In preparing for the 2007 hurricane season, Travelers Insurance is sponsoring the 2007 National Hurricane Survival Initiative, a collaborative effort that aims to educate individuals on the importance of hurricane preparedness. It is led by the National Hurricane Center, The Salvation Army, the National Emergency Management Association, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the State of North Carolina.

NHSI recently commissioned a poll showing that many coastal residents do not have proper insurance coverage to protect their homes from hurricane damage. According to the Travelers Insurance Companies, 45 percent of those surveyed have not reviewed their homeowners' policy in the past year, some in more than five years. 41percent were not sure if their homeowners' policy covered damage caused by water driven by hurricane force winds, and 25 percent did not know if their policy covered flood damage.

The National Hurricane Survival Initiative has set up a website at www.hurricanesafety.org that offers information including storm facts, downloadable checklists and downloadable hurricane tracking maps in both English and Spanish.