodities the personnel as well. incident management assistance teams will push out outside of the impacted zone ahead of any offense and we will also have the ability to respond even more

effectively and faster to meet the needs of communities around the nation. >> one thing i will quickly add onto that is from the forecast perspective we have betr now forecast to thehu hurrine center is made for aggressive forecast of storms and going back to dahlia wester we are able to correctl intensification of the category 3si or we have better data from the hurricane aircraft getting into the models and that's giving forecasters the confidence to set the stage and expectations properly for those hazards especially these storm surge hazard which drives the declaration decision-making. inn they need for quick response. question. anybody else? go ahead of

>> laura can correct me if i'm wrong. i don't know if you want me to walk over and point to it. this was launched at the bottom of hurricane hunter aircraft. essentially whether olympic goes down and said about that measures temperature pressure wind humidity and that data comes ouircraft to us at the hurricane center in real time and it also goes in the model. that's important information it gives us aíz 3-d picture of the date of the aircraft collectives to the ocean surface. >> this is more the research chround so smaller more orderabe lighter weight type instruments and collecting that data. this is a small aircraft system

called the with so essentially a small drone but is launched at the same tube under the petri aircraft and deployed. it can fly down it's actually remote control from the aircrt and can fly near the ocean surface where you can't light rc■whft andthere for couple of s measuring data about windhe ocean surface in the atmosphere which is how hurricanes get s their energy and give us data where we can't get from any otherer platform but y can't light aircraft in the hurricane to get that information. this is an active research teste data here at the hurricane center in real time from these instruments and this is an ocean instrument again that measures ocean. he content another information information about ocean currents ocean information that is very important to hurricane intensity for example.

>> thank you all for all your remarks and thank you for all your questions. that will conclude our briefing for today. is there any other questions you can send an e-mail to nec. public. affairs at nola.com. thank you very much. ■hom■é