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Mississippi Emergency Agencies Gearing Up for Hurricane Season

Inundation maps are changing the way the state of Mississippi prepares for and responds to storms.

With the start of hurricane season just a few days away, about 500 people gathered at the Biloxi Convention Center this week to talk about preparedness before a storm.

In a press conference Thursday morning, Mississippi Emergency Management Director Robert Latham said he's often asked how prepared the government is to respond to a storm, and that answer has changed since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

"I can tell you that the government is as prepared as we possibly can be to respond to a hurricane," Latham said.

Ken Graham, meteorologist-in-charge at the National Weather Service in Slidell, said new technology means that it's easier to stay on top of storms, and a new tool will be unveiled for the 2014 hurricane season -- inundation maps.

"The inundation graphic is a game-changer for what we do," Graham said. "It shows water up your leg, people will see that and understand that."

Graham said the storm surge maps will be put out just after the hurricane or tropical storm advisories to show people what areas are expected to flood during the storm. The maps are designed so that there's a 90 percent chance it's correct or below, meaning the map shows a reasonable worst-case scenario.

"(The maps) are going to help all of us have more facts and know what we're looking at," said Brian Adam, Hancock County emergency manager. "The better information we have, the better we can inform our citizens and the better they'll listen."

Graham said the National Weather Service will also use a five-day graphical outlook with their predictions this year, meaning that people will be able to go online and see the projected track of a storm and not just its chances of development.

"We're taking the tools we have and all this science and trying to put that together in some kind of decision support package that can help these guys make decisions," Graham said, gesturing at the emergency managers from Harrison, Hancock and Jackson counties. "It's about packaging this stuff into something that can be acted upon."

But despite all the technology that can help prepare for a storm, Graham said it's important to always stay alert.

"There's already some sort of relaxation because we hear that El Nino is on the way and we'll get fewer storms," Graham said. "Don't let down on your preparation, because it just takes one to ruin your day. I don't like to say those kinds of things and leave it as a cliche, but there's plenty of science that supports that cliche statement."

©2014 The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.)