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STATE LAUNCHES UNPRECEDENTED, MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR PUBLIC EDUCATION CAMPAIGN TO PROMOTE HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS

For First Time Ever, Floridians Can Access New Online, Interactive Tool to Create Tailor-Made Family and Business Preparedness Plans
TALLAHASSEE – With a new public opinion survey showing that as many as one-third of all Floridians are less prepared than they should be in the event of a major hurricane, Florida Lt. Governor Toni Jennings, along with the Division of Emergency Management and the Florida Association of Broadcasters, today unveiled an unprecedented new public opinion and outreach campaign to promote hurricane preparedness across Florida. The multi-million dollar project, called for by Gov. Jeb Bush during his 2006 State of the State address, will be the largest, most comprehensive public education effort on hurricane preparedness in Florida history.

With a simple theme calling on Floridians to “GET A PLAN!”, the campaign will be targeted toward residents who have the means and ability to be prepared in the event of a major storm, but are not. The project was announced at a Tallahassee press conference today featuring Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Craig Fugate and Florida Association of Broadcasters President Pat Roberts.

“The 2006 hurricane season is less than a week away,“ said Lt. Gov. Jennings. “ I am urging all Floridians to take advantage of these new Web-based products and get a plan.”

This week, the State Emergency Management Team completed a statewide hurricane drill that included a full-scale move of the State Emergency Operations Center to Camp Blanding , Florida . Director Fugate noted the importance of preparedness for all who call Florida home.

“Governor Bush has challenged us to not only have the best emergency management team in the nation, but to ensure that Florida residents are the most prepared as well,” stated Fugate. “The governor has called for a year-round ‘Culture of Preparedness' here in Florida and this campaign will go a long way toward making that a reality.”

The campaign will include television and radio advertisements, billboards and a new first-of-its-kind web-based family and business planning tool located at www.FloridaDisaster.org.

“There is no longer a single excuse for Floridians to not have their own family or business emergency plan,” states Roberts. “This new online tool will make creating a tailor-made custom plan for your family or business as easy as downloading music off the Internet.”

As part of the campaign, Florida State University researcher Dr. Jay Baker surveyed Floridians' attitudes toward hurricane preparedness. Overall, the survey found that roughly two-thirds of all Floridians are prepared in the event of a hurricane. Northwest Floridians are the most prepared, with 75 percent of the public prepared, while Floridians on the east and west coasts are 66 and 65 percent prepared respectively. The least prepared are non-coastal Floridians, with only 61 percent considered prepared.

To “Get A Plan” and additional preparedness information for the 2006 hurricane season please go to www.FloridaDisaster.org

Updated:
October 11, 2006 14:36