Posted on 05/15/2006 9:54:48 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Three major hurricanes will strike the United States this year, with the storm-battered Gulf Coast most at risk in June and July, forecaster AccuWeather predicted Monday.
The outlook comes after a record-setting hurricane season in 2005 that devastated New Orleans and other coastal cities along the Gulf, and dealt a heavy blow to the U.S. oil industry that sent energy prices to record highs.
"The 2006 storm season will be a creeping threat," said AccuWeather Chief Forecaster Joe Bastardi. He projected that five hurricanes, three of them with winds over 110 miles per hour, would hit the U.S. coastline.
"Early in the season the Texas Gulf Coast faces the highest likelihood of a hurricane strike, possibly putting Gulf energy production in the line of fire," he said. "As early as July, and through much of the rest of the season, the highest level of risk shifts to the Carolinas."
At the tail-end of the season, the Northeast and southern Florida will be most at risk from storms, he said.
This year feature fewer named storms than last year's record of 28, but will still be a season of above-average storm frequency, AccuWeather said in the press release.
Last year, there were eight tropical storm landfalls in the U.S., including two separate strikes by Katrina as the storm crossed the Florida peninsula and then plowed into the central Gulf Coast in late August. Four of these were major hurricanes - with winds over 110 mph: Dennis, Katrina, Rita and Wilma.
Hurricane Katrina was the costliest storm on record, causing more than $80 billion in damage.
Reuters is jumping the gun on this one.
Shouldn't they have waited until a minimum of a month before the elections?
Interactive Hurricane Site - scroll down to year/storm to see the track of each storm
Organic, native grown, organically born and bred. (Yum! Yum!)
Does anyone else find statements like this incredibly stupid and misleading? From a dollar standpoint, I would expect even a minor storm today to cause more damage than a major storm like the Galvaston Hurricane in 1900, the Labor Day Hurricane in 1935, the Northeast Hurricane in 1938, or any of the devasting storms from the 1950's. Unless the dollars are trended for inflation, the statistic is pretty much meaningless. (I also have a problem when the media claims that a recently released movie has grossed more than any other movie in the history of Hollyweird. Only an idiot would think otherwise given the ticket price of a movie today compared to the cost of a ticket in the 1930's.)
Thanks for the ping.
That's why we call it LA.... Lower Alabama
FYI
Bastardi on Fox now (7:38 CST)
Bastardi off now (7:41 CST).... back to work.
Getting my hurricane kit ready. Thanks for the ping.
I remember 18 days without current after Frederick in '79. I'll never eat toast off a grill again as long as I live. I grew up off DIP on Bay Front Road. We got more water with Katrina than any other storm. Our house sits 22 ft above sea level and the water came up to the steps. Lucky.
The morning after Frederick hit, the only TV signal I could pick up from mobile (here in Panama City) was WKRG-TV 5 broadcasting from their transmitter site in Baldwin County. I was surprised to see my friend Dick Hylton doing the broadcast (he and I used to work at WABB Radio back in the 60's)...it was almost a "radio" broadcast because they only had one camera and little else.
Did you get your power back yet?
I didn't realize so many had lost power until I saw the local news last night. We never even flickered here (west Hgn.)
I missed that report, but don't doubt it.
Glad you got power back!
Not. Even. Funny.
(From Baton Rouge.)
We did the same thing last year after Katrina, before Rita. (We live near Baton Rouge) We bought a small Honda Generator; it'll run the fridge & freezer during the day, and a small window unit A/C at night.
Now I just need to stock up on cans of tuna fish, bottled water, and Pop Tarts!
How long will gasoline last unused?
I put one of those STP fuel [optimizers?] into the tank. The best thing is to empty the tank after the season. But last year I didn't. The STP seems to hold the gasoline intact. At least it has for me.
What I do is I run the set at least once a month for about five minutes. Instead of turning it off at the switch, I turn off the fuel supply line to allow all the gasoline in the carburator to burn so it doesn't turn into gunk between starts.
Thanks for the info!
Wish you better luck this year.
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