9.27.2007
I was really tired last night as I worked at my computer. I accidentally googled ‘end of hurricane season” and was surprised at the article I found. It was an article from CBS News from September 23, 2005! I was surprised at how timely it was. In fact for a weary eyed moment I thought it was talking about right now.
You see, disasters such as hurricanes come and go every year, they are going to occur no matter if we like it or not. These hurricane disasters cause damage great and small in their wake. Sometimes like in Hurricane Katrina the hurricane damage is felt for a very long time.
October it turns out, is often the busiest month of the hurricane season according to historical records. Many of the hurricanes that form this time of the year develop closer to the Untied States like Katrina and Rita did.
We are fortunate that our media such as TV, radio, cell phone alerts and the internet have all contributed to a significant reduction in the number of hurricane fatalities associated with many of the hurricanes that are experienced in the past.
The issue for us in the 21st century is that so many now want to live on or near the coastal shores of our country. We have so many wonderful areas with great vistas of ocean waves rolling into shore and the sand is a great place to play or sit and relax. Yet those beautiful waves coming to shore on a nice sunny day are also killer waves that ravage the same shores in a hurricane.
With so many of our sand dunes removed to build condos and hotels along the shore, the sandy beaches are also being eaten away by the run-off of storm water from the nearby concrete as well as storm surges in a hurricane. So now we are experiencing a natural disaster as well as a human and property disaster as well. One thing is for sure nature really doesn’t like it.
Those who live in these hurricane prone areas need to have as much hurricane information as possible. It is only with strong foundation n hurricane knowledge that responsible living in the coastal region of the US can help individuals prepare for a hurricane.
No one can stress enough if you are going to play or stay in coastal regions of the US then you need to have a hurricane disaster plan. If you think a hurricane is bad you should see the grocery stores and the home improvement warehouses the days before the hurricane is predicted to hit. It’s no fun to have to wait in line for gasoline or plywood.
Hurricane supplies should be bought months ahead of the first possible storm. Much of what is necessary to have on hand is able to be purchased reasonably during hurricane off-season prices. Much can be bought even at 40-70% off the price during the hurricane season.
Much of what can make hurricane recovery easier and more comfortable are one time expenses. The biggest danger in a hurricane is procrastination! Everyone no matter the age or circumstance should have a personal hurricane kit. Yep the infant in diapers to the most senior of senior citizens should have their own disaster kit. Each disaster kit should be personalized to meet that individual’s person needs and circumstances.
These disaster kits need to be made up even for the cat, dog, hamster and goat. Hurricane pet disaster kits are extremely important as well. Too many wonderful pets and livestock had to be abandoned, left to die terrible deaths because emergency disaster plans were not developed ahead of time to save all members of the family including the family pet. If you don’t know disasters and pets tehn I strongly suggest you read my book Emergency Get & Go Disaster Guide For Pets. You see pets also need to be protected in a disaster as well.
If you don’t have a comprehensive hurricane disaster plan developed you will often you will over pay for hurricane supplies and services as well as be woefully under prepared for a hurricane. It may take you a weekend to complete the disaster plan (in-between football games on TV and other important things around the house) but it will be well worth it.
On the radio the other day I was informed by the radio newscaster that there is less than 3 months before Christmas. If you know someone who is living in a hurricane area instead of the traditional fruitcake for the winter holidays why not give them a hurricane disaster kit instead, It will do a lot more for their long term life and they will certainly appreciate it now and when the winds begin to blow. Better yet why not give them a copy of my book Train For A Hurricane so that they can really get ready for a hurricane.
No mater if you get my book or not. The most important thing is to be prepared for a hurricane.
QUESTION??? What are you doing to prepare for a hurricane? What do you think you should do to prepare for hurricane storms?
COMMENTS WELCOMED!
Are you or have you been in a hurricane disaster? Do you know someone who is recovering or has been affected by a hurricane in the past?
Please share your thoughts and stories here on this blog.
All I ask is that everyone be respectful and sensitive of each other and that identifying information about a person who is not the author be limited to protect their privacy.
Terrie
Dr. Terrie Modesto, Critical Incident Thanatologist
Hurricane Season Only Half Over
October Called The Busiest Storm Month In South Florida
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/24/earlyshow/saturday/main881933.shtml
Sept. 24, 20005
(CBS) The midpoint of the fourth-busiest hurricane season on record has just passed, but America's coastal areas aren't out of the woods yet.
In South Florida, reports CBS News hurricane analyst Bryan Norcross, October is traditionally the busiest hurricane month. That's generally when storms form close to the United States., much the way Katrina and Rita did.
"The storms that have formed this year have tended to form close to the United States, Norcorss said in an interview with co-anchor Russ Mitchell on The Saturday Early Show. " Think about Katrina and Rita. They didn't form way out in the ocean as we saw last year."
Rita is the 17th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1 and continues through November. That has plenty of people wondering what's going on: Are hurricanes getting stronger and more frequent?
"Well, I refer them back to the late '40s, where we had five major hurricanes in six years," Norcross says. "In the late '20s, we had a mega-hurricane called the Great Miami Hurricane, in 1926. Up the coast, Palm Beach was wiped out and maybe 3,000 people died in the great 1928 hurricane. So it has happened in the past.
"Also, there was a year, Russ, 1893, when over 2,000 people were killed in South Carolina, 2,000 people were killed in Louisiana. A hurricane hit New York City all in the same year. So the hurricane events have happened, but the changes in media have made our perception of it different."
The changes in media, and in forecasting, also has cut the casualty rates over the decades. Early warning has enabled cities and towns to evacuate, moving their citizens out of harm's way.
More than a week ago, Gerry Bell, a seasonal hurricane forecaster for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)., told Mitchell that hurricane activity comes in cycles that can last several decades.
It seems, Mitchell observed, Mother Nature has mood swings.
"The previous active hurricane era was during the 1950s and 60s. Then we were pretty inactive for about a 25-year period, from 1970 to 1994, and now we're back in an active hurricane era," Bell points out.
In the '50s and '60s, the Gulf Coast was hit hard and often, as storms such as Audrey, Donna, Betsy and Camille came ashore. In the '70s and '80s, that same region had only one major hurricane, Frederic, which hit Mobile, Ala. in 1979.
But since 1990, the number of big hurricanes in the Gulf region is up again and, says Bell, there's no end in sight: "We can expect continued high levels of hurricane activities and high levels of hurricane landfalls for the next decade, or perhaps even longer."
Why? Bell says hurricane cycles are primarily driven by rainfall patterns in Africa and the Amazon basin.
"Those rainfall patterns tend to last for 20 to 30 years at a time," he explains, "and as a result, so do the wind and air pressure patterns over the Atlantic that control hurricane activity."
Sea surface temperatures have risen, Mitchell noted, but scientists point out that ocean temperatures go through cycles as well, and that we're in a warm cycle.
Still, many in the field believe global warming may be at least a contributing factor in increased water temperatures.
"The water temperature is quite essential to the strength of a hurricane, and it only takes 2 to 4 degrees Fahrenheit to be the difference, to being able to support a Category 3 hurricane and a Category 5 hurricane," says Michael Schlacter, a meteorologist with Weather 2000. "So (whether) it's global warming, the cycles, or just a hot summer, those little bits of increase in temperature can mean a big difference in how severe the storms are."
How concerned should people be who live in an area that's susceptible to hurricanes?
"I would be very concerned," Schlacter warns. "As far as Americans love being near the beach, and as far as we have severe weather that's constantly threatening these coastlines, it's kind of a teeter-totter that we're going to be living with for some time."
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