ORLANDO, Fla. — There’s nothing more important than being alert and prepared for a storm.
Hurricane experts from across the country came together in Orlando this week, to share the industries newest technology and information for this season.
Walking into the convention hall can be overwhelming for those who have no experience in tracking hurricanes or the aftermath of storms.
But ABC Action News went through the list to highlight the newest technology and innovative tools to keep your family safe.
First and foremost we noticed many nutritional-type vendors with ways to keep our viewers healthy both during and after a storm.
After all, the fundamentals we all depend on are food and water.
“Emergency management’s job after the storm is to make sure everybody is safe, not to make sure that everybody has food and water that they need to be comfortable,” Brent Stern with Cylaume said.
Cyalume has come up with a brand new package, not necessarily the idea, to pre-pack emergency supplies that you can buy for one simple price.
The product, Sustain, can either be purchased as a four-person or two person survival pack.
In it, you can find water, protein-packed food, a knife, glow sticks, utensils, bath wipes and more.
“You can put it in a closet and forget about it and if a storm may not come this year but it may come next year or whenever, you’ve got water there,” Stern said.
Next on the list, is something many people could find use for to protect their homes.
A German mathematics professor has designed a shield to protect mobile homes.
The device, which anchors into the ground and wraps over the roof, makes the home more aero-dynamics and can prevent wind damage.
“The belts get really tight when the wind hits, which is exactly what we need to hold the roof in place so the roof does not fly away,” Stefan Siegmund with Hurripro said.
The concept is 10 years in the making and isn’t even on the market yet. But Stefan Siegmund says he’s offering the product for free if consumers are interested.
If you can find more information at hurripro.com.
Walking around the convention center proved one thing, that there is only so much a person or family can do to prevent a disaster.
It’s really how you react to the aftermath.
New this year, many drone companies are now providing aerial coverage to municipalities as a way to respond to those in need after the storm.
“We can get up in the air we can capture a lot more information quickly with high-quality images,” Paul Harwig, with Yuneec USA Inc. said.
Like many police and sheriff agencies, the hurricane industry is now utilizing drone coverage to account for damage and search for missing or injured people after a storm.
Something Yuneec USA Inc. says can save the taxpayers money and lives.
“It’s a lot of manual labor, it’s people going out feet on the street, ladders and dangerous situations but using a drone or you UAS or UAV in this industry it allows us to take some of the risk out,” Harwig said.
