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Carrie Kitley wrote:
> I feel terrible for all those people and their animals in regions 
> where they have hurricanes. Personally, I would choose not to live in 
> the gulf coast area simply because of the influx of hurricanes in that 
> area. At least they DO have some warning and have an option of getting 
> the heck outta Dodge. It's much easier to have solid plans in place 
> for such a disaster ahead of time and make an educated choice to stay 
> or go.
> Ultimately, we're all at the mercy of mother nature and there's only 
> so much we can do as puny humans in these situations. I pray alot. :)
> Carrie in Lompoc, CA
It's not just the gulf coast - it's the entire Atlantic basin. The East 
coast and Gulf coast both can get hammered from hurricanes. Andrew took 
out Homestead, FL. Hugo took out Charleston, SC. Who gets hit is 
determined by the summer upper level weather patterns. The hurricane is 
an interesting study. A shower off the coast of Africa can be picked up 
by the trade winds and start to move West. The Coriolis force (a result 
of the earth rotating) causes these storms to form by giving them a 
rotational motion (angular momentum and kinetic energy). Once the spin 
is set up it grows bigger as it gets energy from the warm waters of the 
summertime Atlantic. The Coriolis force is pushing North and East but 
the trade winds are pushing West. However, the Coriolis force is 
relatively weak. If there is a break in the steering winds the hurricane 
will curve and end up curving out to sea before it hits hand in the US. 
If the weather bocks the turn - it keeps chugging West. Many turn out to 
sea never getting close to land. Many curve and come close the the US. 
Since the Outer Banks of NC stick out - may will hit the Outer Banks but 
nothing else. If it runs out of room to curve it will hit the East Coast 
of the US.

If the weather is blocking the turn, it can venture into the Gulf of 
Mexico. Once in the Gulf two things will happen. It will curve toward 
the North and it will hit land. All this drama is playing out before our 
eyes as the it is watched from space and as NOAA aircraft fly through 
them taking accurate measurements. We can tell in general where they 
will go and when they will get there. The surfers on both both the Fl 
Atlantic coast and Gulf coast really like it when a hurricane is passing 
- surf's up!

I was living in Annapolis, MD in 1979 when we had one come up the 
Chesapeake Bay. In 1985 I was stranded on Long Island, NY on business 
when one rolled over the island. I had two roll over my house in FL in 
2004 both cat 1. One sit over my house for 3 days while it decided where 
to go. I had one tree limb broken between those two storms in '04. Today 
houses in Florida are build to new building codes that will minimize any 
hurricane wind damage - especially with the use of shutters. You need to 
keep trees away from structures. If you live away from water that can 
rise and flood you will normally be fine. It's the water to a major 
extent that does the damage. If you live on the coast and one hits - you 
are probably toast.

Back when I was in graduate school in Baltimore I remember the first 
encounter when with one. A good friend of mine had grown up in Port 
Author, TX (near the TX, LA border). He said - no big deal. I said what 
are you saying? He then introduced me to a song called "Trying to Reason 
with Hurricane Season" by this guy I'd never heard of before called 
Jimmy Buffet. Well there is some truth to what he said in his song. It's 
like anything you take it in stride - you really have not choice because 
Mother Nature really doesn't care much about what you think or say. You 
trade the good for the bad. Most major storms hit between 15 Aug and 15 
Sept. I've missed more than one Big South Fork rides because of watching 
hurricanes - including this years. That month is more than made up for 
by the winters in Florida or on the Gulf coast in general.

There are risk everywhere. The only time I worried about dying was when 
we got caught in a blizzard traveling from Denver to Jackson Hole in Feb 
of '82. We did have down sleeping bags, a camping stove and food and 
drink so we were fine till morning. But you just never know. In 
California you can get hammered by a earthquake. There Yellowstone might 
blow it's top again. Dams can break - witness Big Thompson Canyon in CO. 
Where I grew up - Western KY - one of the worst earthquakes in US 
history happened not far away and the fault is still very active. The go 
to the plains and talk to the people about a tornado. My grandmother's 
house got leveled by a tornado. She was lucky enough to see it coming 
and get to the cellar. Go to New England and ask people about a NorEaster.

I guess you just pick your poison. The folks in South East TX took a 
direct hit. I expect they will clean up and rebuild.

As the song goes:

"Well, the wind is blowin' harder now
Fifty knots of there abouts,
There's white caps on the ocean.
And I'm watching for water spouts
It's time to close the shutters
It's time to go inside.
In a week I'll be in gay Paris;
That's a mighty long airplane ride. "

Truman

--

“The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher 
esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.” 
Friedrich Nietzsche


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