Rick Knabb turned his fear of storms into a career in storm and hurricane preparedness. As the newest director of the U.S government's National Hurricane Center, Knabb never thought he would create a career based around something he had always tried to avoid.
"I'm still very scared of hurricanes," says Knabb, who left The Weather Channel to become director. "I have a very healthy respect for what they can do and I try to channel that fear into preparedness and action."
Knabb's responsibility as the director of the center is to encourage coastal residents to properly prepare themselves and their homes for hurricanes. Part of his doing so will include explaining to them how to create evacuation strategies shared amongst family members within homes. He will also explain to them the importance of keeping enough supplies in homes, in case of long term power outages that may occur during storms.
Knabb has replaced former director of the National Hurricane Center, Bill Read, who had worked as director for four years.
Knabb, 43, initially began his work with weather through his career in meteorology, and joined the hurricane center as a science and operations officer in 2001.
"There's so many people that depend on what the National Hurricane Center does, and to play any kind of role in that is a tremendous honor, and I felt that the day I walked in the door in 2001," Knabb said. "Now to be the director of the center, it's an honor beyond description."
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