PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Coast Guard units in the path of Hurricane Earl are making preparations to ensure an effective response in the wake of the storm Thursday.

Coast Guard personnel, aircraft, boats and cutters in parts of North Carolina and Virginia are relocating to safe havens or taking shelter locally to minimize the storm’s impact on post-hurricane missions.

Each unit has a heavy weather plan that is designed to help mitigate the disruption of operations associated with inclement weather. These plans are triggered when the impact of severe weather is imminent. With Hurricane Earl approaching the North Carolina coast, the at-risk Coast Guard units have implemented their heavy weather plans.

Coast Guard personnel and assets assigned to these units are relocating to a safe haven, getting underway or sheltering in place depending on their heavy weather plans.

Coast Guard air station in Elizabeth City, N.C., for example, has already relocated some of its aircraft to safe havens in order to ensure they are kept secure and are able to respond in the aftermath of the hurricane.

Some of the small boat stations along the coast of North Carolina have instead been ordered to shelter in place and weather the storm, as per their heavy weather plans. Preparations have also been made to help ensure that personnel can continue to monitor distress frequencies, even if a command center is impacted by the storm.

The Coast Guard is also working with state and regional emergency operation centers to coordinate preparedness and response efforts with other federal, state and local agencies.

These strategic preparations are only part of the Coast Guard’s hurricane operations. Coast Guard C-130 Hercules crews have been flying missions to alert vessels at sea of the incoming storm and advise them to take appropriate action.

Captains of the Port for Hampton Roads and North Carolina have updated their respective port conditions to ensure the safety of their operations and infrastructure.

After the hurricane, the Coast Guard conducts assessments of aids to navigation, waterways, bridges and Coast Guard facilities to better direct response efforts.

As the Coast Guard continues these preparations for Hurricane Earl, it also continues to urge mariners to also make the appropriate preparations and remain conscious of port, waterways and bridge conditions.

For more information on Earl, visit the National Hurricane Center Web site http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

For more information regarding port status in your area, use the following contact information:

Hampton Roads – 757-668-5555

Baltimore – 410-576-2521

North Carolina – 252-247-4570

Philadelphia – 215-271-4960

Date: September 1, 2010

Contact: Public Affairs Det. Baltimore

(757) 434-7335

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard is urging mariners to heed warnings as Hurricane Earl is expected to affect the mid-Atlantic region between North Carolina and New Jersey Thursday and Friday.

As Earl approaches, the Coast Guard urges people to be mindful of the following safety messages:

- Anticipate bridge closures. Mariners are advised that during strong storms drawbridges along the coast may deviate from the normal operating procedures. Drawbridges are authorized to remain closed upon the approach of gale force winds or higher as stated in the Code of Federal Regulations 117.35, which applies to “natural disasters or civil disorders.” Mariners should anticipate bridge closures by listening to the National Weather Service and Coast Guard broadcasts on the storm conditions.

For a list of bridge closures in Sector Hampton Roads please view the Sector Hampton Roads Marine Safety Information Bulletin 10/014.

- Stay off the water. The Coast Guard’s search and rescue capabilities are degraded as storm conditions strengthen. This means help could be delayed. Boaters are urged to heed to weather watches, warnings and small craft advisories. People should not go out on their boats 48 hours prior to and at least 72-96 hours after a hurricane has passed through an area.

- Evacuate as necessary. If mandatory evacuations are set for an area, the public is urged to heed to these evacuation orders. Coast Guard personnel and other emergency responders may not be able to evacuate those in danger during the storm.

- Secure your belongings. Owners of larger boats are urged to move their boats to inland marinas where they will be less vulnerable to breaking free of their moorings or damage. Trailerable boats should be pulled from the water and stored in a place that is not prone to flooding. Those who are leaving their boats in the water are reminded to secure life rings, lifejackets and small boats. These items, if not secured properly, can break free and require valuable search and rescue resources to be diverted to ensure they are not actually people in distress.

- Be cautious of hazardous materials. If you have hazardous materials on or near the water you are responsible for any spills that may occur. Take the necessary precautions to secure them prior to any foul weather.

- Stay clear of beaches. Even the best swimmers can fall victim to the strong waves and rip currents caused by Earl. Swimmers are urged to stay clear of beaches until local officials say the water is safe.

- Stay informed. The public should monitor the progress and strength of Earl through local television, radio and internet. Boaters can monitor its progress on VHF channel 16. Information can also be obtained on small craft advisories and warnings on VHF channel 16.

- For more information on the progress of Earl and hurricane preparedness, please visit the National Hurricane Center’s website at the following link – http://www.nhc.noaa.gov.

For more information regarding port status in your area, use the following contact information:

Hampton Roads – 757-668-5555

Baltimore – 410-576-2521

North Carolina – 252-247-4570

Philadelphia – 215-271-4960

PORTSMOUTH, Va. – On Aug. 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in southeast Louisiana, becoming one of the five deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States.

At least 1,836 people lost their lives in the hurricane and subsequent floods, making it the deadliest U.S. hurricane since the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane. The total property damage for Katrina was estimated at $81 billion.

As the fifth year anniversary of Katrina’s devastation comes near, the Coast Guard recognizes the indelible mark the response made on the organization and its history.

As a result of Katrina’s impact, the scope and magnitude of Coast Guard response operations surpassed that of any previous response. Coast Guardsmen saved 24,136 lives from imminent danger and evacuated 9,409 patients from local hospitals. By the end of the response, the Coast Guard had saved 33,545 persons.

Coast Guardsmen, units and assets from throughout the Coast Guard 5th District were deployed to help support response operations in the affected areas.

Cmdr. Nevada Smith, National Capital Region program manager, recounts his experience as an HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter pilot during the response.

“I remember these two kids, who were about 10 years old, pushing people in grocery carts to a house we called ‘The Bus Stop,’” said Smith. “The house had a hole in the roof and people just kept coming out and getting in the basket with the help of the two Coast Guard rescue swimmers. My aircrew spent the entire first day pulling people out of that house. I was on the left side of the helicopter and saw the kids pushing two grocery carts. We made sure the kids and their passengers would not be disappointed. We actually pulled them up from the street in 3 feet of water that was near ‘The Bus Stop.’ I’m sure those kids have a story to tell for the rest of their lives.”

Five years after the Coast Guard’s response to Hurricane Katrina, the organization is once again surging to help the gulf region during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The scale of the response from local Coast Guard units is reminiscent of the response associated with Katrina. The Coast Guard’s 5th District, which is responsible for the coastal United States from the middle of New Jersey to the southern border of North Carolina, deployed over 10 percent of its personnel to the Deepwater Horizon response.

More than 40,000 people from numerous federal, state and local agencies, volunteer groups and non-governmental organizations, academia and industry came together in a matter of weeks into a force nearly the size of the entire Coast Guard, to protect and serve the people and environment of the Gulf following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

For media interested in interviewing Coast Guard personnel with firsthand accounts of the Katrina response, please contact the following:

Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C. - Lt.j.g. Anthony Martinez, 252-334-5348

or Lt. Jeremy Davis 252-334-5211

Coast Guard 5th District Headquarters in Portsmouth, Va. - Public Affairs office, 757-398-6272

Coast Guard Sector Wilmington, N.C. - Lt.j.g. Caleb Peacock, 252-247-4531

Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City, N.J. - Public Affairs office, 609-677-2204

Coast Guard Sector Baltimore - Public Affairs office 410-576-2541