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Extreme Storms Bring Pleasant Surprises—2004 Hurricane Season Gains Publicity for USGS Research
The work of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists during 2004's extremely busy hurricane season has drawn the attention of reporters, scientific colleagues, and public officials. One storm after another (four strikes to Florida in 6 weeks) gave reporters a reason to program Abby Sallenger's number at the USGS St. Petersburg Science Center (St. Petersburg, FL) into their cell phones. Abby heads a team of researchers who went out after each hurricane to collect data as part of USGS Hurricane and Extreme Storm Impact Studies. After Hurricane Ivan, a reporter from National Geographic worked alongside the USGS hurricane team, filming the damage caused by Ivan in the Florida Panhandle (see Hurricane Ivan Impact Studies). The National Geographic hurricane special will be broadcast in January 2005. As USGS data on the recent hurricanes grew, Neil Frank, former director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, came to St. Petersburg to review images and share hurricane stories. Abby has been asked to speak at the 2005 National Hurricane Conference to be held March 21-25 in New Orleans. His presentation will be given on the last day of the conference, when the long-range forecasters give their predictions for the upcoming hurricane season. The conference is typically attended by media representatives and more than a thousand other attendees, primarily local, State, and Federal emergency managers. Mayor Rick Baker of St. Petersburg, FL, was so impressed by the hurricane exhibit at the USGS open house held in October at the St. Petersburg Science Center (see related article, "Florida Center Celebrates Earth Science Week and 125 Years of USGS Science") that he requested several images to post in St. Petersburg's City Hall and the city's Emergency Management Center. The series of images included preliminary projected storm paths through Tampa Bay, the actual paths of destruction, satellite images of the hurricanes in relation to St. Petersburg, and before-and-after storm-damage photos. The images will help St. Petersburg residents remember how close they came to feeling the wrath of Charley (Aug. 13), Frances (Sept. 5), Ivan (Sept. 16), and Jeanne (Sept. 25; see related Sound Waves article "USGS Scientists Gather Images and Information About Recent Hurricanes". Special thanks to Karen Morgan for designing the posters.
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in this issue:
Deltaic Habitats in Puget Sound Invasive Sea Squirt Flourishing
Students Learn About Coastal and Marine Science Hurricanes Focus Attention on USGS Research College Students Visit USGS Center in St. Petersburg Scientists Participate in Great-American Teach-In Scientists Interviewed About Invasive Sea Squirt Scientists Interviewed for HBO Program
Jeff Williams Reviews Storm Surge Model Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institutes Conference Suwannee River Basin and Estuary Integrated Science Workshop
Jingping Xu Joins Western Coastal and Marine Geology Team
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U. S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
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