For much of the country, summer is synonymous with good times and having fun. But on the Gulf Coast and along the Eastern Seaboard—and particularly at property and casualty insurance companies—it's also a time for trepidation. As we approach September, and hurricane season is fully underway, people from Maine to Florida, Alabama to Texas, brace for the potentially devastating effects of hurricanes developing in the Gulf and the Atlantic.

Hurricanes are massive, complicated weather systems, due to their complexity and the difficulty of gathering data in some of the most extreme conditions on Earth. But advanced technology like Liquid Robotics' (LRI) Wave Glider®, an unmanned ocean robot capable of operating through even the most severe Category 5 storms, can continuously collect and transmit hurricane intensity data in real time. This is game changing.

Wave Gliders connect the undersea world to air, space and shore through unprecedented monitoring, assessment and protection of the world's oceans. They have survived 17 hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons, and most recently tweeted their way through the 2014 hurricane season. They collect real-time data to aid meteorologists in better modeling and predicting hurricane intensity; a key to improving evacuation preparedness, reducing false alarms and saving lives.