Disaster Management officials Fire Chief Winston Salomon and Disaster Section Head Paul Martens left the island on Sunday to attend the National Hurricane Conference (NHC) in Atlanta, Georgia that starts on Monday and runs through April 22.
The 2011 Hurricane Season starts June 1 and runs through November 30. Attending the conference is seen as a preparation for the season for local disaster officials.
The primary goal of the NHC which attracts over 2000 attendees is to improve hurricane preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation in order to save lives and property in the United States and the tropical islands of the Caribbean and Pacific.
In addition, the conference serves as a national forum for federal, state and local officials to exchange ideas and recommend new policies to improve Emergency Management.
To accomplish the aforementioned, the annual conference emphasizes lessons learned from hurricane strikes; state of the art programs worthy of emulation; new ideas being tested or considered; information about new or ongoing assistance programs; the ABC’s of hurricane preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation, in recognition of the fact that there is a continual turnover of emergency management leadership and staff.
The Office of Disaster Management has already started the application for the Hurricane Mobility Passes last Friday which is only for the business sector and vital organizations.
The pass allows the aforementioned to assess possible damage to their property caused by a hurricane. Potential applicants have until May 20 to present all relevant information related to the process of requesting a Mobility Pass to the secretary at the Fire & Ambulance Department in Cay Hill.
The application form as well as information sheet can be downloaded from the Fire Department’s website www.brandweersxm.net under the tab link "Hurricane Information" followed by the "Hurricane Passes" tab.