CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE--Members of the New Jersey Coastal evacuation task force met for their first organizational hearing Thursday in Cape May County.

The meeting is the first of many to formulate ideas on how to better prepare the coast and southern New Jersey in the event of a category three or stronger hurricane.

"The truth is we do have tremendous vulnerability, Cape May County alone is the sixth most vulnerable area in the entire United States of America. We really parallel Louisiana or Florida in vulnerability," said Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew.

Future meetings will include short and long term recommendations such as improving infrastructure communications along with building models to better understand the seriousness of how the coastal areas will be affected.