Perry Tours Hurricane Emergency Response Exercise

Gov. Rick Perry will tour a Texas Department of Emergency Management hurricane disaster response exercise to mark the start of hurricane season.

The governor will participate in a walking tour Friday near Austin's airport showcasing the activation and deployment of different emergency-response resources.

U.S. forecasters have predicted that this year's Atlantic hurricane season would produce a normal number of about nine to 15 tropical storms. As many as four to eight of those may become hurricanes.

But the season has already featured two named tropical storms even before its official start. It ends Nov. 30.

The 2011 hurricane season was one of the busiest on record. It produced 19 named storms including Irene, one of the costliest storms in U.S. history.