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Technical Details This computer course requires certain hardware and software configurations in order to display the multimedia elements properly. Information about these requirements is contained in the Help file which can be accessed from the main course menu at any time. Please read the technical requirements now. Intention of the Course The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS) annually hold 2 to 4 courses, called An Introduction to Hurricane Preparedness, at the National Hurricance Center in Miami, Florida. The number of students who can attend every year is far less than the number of people who are involved in making decisions during hurricanes. The purpose of this computer-based course, Community Hurricane Preparedness, is to provide emergency managers and decision makers who cannot attend the course with basic information about
Community Hurricane Preparedness is not intended to take the place of the Miami course or other courses that are sponsored by FEMA and/or state agencies. However, it will provide a good background for those who have not yet attended those courses. We encourage you to find out what other courses are available by contacting your state emergency management office. Target Audience This course has been designed to meet the needs of two groups of people in hurricane-prone areas. The first group is those emergency managers (and other emergency officials) at the city and county level responsible for coordination during an emergency. The second group are those decision makers (mayors, city managers, state officials) who work with the emergency managers and use their advice to make decisions about how their communities are going to prepare and respond to a hurricane threat. Full Content and Quick Tour This course has been designed so that two paths can be taken through the content: Full Content and Quick Tour. The first choice, Full Content, will take you through the entire content, including many graphics, animations, and audio clips. The structure is similar to a World Wide Web document with hypertext links to additional information. You can chose to look at any of the course sections in any order by clicking on the title in the menu bar provided, and you can skip sections or materials with which you are already familiar. In general, however, we recommend starting with the first menu item and proceeding down the list, as some of the concepts introduced are built upon as you progress through the module. The first section, Basics, describes the origin and structure of hurricanes and provides information on the techniques used to observe them. We estimate that it takes about 1 hour to complete. The Hazards section discusses the threats posed by storm surge, high winds, heavy rains, and tornadoes and takes about a half hour to complete. The Forecasting section provides a tour of the National Hurricane Center and describes the hurricane forecasting process. Examples of forecast products are provided, and there is an important discussion on forecast uncertainty. This section takes about a half hour to complete. The Decision Making section is the longest section (about 2.5 hours, if one listens to all of the
audio clips). In this section, the student is presented with a scenario of a possible hurricane strike, information
about hurricane movement and intensity and output from various decision aids are provided at various time periods,
and the student makes decisions related to preparing for an evacuation. Final Exam The Final Exam link will take you to the test that you must pass (minimum score 75%) to receive FEMA's Independent
Study certificate of completion. You can register for the course (IS-324) and submit your answers to the exam electronically
using the forms at http://www.fema.gov/emi/ishome.htm or print
the answer sheet found with the exam, complete it, and mail/fax it to |