To view this site you need Adobe Flash Player and your browser must allow javaScripts. Go here to get the latest Flash Player. REUTERS/CARLOS BARRIA Workers begin the cleanup of Galveston, Texas in the wake of Hurricane Ike last October. HURRICANE SEASON 2009 By P H I L I P L E G G I E R E BUSINESS EDITOR A Better Way of Buying Register online today for exclusive online content and eNewsletters FEW FIRST RESPONDERS OR CITIZENS IN HURRICANE-PRONE STATES ARE LIKELY TO FORGET 2005, THE MOST ACTIVE ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON IN RECORDED HISTORY. While hurricanes Katrina and Rita made the global headlines that year, for John Cherry, director of external affairs for the Florida Division of Emergency Management, along with millions of other Floridians, it was Hurricane Wilma, which struck in October, that left the deepest imprint. “There had been increasing stresses on our state emergency supply network and distribution systems for several hurricane seasons,” Cherry told Homeland Security Today, “but the storm seasons of 2004 and 2005, where we had a slew of eight storms, pushed our old system beyond the limit, and the bottlenecks came to a head during Wilma. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back.” On Oct. 24, 2005,Wilma made landfall in South Florida as a Category 3 storm with 125 mph winds PREPAREDNESS PROCUREMENT FOR THE HURRICANE SEASON DOESN’T HAVE TO BE OVERLY BURDENSOME FOR GOVERNMENT BUDGETS— NEW TOOLS AND PROCEDURES CAN HELP. 35 Homeland Security Today Magazine | June 2009