Bryan Norcross's pioneering and courageous TV coverage of Hurricane Andrew in 1992 helped thousands of people in Florida cope with the killer storm. With hurricanes back in the headlines and destined to stay there, one of America's leading experts offers a unique almanac compiling hundreds of nuggets of fascinating, useful, and potentially life-saving information. Bryan Norcross's Hurricane Almanac 2006 reviews the catastrophic season of 2005, including Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, looks forward to hurricane seasons to come, highlights the fascinating history of hurricanes interacting with civilization, and details our rapidly increasingly ability -- but still with limitations -- to predict the severity and paths of storms. Key sections offer checklists of items needed to make homes, businesses, and people safe during storms, and where to find the best information before and during a storm and how to best interpret it. Bryan will also include a provocative chapter entitled: What I'd do better: ideas for a better hurricane system.

Essential Information from CBS News' Hurricane Analyst Bryan Norcross's pioneering and courageous TV coverage of Hurricane Andrew in 1992 helped millions of people in Florida cope with the killer storm. This revised and updated version of last year's popular almanac adds detailed stories of the powerful hurricanes of the past that would be catastrophes if they happened today and explores how explosive coastal development during a time of relatively few hurricanes has set the stage for mega-disasters. If hurricanes make landfall today at the rate they did in much of the twentieth century, how could we prevent the unimaginable destruction? A new section will also help you better understand hurricane advisories. Bryan Norcross's Hurricane Almanac is two books in one. The first half is hurricane science, history, and perspectives on how we, as a society, deal with hurricanes. The second half is a personal guide to "Living Successfully in the Hurricane Zone." In addition to reviewing and explaining the relatively mild 2006 hurricane season, it looks forward to hurricane seasons to come, highlights the fascinating history of hurricanes interacting with civilization, and details our rapidly increasingly ability---but still with limitations---to predict the severity and tracks of storms. With preparation checklists and shopping lists, an easy-to-understand guide to the technical information coming from the National Hurricane Center, and critical practical information, Hurricane Almanac is your essential guide to coping with Mother Nature's greatest storms. A provocative chapter entitled: How I'd Do It Better details Norcross's ideas for a better hurricane system. -Family Communications -Evacuation Decision-making -Staying in a House -Staying in an Apartment -Shutters -Hurricane-proof Windows -Backup Power -Generators -Computer Hurricane Plan -Post-storm Air-Conditioning -Candles -Pool Preparation -Pets, Boats, Cars, and Businesses -Insurance

Hurricanes of the Gulf of Mexico presents a comprehensive history and analysis of the hurricanes that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico from the 1800s to the present, reporting each hurricane's point of origin, oceanic and atmospheric influences, track, size, intensity, point of landfall, storm surge, and impact on life and the environment. Additional information describes the unique features of the Gulf that influence the development of hurricanes, and the problems of predicting hurricane activity in the coming years. Hurricanes of the Gulf of Mexico is illustrated with 52 photographs, 44 maps, and 15 charts, plus tables and graphs.

The Sunshine State has an exceptionally stormy past. Vulnerable to storms that arise in the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico, Florida has been hit by far more hurricanes than any other state. In many ways, hurricanes have helped shape Florida's history. Early efforts by the French, Spanish, and English to claim the territory as their own were often thwarted by hurricanes. More recently, storms have affected such massive projects as Henry Flagler's Overseas Railroad and efforts to manage water in South Florida. In this book, Jay Barnes offers a fascinating and informative look at Florida's hurricane history. Drawing on meteorological research, news reports, first-person accounts, maps, and historical photographs, he traces all of the notable hurricanes that have affected the state over the last four-and-a-half centuries, from the great storms of the early colonial period to the devastating hurricanes of 2004 and 2005--Charley, Frances, Ivan, Jeanne, Dennis, Katrina, and Wilma. In addition to providing a comprehensive chronology of more than one hundred individual storms, Florida's Hurricane History includes information on the basics of hurricane dynamics, formation, naming, and forecasting. It explores the origins of the U.S. Weather Bureau and government efforts to study and track hurricanes in Florida, home of the National Hurricane Center. But the book does more than examine how hurricanes have shaped Florida's past; it also looks toward the future, discussing the serious threat that hurricanes continue to pose to both lives and property in the state. Filled with more than 200 photographs and maps, the book also features a foreword by Steve Lyons, tropical weather expert for the Weather Channel. It will serve as both an essential reference on hurricanes in Florida and a remarkable source of the stories--of tragedy and destruction, rescue and survival--that foster our fascination with these powerful storms.

"The objective of this report is to identify and establish a roadmap on how to do that, and lay the groundwork for transforming how this Nation- from every level of government to the private sector to individual citizens and communities - pursues a real and lasting vision of preparedness. To get there will require significant change to the status quo, to include adjustments to policy, structure, and mindset"--P. 2.