By Alabama Public Radio
Miami, FL – Max Mayfield says he's baffled that nearly half the country's coastal residents say they don't feel vulnerable to a hurricane, tornado or flooding. He's the director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, and he says Hurricane Katrina should have been a national wake-up call on storm preparation and evacuation. But a recent poll shows 60 percent have no disaster plan, 68 percent don't have a hurricane survival kit and 83 percent have not done anything to make their homes stronger. Mayfield talked about the poll at the launch of the 2006 National Hurricane Survival Initiative. It's an educational campaign to prepare and protect residents in coastal areas.