Today is the first day of the 2009 hurricane season but a new poll has found that very few people on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts are ready for a bad storm.

Mason-Dixon’s survey found, for instance, that two-thirds of the respondents didn’t have a hurricane survival kit at the ready. The shocking results?

- 83% said they have not taken any steps in the past year to make their homes stronger, even after last year’s active season.
- 66% have no hurricane survival kit.
- 62% don’t feel vulnerable to a hurricane or related tornado or flooding.
- 55% do not have a family disaster plan.

The National Hurricane Center has tips for preparing for storms. Download the poll results in .pdf format, hurricanenewsconferencerelease-2.

Notice how they force the perspective so you can’t tell that the top of the monkey’s head is chopped off or that wires are streaming out of his exposed brain. Have a good weekend everyone.

• The end is nigh?
• Military suicides hit a new record in 2007.
• It’s going to be tough to encourage HARTline ridership if the buses run over any more customers.
• Obama’s releases cocktail-napkin-sized health record. (He’s fine.)
• Frickin’ hurricane season doesn’t event start until Sunday, but we already have the first named storm of 2008.*
• Headline of the week: “Is Grandma drugged up?” (CNN)
• Stonehenge: It’s a cemetery!
• More on that Colorado alien video: It’s the real deal! (Says this guy.)
• Today’s Short List brought to you by Octagon Global Recruiting.

*-As WP pointed out in the comments section, Alma is a Pacific hurricane, and the Pacific hurricane season started on May 15. I’m a dumb ass. Thanks WP.