Dartmouth, NS, September 2, 2004 - History has shown that early warnings can be critical in protecting the safety of people living in an area potentially threatened by a tropical storm or hurricane. To ensure that Canadians have better access to hurricane forecast information so that they can make early decisions, Environment Canada's Canadian Hurricane Centre has launched three new products designed to make information available electronically in additional ways.

Now, in addition to being available through the media and on the Canadian Hurricane Centre's web site, hurricane information statements, watches and warnings will now be accessible free-of-charge via:

• An E-mail Subscription Service: After people subscribe to this service, they will directly receive all bulletins by e-mail shortly after they are issued by the Canadian Hurricane Centre.
• Mobile Device Access Service: People who have an Internet-enabled mobile device such as a cell phone or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) will be able to easily access specially formatted versions of the latest hurricane products.
• RSS or “Really Simple Syndication” Feed Service: The Really Simple Syndication (RSS) Feed is a fairly new internet-based technology which allows a subscriber to create a simply-formatted news digest or news magazine that contains the latest information on a particular topic. These feeds allow a subscriber to receive customized news information from a number of different sources. The subscriber reads these web files using a program called "an aggregator", which collects news from various websites and provides it in a simplified format. There are a number of news aggregators or RSS readers that allow you to subscribe to and read RSS feeds.

“Our three new products, in concert with media broadcasts and our web site, will help make this essential information more readily accessible to people so that they can in turn use it to make better-informed decisions," explains Peter Bowyer, Program Manager for the Canadian Hurricane Centre.”

“Because hurricanes can be erratic and change their track fairly quickly, it's important to check weather forecasts frequently during the hurricane season,” says Bowyer. “Having quick access to this information whether it is via the Internet, or through your cell phone or other mobile device means that you can continually monitor conditions even when you're on the go.”

In addition, Environment Canada has also created a new web site archive where all hurricane information statements are retained after they are issued.

For more information about hurricanes or to subscribe to any of these new products visit: http://www.hurricanecentre.ca

For more information, please contact: