NEWS RELEASE

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600 S. Clyde Morris Blvd.
Daytona Beach, FL 32114-3900

For more information, contact:
Phone: 386-226-6157
Fax: 386-226-6158

Embry-Riddle Hosts Hurricane-Preparedness Program

Daytona Beach, Fla., May 17, 2006 -- The Applied Meteorology Department at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University will host a hurricane-preparedness information session on Wednesday, May 31, the eve of the start of the six-month hurricane season.

The two-hour session, which is free and open to the public, begins at 6 p.m. in the Miller Instructional Center auditorium on Embry-Riddle’s campus at 600 S. Clyde Morris Blvd., Daytona Beach. A tour of Embry-Riddle’s high-tech Weather Center will be offered at the end of the program.

Dr. Thomas Connolly, chancellor of the university’s Daytona Beach campus, will kick off the evening, followed by Dr. Randy Barry, Embry-Riddle’s tropical weather expert. Barry will provide a brief overview of basic weather conditions that give rise to tropical storms. “It may be that this season will not produce as many storms as first expected,” says Barry, “and my presentation will explain why.”

Dennis Decker, the meteorologist-in-charge at the National Weather Service’s Melbourne forecast office, will explain the role of his agency. In addition, an emergency planner with the Volusia County Emergency Management office, Rick Moore, will discuss the precautions, procedures, and policies necessary to stay safe when tropical storms threaten. He’ll focus on Volusia County’s evacuation and recovery plans.

Other speakers include a representative from Black Crow Broadcasting, possibly a local TV meteorologist, and Fred Magliacane, the emergency coordinator for the local Amateur Radio Club.

Dick Bagby, a meteorology professor at Embry-Riddle, camped out in the university’s Weather Center during Hurricanes Charlie and Jeanne two seasons ago. “It’s vital that everyone be ready for this hurricane season,” he says. “The cost of not being prepared is just too high.” Bagby and his wife know firsthand the devastation a hurricane can leave in its wake – after Hurricane Katrina they volunteered several months of their time to assist recovery operations in Biloxi, Miss.

Embry-Riddle’s Weather Center displays integrated weather data in real time through links to a remote weather observation station on the roof of the College of Aviation building and to basic and advanced meteorology labs.

For more information, contact Professor Dick Bagby at (386) 226-6858 or richard.bagby@erau.edu.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, offers more than 30 degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Engineering. Embry-Riddle educates more than 32,000 students annually in undergraduate and graduate programs at residential campuses in Prescott, Ariz., and Daytona Beach, Fla., through the Extended Campus at more than 130 centers in the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Middle East, and through distance learning.