Hurricane Preparedness Planning for Law Enforcement Agencies Essay

Hurricane Preparedness Planning for Law Enforcement Agencies - Essay ExampleMany of these locations are holiday locations and swell in population during the hurricane season. This, in itself, causes secondary problems when it comes period to evacuate these areas. The population has outgrown the roads, which leads to evacuation problems. With the lofty cost associated with boarding up homes, closing businesses, and evacuating, a real strain is put on the residents of these hurricane given over areas. Law enforcement needs to also look at what it does internally for its employees when they are dealing with an event such as a hurricane.The hurricanes that energize struck the south Florida region have taught many things to first responders and the agencies that have employed them. Such events as Hurricane Andrew changed the way Florida looks at hurricanes. Andrew formed on August 16th, 1992 and dissipated on August 28th. Andrew is the second most destructive hurricane in U.S. histo ry. With winds pictureed at 175 Mph, it is one of hardly three Category 5 hurricanes to make landfall in the U.S. in the 20th century. In 1992, damage from Hurricane Andrew was estimated at $26 billion and was the most damaging storm in U.S. history (NOAA, 2003). It was in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina made landfall that the record books changed.When Hurricane Charlie appeared in August 2004, winds ... Hurricane Charlie came just 24 hrs after Hurricane Bonnie struck northwestern Florida. This was the first time in history that two hurricanes had struck the same state in a 24 hour time period. Charlie caught many by surprise when it suddenly changed direction and came ashore in the area of Captiva Island and Char batchte entertain on August 13, 2004. The hurricane didnt meet its demise when it made its way across the state to the Atlantic. Once it entered the Atlantic honest the Daytona Beach area, it went on to strike the Carolinas and then made its way to Virginia Beach.It was H urricane Charlie that told us a lot about storm prevision. A real fact regarding hurricane prediction is that you cannot predict what the storm will do during every moment of its life. The forecast had stated that Charlie would run north up the coast of Florida and make landfall near the Tampa area. Instead, it made a sharp right turn and roared ashore 100 miles south of its predicted target. Storm forecasting is better left to the weather experts. It is the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami, Florida that takes care of the forecasting for the Atlantic states. The die hard Forecast Office (WFO) also takes care of forecasting tasks with offices located around the region. The NHC looks at the big picture, which is 3 or 4 days of forecasting, while the WFO takes that information and combines the local tidal information to forecast what the impact will be to a particular area. Hurricane impact areas for the U.S. are the entire eastern seaboard of the fall in States that includ es Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas.In terms of law enforcement agencies, the response to a major event such as a hurricane can overwhelm their resources.