Announcing the launch of HURRICANENOW.COM

a revolution in hurricane reporting  

For release: July 22, 2005
(Chicago)

  Coverage teams from HURRICANENOW.COM are preparing now to cover the landfall of the season's next hurricane.  It has already been an extraordinary year with six named storms beore August 1. 

  HURRICANENOW features veteran hurricane journalists, photographers and researchers who will provide unique, live reports, analysis and data from the scene of land falling US hurricanes.

   "This year is itself a perfect-storm," says award-winning former CNN Correspondent Jeff Flock.  "Extremely favorable conditions for developing hurricanes combined with exploding technology for transmitting TV reports will make for some extraordinary hurricane coverage possibilities." 

HURRICANENOW.COM :

  ·More complete and compelling on-the-scene hurricane TV reporting than the all news and weather channels 

  ·Reports from the worst of the storm that won't stop when it’s at its worst.

  ·A unique perspective from experienced reporters and researchers who have been in Hugo, Andrew and every other major storm of the past two decades

  ·Verifiable information, not wild guesses, on wind speed, barometric pressure and other weather data from the eyewall of the storm

  HURRICANENOW.COM will bring subscribers multiple, constantly updated reports from the epicenter of the storm.  It has secured unique technologies that will enable its reports to continue to be transmitted through some of the worst conditions. HURRICANENOW team members were in the eye of each of the four land falling US hurricanes last year.

Just some of what we’ll feature:

· Reports from ground zero of land falling storms featuring CNN's former top hurricane correspondent Jeff Flock, who has covered every major US hurricane since Gilbert in 1988

· Exclusive coverage of “The Hurricane Landfall Project,” an effort to place a mobile weather station with multiple video cameras in the eye of this season's worst hurricanes

· Insider Blogs from storm chasers, meteorologists, emergency managers and storm photographers

· Commentary and reporting from hurricanetrack.com storm guru and Hurricane Intercept Research Team leader Mark Sudduth

· Live interaction with hurricane reporters in the field.

· Storm tracking maps and models, hurricane center updates, strike probability charts, satellite loops

   HURRICANENOW.COM will also feature exclusive pictures and reports from “The Hurricane Landfall Project”, perhaps the most innovative scientific and data-gathering hurricane project of the year. It aims to both capture weather data and record dramatic video from the eye wall of each 2005 storm. “We got data from the eye of every hurricane last season,” says “Landfall” director Mark Sudduth of 2004 testing. “This year we will capture never before seen pictures from unmanned, wirelessly controlled cameras in the middle of the worst storms.” Sudduth will also provide expert commentary and reporting to HURRICANENOW.

   HURRICANENOW.COM will also offer a network of expert bloggers who will share unique perspectives. “We are going to bring together people in the midst of the storm, emergency managers, storm chasers, photographers,” says former CNN national editor and deputy bureau chief Rob Hess who is handling the site’s editorial content.

   “There is a lot of hurricane information on the web,” says HURRICANENOW site developer Tom Casale. “We’ll boil down the most important data and give you what you really want: pictures and sound from storm when it’s at its worst.” Casale says the site will include a video “control room” where visitors can chose and watch multipe incoming feeds of reports, pictures and interviews from the storms.

HURRICANENOW.COM principals provide a unique blend of science, technology, news and internet expertise.

Jeff Flock-A founding staff member of CNN, Jeff was for 19 years the network’s Chicago Bureau Chief. He headed a team specializing in unique live broadcasts and was CNN’s pre-eminent hurricane reporter. Jeff is the recipient of two National Headliner Awards, three Peter Lisagor awards, and a National Association of Black Journalists award for reporting excellence. He was also part of CNN teams that captured a Peabody, Emmy and Cable Ace. Jeff was a panelist at this year’s National Hurricane Conference in New Orleans.

Mark Sudduth-The founder of hurricanetrack.com, one of the web’s most popular hurricane sites, Mark also heads Hurricane Maps Enterprises which produces hurricane awareness campaigns and tracking maps. He has worked with the US Army Corps of Engineers and FEMA to produce storm surge maps and models. Mark’s Hurricane Intercept Research Team (HIRT) has gathered data in nearly 20 storms and is currently engaged in the “Hurricane Landfall Project” which aims to place unmanned weather stations in the eye wall of land falling hurricanes.

Tom Casale-A former managing editor of the Consumer Digest website, Tom also developed the first CNN bureau site and was responsible for several innovations at CNN.com, the web’s most popular news portal. As a news photographer Tom covered several hurricanes in the field. He founded airportfriendly.com, which features products to assist travelers in the post-911 world and now heads Simplified Solutions, a web design and marketing firm in Chicago.

Rob Hess-An acclaimed documentary producer, Rob just finished work on the American Justice series episode “Countdown to an Execution,” which aired on A&E. A former national assignment editor and deputy bureau chief for CNN, Rob managed coverage of a wide range of news events including the contested 2000 Presidential election and death penalty issues in Illinois as well as west coast earthquakes and east coast hurricanes in 20 plus years at the network.  He is also a former president of the Chicago Headline Club. 

   “It’s been said that a hurricane is the ultimate challenge: man against nature,” says Flock in a message to subscribers.  “The news is so filled these days with stories of man against man, Republican against Democrat, liberal against conservative, Muslim against Christian. Frankly I like the story of man and what he has created against the awesome power of nature and what something greater has created. Those are the stories we’ll tell here. We hope you’ll come along for the ride."

HurricaneNow.com is a service HurricaneNow LLC, Chicago, Illinois.