As we all know, the official Atlantic Hurricane season runs from June 1 through Nov. 30. During this time, the Disaster Preparedness Program located within NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration, is busy coordinating with other offices within the National Ocean Service, as well as collaborating with federal, state, and local emergency management partners, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency. However, many of you may still be wondering, “What exactly does the Disaster Preparedness Program do and how is it successful?”

For the Atlantic ocean basin, June 1 marks the beginning of hurricane season, which runs through Nov. 30. NOAA’s National Ocean Service has 100 facilities, 14 marine sanctuaries, two national monuments, and more than 1,400 employees to manage and protect from hurricanes and other significant weather events. The National Ocean Service also supports five mission essential functions in support of presidential disaster declarations.

As the Earth’s atmosphere and ocean continue to warm under the global threat of climate change, the future of coral reefs looks bleaker than ever before. With rising temperatures comes an increase in mass coral bleaching events, infectious disease outbreaks, and the process known as ocean acidification. Climate change not only affects the overall health of corals, it also impacts their resiliency. Changes to the frequency and intensity of tropical storms — another side effect of climate change — lead to storm seasons that do a massive amount of damage to coral reefs.

With climate change comes an increased frequency in extreme weather events, such as hurricanes. In this blog, Charlie Henry, director of NOAA's Gulf of Mexico Disaster Response Center—the bedrock for OR&R's Disaster Preparedness Program—discusses the dangers of storm surge flooding.

With the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season less than a month away, the time to start preparing is now. The Atlantic hurricane season starts on June 1 and runs through Nov. 30 each year. As the nation's premier science agency for oceans and coasts, we at NOAA understand that preparedness is not a one-time effort. When a disaster threatens, the National Ocean Service (NOS) must be prepared to provide a broad range of scientific, technical, and policy expertise to support response activities and to inform recovery. 

As a NOAA scientific support coordinator for Alaska with OR&R’s Emergency Response Division, Catherine Berg is used to the pollution removal process following an oil or chemical spill. But soon after Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico on Sept. 20, 2017, Catherine learned that her response skills would soon be needed to address the thousands of abandoned and derelict vessels scattered on or near the coast, many a potential source of marine pollution, as fuel and other chemicals made their way into the marine environment.

When a natural disaster strikes that is so severe that local and state governments together cannot provide the necessary resources, it’s declared a national disaster. During these disasters, the federal government steps in to provide resources — through both response support, the use of federal programs, and supplies. When a national disaster is declared, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the official advisor to the U.S. president — coordinating the activation and implementation of the Federal Response Plan.