[ad_1]
By Erik Salna
CLICK! An air cannon fired a two-by-four piece of wood. The object struck a metal shutter protecting a window. This was a simple but effective procedure to show the importance of protecting a home’s windows from flying debris during a hurricane.
The demonstration took place throughout the day at the recent CRF-sponsored Eye of the Storm event at the Museum of Discovery and Science in Fort Lauderdale. The free public education event featured special hands-on and interactive activities and demonstrations teaching science, mitigation and hurricane preparedness. The goal: to inform and motivate everyone to be ready for the new hurricane season.
“Our annual ‘Eye of the Storm’ event is critically important in helping to prepare our community for hurricanes, especially now with the above-average number of storms forecast. [for this season]Says Rich Olson, director of the Extreme Events Institute at the FIU.
The event brought together a number of organizations and weather experts to share vital information for the community. Attendance at this year’s event has skyrocketed.
“The Eyes of the Cyclone attracted more than 3,000 people to the museum [of Discovery and Science], and thousands more online, to meet an exciting array of scientists, weather experts and emergency management personnel who are committed to preparing our community for the upcoming hurricane season, ”said Joe Cox, President and CEO of the Museum of Discovery and Science. “At the Museum, our mission is to ‘connect people to inspiring science’.
This is exactly the subject of the event. Each year, organizers take hurricane preparedness content and present it in a family-friendly way with activities for parents and kids.
This year’s activities were intriguing from the start. As soon as visitors entered the hall of the museum, they felt the CRF NSF-NHERI Wind Wall (WOW) exhibition. He set the tone for the day, illustrating the effects of wind on different roof shapes, educating in the science of wind engineering and showing the importance of mitigating wind damage to homes.
During the day, parents and children also built their own model homes and put them to the test with portable fans. Children were asked on a bulletin board if they were inspired to study wind engineering – and many of them were.
The event included a variety of other activities including live weather education theater performances, Weather Jeopardy and “Be a TV Meteorologist” at the Hurricane Broadcast Studio. Organizers broadcast virtual Zoom interviews, including a live tropical weather forecast directly from NOAA’s National Hurricane Center, located at the FIU MMC.
Erik Salna is the Associate Director for Education and Outreach at the FIU Extreme Events Institute.
“The Eye of the Storm 2021 event was once again a huge success that brought the community together to learn more about hurricane season preparation, emergency management and the science of hurricane forecasting. We were delighted to participate again this year and look forward to next year as well.
– Miguel Hidalgo, Emergency Management Specialist, Broward County Emergency Management Division
[ad_2]
picture credit