US Coast Guard Promotes Hurricane Preparedness at PLAN!T NOW Youth Event

June 11, 2012

During their presentation, U.S. Coast Guard representatives Lieutenant Eleanor Garcia and Lieutenant Karin Evelyn emphasized that everyone needs to part in preparing for a major storm before it strikes. (Photo YMP)

Primary school students with Owlie, the mascot of the Young Meteorologist Program (YMP). (Photo YMP)

The U.S. Coast Guard joined representatives from the U.S. National Weather Service and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Friday, May 25, in an interactive presentation designed to teach valuable lessons about weather safety and science.  Nearly 400 students representing primary schools throughout New Providence packed the Atlantis Theater for an afternoon filled with dynamic visual displays and the opportunity to take part in a science-focused computer game featuring Owlie, the mascot of the Young Meteorologist Program (YMP).

With the start of the official hurricane season on June 1, U.S. Coast Guard representatives Lieutenant Eleanor Garcia and Lieutenant Karin Evelyn emphasized that everyone needs to part in preparing for a major storm before it strikes.  The Coast Guard Officers encouraged the children to talk to their parents about their family’s hurricane plan, which should include having sufficient supplies, such as water, non-perishable food, flashlights and batteries on hand throughout the hurricane season.

PLAN!T NOW (P!N) is an international disaster preparedness non-profit co-founded by Morgan Freeman in 2004 after a hurricane devastated the island nation of Grenada. YMP is the result of an unprecedented partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/National Weather Service, the American Meteorological Society, and the National Education Association.

Today, P!N’s cutting-edge program portfolio includes scholarships and public awareness campaigns that help individuals and communities in the United States and Caribbean prepare for natural and human-made disasters. The YMP event held in The Bahamas on May 25 was made possible through the support of local sponsors, Sidley Austin LLP and the Atlantis, Paradise Island and a partnership with the Michael Douglas and Friends Celebrity Golf Tournament, which raised funding for YMP through the Motion Picture & Television Fund.