Hurricanes

Hurricane Center Head Has Had Busy 2 Years

MIAMI (AP) ― National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield has become a virtual house guest in millions of homes over the past 15 months, sharing critical information on destructive storms that have torn up much of the southern United States.

A veteran of 33 years as a forecaster with the National Weather Service, the soft-spoken, Oklahoma native is too busy to think about retirement despite the demands of a job that frequently robs him of sleep.

Mayfield, who became permanent director in 2000, managed four hours sleep Saturday night and a couple more early Monday morning as Hurricane Wilma bore down on Florida. Twenty-two storms have formed in the Atlantic this season.

"Our mission statement is to save lives," said Mayfield, 57, who also oversees a staff of 41 and handles scores of television interviews to keep the public abreast of a storm's progress. "And frankly, that's what I focus on."

The veteran storm specialist is always troubled by the loss of life, like that which resulted from Hurricane Katrina in August despite his crew's accurate forecasts. Mayfield made calls personally to emergency operations directors in Louisiana and Mississippi to warn them that that the storm would be devastating.

"I'm waiting for somebody to tell me what we could have done differently ... what we could have done better," he said Monday. "But people keep telling me to think of all the lives we did save."

And while he fears for the safety of those who ignored warnings to evacuate the Florida Keys as Wilma by bore down, Mayfield is perplexed they weren't heeded.

"I'm really annoyed by that," he said just as the initial damage reports from Monroe County trickled in.

"People are calling to be rescued from the rising waters," Mayfield said. "You can't get people (rescuers) out there right now."

Billy Wagner, senior emergency management director for Monroe County, has followed Mayfield's career for more than three decades.

"He's given undivided attention our group," Wagner said. "He worked his way up through the ranks and has got such a good handle on what needs to be in the emergency management community."

Mayfield, who spent two years as an Air Force officer before beginning his career with the weather service, leads the team of forecasters tracking Wilma — and Alpha — the last few days.

A huge college football fan, Mayfield has earned degrees from two schools with legendary programs — Oklahoma and Florida State. The latter is where he and many other of the weather specialists here earned graduate degrees.

Like many on his staff, Mayfield was here when Hurricane Andrew, a Category 5 storm, struck Homestead south of Miami in August 1992. It destroyed many of his colleagues' homes and severely damaged his.

"That helps us speak with authority," he said.

And his home suffered some damage again during Monday's storm when a large tree limb fell on a new tin roof.

"I hadn't even made the final payment yet," he said.

And while he piloted his cadre through a record-setting hurricane season, Mayfield isn't optimistic about a slowdown before the season ends Nov. 30.

"Hopefully we won't have any more major hurricanes," he said.

And Mayfield can finally get some sleep.

(© 2005 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)