Posted on 05/10/2006 10:51:34 AM PDT by Blogger
New York warned to prepare for hurricanes
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A hurricane with only moderate intensity could wreak havoc in New York City because it has been years since the nation's financial center faced severe weather, government forecasters warned on Tuesday.
"The first time we get hit here with a Category 2, it's going to be disastrous," said meteorologist Michael Wyllie of the National Weather Service, referring to the scale used to rate hurricane strength.
Wyllie said powerful storms have missed New York in recent years, unlike parts of the Gulf Coast, where periodic storms "thin out the trees and the buildings."
Gloria, the last big storm to hit the New York area, caused about $900 million in economic losses along the East Coast in 1985, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
"It's not like we can all run down to Home Depot and pick up these two-by-fours to board up windows," said John Koch, lead forecaster at the NWS forecast office in New York. "What we want people to do is know what they are going to do with their family and their pets."
Koch urged residents to familiarize themselves with the location of evacuation zones and make plans to have extra dry clothes, medicines, batteries, water and copies of valuable documents.
Although evacuation orders might be limited to low-lying areas, Koch said high winds could put tall buildings throughout the city at risk.
"Winds increase with height, so you're going to see much stronger wind on the 30th floor or the 50th floor of a building than you do at the surface," Koch said.
Wyllie said he expects the hurricane season, which starts June 1 and lasts until November 30, to be similar to last year, which saw an unprecedented 28 storms including Katrina.
"If there are more storms out there, odds are you have a higher chance of being hit," Koch said. "It could be this year, it could be five years from now, it could be 10 years from now."
Better get some levees built at Battery Park!
Wow, this is scary! Global warming could make hurricanes a much bigger threat. I'm gonna start making preparations here in Colorado Springs.
we rode out gloria, right at the south shore of long island.
I can vividly recall hurricanes up here in New England in the 50's.There have been one or two since then,but it has happened.They can go right up the East Coast...Sanannah,DC,Philly,NYC,Providence,Boston....
[sarcasm off]
Oh please...
Hurrican Hazel hit us up here in Toronto Canada, but that was like, 50 years ago.
I guess that 30+ inches of snow in a day back in February was not severe.
If I recall correctly for the most part the city kept on bustling despite a snow that would shut down most places.
The adage of the day must be, to sell news we have to write something stupid to sell the news.
Hurricanes usually barrel on through in several hours but the biggest winter storms sometimes last a day or more.
More scare tactics.
All the smart people have already left New York City.
My new next door neighbor just moved from there!!
Nothing to stop a storm from hitting NYC proper. Although the probability of a direct hit on NYC is low as the stroms frequently have a eastward component to motion by that latitude. And it has protection from a direct hit by the NorthEast quadrant, which since the storm would likely be moving at over 30 kts is substantial.
The bigger area of concern is Long Island which can take a direct hit.
There was a hurricane that hit CT in 1986. I was at the USCGA at the time, and we were 'in the bilges' waiting for the eye to pass over, which it did, actually. I forget the name of the hurricane . . .
I was reading last night about a massive hurricane that hit Eastport Maine in the 1800's.
Sounds like this article is intended to scare people.
Seems like there are other states along the coasts that are more likely to get hit or that the severity will be greater.
One [I cannot recall] came through Lynchburg, Virginia back in the mid nineties. By then it was a strong tropical depression. Like to break or bend over every friggin pine tree we had. Another one came through a couple of years ago.
Check out the 1938 Long Island Express.....
http://www2.sunysuffolk.edu/mandias/38hurricane/
He gets paid a lot of money to make brilliant statements like that.
NYC will increase its population in the coming years - by the level of the current population of Pittsburgh. the city is booming.
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