Traveler Safety During Hurricane Season in Key West, FL.

The official visitor website of the Monroe County Tourist Development Council, the agency responsible for tourism marketing in the Florida Keys & Key West, has established new information sections designed to protect the health and welfare of travelers to the Florida Keys.

A new "Visitor Safety" section provides phone numbers and links to law enforcement, medical facilities and an exclusive toll-free multilingual visitor assistance line, sponsored by the TDC.

A special "Hurricane Info" component provides details on how the tourism industry interfaces with local emergency management officials in the event a tropical cyclone threatens the islands.

"We believe our website should not only let visitors know about the appeal of a Florida Keys vacation, but it should be a source of information to assist if something unexpected happens," said Harold Wheeler, director of the tourism council. "These new pages provide important details travelers can access and download before they travel to our region." The new Keys pages are linked to the home page via highly visible icons at www.fla-keys.com.

The hurricane section also provides a primer on tropical cyclones; details forecast tracking maps and explains why the entire state of Florida was not devastated during the 2004 hurricane season. It also details steps emergency management officials take to protect lives and property. Links from the site takes web users to other information resources such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Hurricane Center.

"It is refreshing to see a tourism council being so honest and proactive to provide pertinent information to keep their visitors safe," said Max Mayfield, hurricane center director. "Many coastal areas of the U.S., islands in the Atlantic and Caribbean are popular with vacationers and have the potential to be impacted by a hurricane. Much of the information on the Keys site will also be of good use for people headed to those regions."

The official Atlantic hurricane season is June 1 to November 30.

(Source: The Florida Keys & Key West Tourism Council)