Disaster Recovery Roundtable

The Tropical Meteorology Project at Colorado State University has been releasing a seasonal hurricane forecast every year since 1984 under Dr. William Gray. Dr. Phil Klotzbach currently leads the research program and is well known among the emergency management community for his annual forecasts. Dr. Klotzbach will share details of his first released forecast of the season and indications on how the forecast might be changing on the eve of an updated forecast, which will be released by Colorado State on June 4, 2020. Although the official start to hurricane season was on June 1, storms had already formed by the end of May, with Tropical Storm Cristobal forming on June 2 – the earliest third named storm on record in the Tropical Atlantic Basin. Dr. Phil Klotzbach will share how atmospheric factors influence the annual seasonal forecast and will provide clues on whether the April forecast numbers will change due to the early activity. Dr. Klotzbach will also reinforce why the emergency management community will

Disaster Recovery Roundtable welcomes Leslie Chapman Henderson with the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH) to discuss their hurricane mitigation and preparedness programs. Leslie will share information available to emergency managers as they prepare for hurricane season, including the latest on the Hurricane Strong initiative, efforts to promote improved building codes, COVID-19 impacts to their operations, and details about a new FLASH podcast. The Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH) was formed as a volunteer committee in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew in 1992, and today supports emergency managers and others in preparing for disasters. The organization is best known for its efforts to promote stronger building codes in coastal states prone to hurricanes. FLASH’s CEO Leslie Chapman-Henderson will share the latest opportunities available to communities promoting hurricane resilience through the Hurricane Strong designation initiative and how they are updating the program based on a new survey of p

Disaster Recovery Roundtable host Greg Padgett and Director of the National Hurricane Center Ken Graham discuss preparing for the start of hurricane season. The discussion centers around a recap of last season; how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting the hurricane center’s engagement, operations, and planning for the season; and the new products available for the 2020 season including new forecast tools for emergency managers. Ken also shares his message for the public on preparing for the season.