CDP wraps up annual Hurricane Theme Week

FEMA’s Center for Domestic Preparedness wrapped up its annual Hurricane Theme Week today on its campus in Anniston, Alabama.

More than 100 Gulf Coast area responders – including five medical specialists from Texas and a large cohort of medical specialists from Florida’s Department of Public Health – participated in the event, which was focused on teaching them how to better prepare for and respond to the damaging effects of such storms.

The responders completed one of four different CDP courses -- Healthcare Leadership for Mass Casualty Incidents, Hospital Emergency Response Operations for Mass Casualty Incidents, Environmental Health Training in Emergency Response Operations and Framework for Healthcare Emergency Management. Some students then participated in a day-long, hands-on exercise with a hurricane scenario.

All the participants also attended a lecture by two TV meteorologists from nearby Birmingham, Alabama, who spoke about hurricane preparedness and lessons learned from recent Atlantic hurricane seasons.

The 2022 Atlantic hurricane season begins June 1 and runs through Nov. 30.

A Colorado State University forecast released today says the U.S. should expect to see nine hurricanes this year.

Of those, the forecast added, four will be major hurricanes, which are storms with winds of at least 111 mph.