Hate begets hate: Westboro Baptist Church exposed

Over the last year the Westboro Baptist Church picketed Jewish organizations in the NYC metropolitan area on several occasions. Find out more about them and their tactics from the ABC News report: Raised to Hate: Kids of Westboro Baptist Church.

Prepare for an "active to extremely active" hurricane season

Yes, hurricanes can strike the New York area.

An “active to extremely active” hurricane season is expected for the Atlantic Basin this year according to the seasonal outlook issued today by NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center – a division of the National Weather Service. As with every hurricane season, this outlook underscores the importance of having a hurricane preparedness plan in place. Forecasters anticipate the following to affect the Atlantic Basin:

• 14 to 23 Named Storms (top winds of 39 mph or higher), including:
• 8 to 14 Hurricanes (top winds of 74 mph or higher), of which:
• 3 to 7 could be Major Hurricanes (Category 3, 4 or 5; winds of at least 111 mph)

To get more information (including an overview and NY area historic patterns and conditions), view an excellent presentation by I. Ross Dickman, Meteorologist-in-charge, NOAA's National Weather Service, New York, NY office.

For preparation planning tips, see information from NYC, Nassau (including evacuation routes), Suffolk and Westchester.