Hurricane Irene, now moving through the Caribbean and perhaps threatening the Southeast by week's end, is only the latest sign of one of the most active hurricane seasons in years. So you want to know where the action is and whether you're in the line of fire. Your smartphone could be your most valuable tool during or after a hurricane, with dozens of apps available to provide crucial information.

Here's a list of apps. Click on the links for download information.

Hurricane HD: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch. $3.99

Hurricane HD lets you track storms, with moving radar and satellite imagery from the National Hurricane center. It provides tropical bulletins, forecasts, and advisories for the Atlantic and Pacific Basins.

You can watch video updates for storms currently underway or forming, and find data on major storms of the past, like Andrew, Hugo and Katrina.

IMap Weather Radio: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Android soon. $9.99

Nothing beats having a weather radio for the most up-to-date info, but you can't always have that with you. You do usually have your phone, though, so having this app gives you all the tracking info you need, plus a built-in weather radio. You can tell it up to five locations -- where you are or where you're headed, or where family members are. With iMap Weather Radio, you will receive critical voice and text alerts on life-threatening weather events. The app provides an early warning to help individuals and families seek safety, even in the middle of the night.

"Follow me" feature: Reads your GPS location and delivers alerts to you no matter where you are.

An audio feature not only gives you the latest weather, but also provides audio alerts in the form of beeps followed by a brief description of the alert. The audio alerts you to the information you need when you can't stop to look at the phone, perhaps if you're driving. You can always listen to the alerts and forecast for your area at any time.

The Weather Channel: iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, Android. Free

The Weather Channel has fully customizable weather maps, animated radar maps, detailed weather conditions and forecasts, severe weather alerts, and a notification bar with the current temperature and severe weather alert indicator.

In addition to the popular location-based local video forecasts, the video section now includes the "Must See Six" videos each day from a national collection.

It allows you to get weather forecasts for your location or search by city, ZIP code, street address or landmark. The app also includes interactive maps that are fully customizable and feature the functionality of Google Maps. Customers can decide to display layers such as radar, clouds, UV index, rainfall and more.

Global Alert Network: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Android Blackberry. Free

The Global Alert Network delivers hands-free national traffic and weather alerts. See iTunes for Apple devices, or go to BlackBerry for a download.

The Global Alert Network is a location-aware network platform that automatically broadcasts audible hands-free alerts to mobile devices. You choose to subscribe to weather or traffic alerts, which are geo-targeted to your location.

The application running on the phone keeps track of the phone's location, not the Global Alert Network servers. When an alert is created, the alert zone is downloaded to the phone and the phone makes the determination if you are affected by the alert and whether the alert should be played.