With Irma about to slam their office, National Hurricane Center employees stay to work
When a record-shattering hurricane is headed toward your city, you listen to local officials and weather experts to prepare for the worst.
But what if you are the people behind the warnings and advice? That's what the more than 60 scientists, meteorologists, specialists, forecasters, and staff at the National Hurricane Center in Miami are dealing with as Hurricane Irma approaches the city where the center is based.
National Hurricane Center spokesman Dennis Feltgen said from the center that employees are planning for Irma's arrival -- expected for Sunday morning -- like everyone else. The NHC has a hurricane plan in place and it's in effect. Employees will have food, water, medication, and other supplies as they bunker down at headquarters.
"It goes without saying, there is an extra level of stress when the hurricane is impacting our own families and homes," Feltgen said in an email Friday.
Some are gearing up for the long haul at NHC's headquarters on the Florida International University campus. It's a fortress of a building intended to withstand a powerful storm with emergency generators, toilets, telephone lines, and air conditioning.
Center employees have posted about preparing their families, pets, and homes for the destructive storm approaching -- all while issuing forecasts and warnings about the very storm coming right for them.
NHC scientist Eric Blake posted on Twitter about his personal plans.
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Fellow hurricane specialists and National Weather Service employees around the country posted about the NHC staff staying safe in the face of the storm.
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Talk about a stressful few days at the office.
Sasha is a news writer at Mashable's San Francisco office. She's an SF native who went to UC Davis and later received her master's from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News (news wire), SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website), and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. She's been described as a bookworm and a gym rat.
