2002 Annual

Sunday, 13 January 2002
Rayito El Cazahuracán: "Little Lightning, The Hurricane Hunter"
Ada Monzon, WeatherTech, Inc., San Juan, Puerto Rico
Rayito El Cazahuracán is a cartoon of a hurricane hunter plane that flies through the hurricane to teach children about the phenomena, its characteristics, the airplanes and how to follow and track hurricanes. Meteorologist Ada R. Monzón helps to guide children on this venture with the help of various friends (or cartoons) that are elements/effects of the hurricane (such as wind, rain, waves, etc.). Hurricane mitigation is a large component of this initiative given the great hurricane threat in the Caribbean region. This initiative in the hurricane education field, especially in Puerto Rico, is the first step toward a full K-12th grade education program in hurricanes and meteorology statewide. The first step was developing and printing a 16-page publication with a separate hurricane trajectory map and stickers that was distributed through Kentucky Fried Chicken stores and through the Puerto Rico Department of Education Statewide Systematic Initiative schools. The education program pursues full training and development of education material in Spanish and it has Internet access (www.cazahuracan.com), CD-Rom and videos among other components.

Supplementary URL: