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A look at the weather map shows three storms swirling in the Atlantic Ocean today: Danielle, Earl and the latest, Fiona. Danielle, once just a tropical storm, is now a category 4 hurricane—the first major one of the season. Hurricane Danielle is reported to have 135 mph winds and a path that leads it east of Bermuda at the moment.

“LARGE HURRICANE EARL CONTINUES RELENTLESSLY TOWARD THE NORTHWEST…POSES A THREAT TO THE MID ATLANTIC COAST…” This statement tops the National Hurricane Center’s section on Hurricane Earl, the latest tropical storm to hit the U.S. Hurricane Earl is expected to make landfall on the East Coast within the next 48 hours, promoting thousands of residents and tourists in the coastal areas North Carolina and the surrounding states, such as Virginia, to evacuate.

September is National Preparedness Month and 2010 marks the seventh anniversary of this campaign. This year the Ready Campaign and the Ad Council, the companies that produce PSAs (public service announcements), are focusing on FEMA’s second step to being prepared, “Make a Plan.” The thought is that if families and businesses make an emergency preparedness plan, they will then take the steps to prepare an emergency disaster kit.

One of the important things learned from natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina is the need to include your pets in the family’s emergency disaster plan. Images of homeowners who would not evacuate their homes because they did not want to leave a pet behind and those of abandoned pets still cause animal lovers and pet owners to cringe and wish they could have done something to help. The time to help protect your pets is now, before a disaster happens.

The Pine River Cheese and Butter Co-op suffered major fire damage after a September 7, 2010 blaze broke out in the northwest corner of the building, causing smoke and water damage throughout the facility. As a result, the food processing facility will be closed during the remediation process. The cause of the fire is unknown.