Hurricane Michelle Slams Cuban Coast at 135 MPH

WP ^ | 11/05/2001 | By Anita Snow of AP

[KQQL]

HAVANA

[sawsalimb]

Indeed-some pretty impressive mountain ranges.

[ChemistCat]

Ah. Cuba is Florida's hurricane speedbump.

[adx]

Folks in southeast Florida...I would stock up on some food and water.

Surfers in southeast Florida, get your surfboards ready, since this'll likely be the only time this year you're gonna get some decent waves!

[michigander]

Trying to find a topological map of Cuba

Try here.

[DoughtyOne]

This is a massive storm.

Click on either picture for an animation from that perspective

The animations give the impression that the storm is traveling at a
pretty fast clip.

 

[onyx]

I have just gotten off the phone with my daughter who lives in the Cayman Islands.

Grand Cayman has been hit by "storm surge" --- 30 ft. waves, which have destroyed the Cracked Conch restaurant, a diver's shop, seven of her first floor condos at Treasure Island, and in South Sound a woman was swept out of her house into the street where she was struck by a car.

The devastation is unimaginable. At the Turtle Farm, 300 lbs. turtle were swept over the 6 ft. walls onto the main road, where (luckily) the employees were able to catch all of them. Traffic has remained closed --- several parts of West Bay Road are gone. Washed away.

One body has been swept ashore, (don't know if the person died prior to the storm or is a fatality of the storm).

No wind, but I could hear the surf pounding in the background.

[rwfromkansas]

Wow....hope things improve there. Isn't there no income tax or not much? Maybe I am wrong.

[rwfromkansas]

Just curious since I know some of the islands out there are great in regards to taxes.

[Stefan Stackhouse]

Such a hurricane would undoubtedly damage many things of value . . . except that after 40 years of the hurricane called "communism", Cuba hardly has anything of value left to be damaged.

[skr]

Exactly. The people need our prayers. The government only deserves our scorn.

[potlatch]

Don't know about taxes, but it's where people can stash all their secret money in numbered accounts. Grand Cayman is the least pretty of all the islands I've been to. They are one of the few places that can 'mine' black coral, and one of the best for snorkling. Always hate it when these small islands get hit.

[Chemist_Geek]

Here is the latest... Info from the National Hurricane Center.

000
WTNT35 KNHC 050547
TCPAT5
BULLETIN
HURRICANE MICHELLE INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY NUMBER  26A
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
1 AM EST MON NOV 05 2001

...MICHELLE MOVING OFF THE NORTH COAST OF CUBA...NOW HEADING 
TOWARD THE BAHAMAS...

AT 1 AM EST...0600Z...THE TROPICAL STORM WARNING FOR THE WEST COAST 
OF FLORIDA SOUTH OF BONITA BEACH HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED.

AT 1 AM EST...0600Z...THE HURRICANE WARNING FOR ALL OF THE FLORIDA 
KEYS FROM OCEAN REEF WESTWARD TO THE DRY TORTUGAS...INCLUDING 
FLORIDA BAY HAS BEEN REPLACED BY A TROPICAL STORM WARNING.

A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT FOR THE EAST COAST OF
FLORIDA FROM JUPITER INLET SOUTHWARD TO OCEAN REEF....AND ALSO FOR 
ALL OF THE FLORIDA KEYS...INCLUDING FLORIDA BAY AND THE DRY 
TORTUGAS.
 
A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR WESTERN CUBA FOR THE
PROVINCES FROM PINAR DEL RIO EASTWARD TO CIEGO DE AVILA...
INCLUDING THE ISLE OF YOUTH. THESE WARNINGS WILL LIKELY BE 
DISCONTINUED LATER TODAY.
 
A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTHWESTERN AND
CENTRAL BAHAMAS.  THIS INCLUDES GRAND BAHAMA...THE ABACOS...THE
BERRY ISLANDS...  BIMINI...ANDROS...NEW PROVIDENCE...ELEUTHERA...CAT
ISLAND...EXUMAS...SAN SALVADOR...RUM CAY AND LONG ISLAND.
 
A HURRICANE WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR BERMUDA.
 
AT 1 AM EST...0600Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE MICHELLE WAS LOCATED
OVER NORTH CENTRAL CUBA NEAR LATITUDE 23.1 NORTH...  LONGITUDE 80.3
WEST OR ABOUT 190 MILES...300 KM...SOUTH OF MIAMI OR 225 MILES...360
KM...SOUTHWEST OF NASSAU.

MICHELLE IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST NEAR 13 MPH ...20 KM/HR... 
AND A GRADUAL INCREASE IN FORWARD SPEED IS EXPECTED DURING
THE NEXT 24 HOURS.  THE CENTER OF THE HURRICANE IS ALONG THE NORTH 
CENTRAL COAST OF CUBA AND WILL EMERGE OVER THE FLORIDA STRAITS 
SHORTLY. MICHELLE IS EXPECTED TO MOVE ACROSS THE BAHAMAS LATER 
TODAY...POSSIBLY REACHING ANDROS ISLAND BY EARLY AFTERNOON.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 105 MPH...170 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER
GUSTS.  SOME WEAKENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS.
 
HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO  50 MILES... 85 KM...
FROM THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP
TO 175 MILES...280 KM.  RAIN BANDS WITH TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS 
ARE SPREADING OVER PORTIONS OF THE FLORIDA KEYS AND THE SOUTHEAST 
COAST OF FLORIDA THIS MORNING. DURING THE PAST COUPLE OF HOURS... 
MIAMI BEACH HAS REPORTED SUSTAINED WINDS OF 38 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 45 
MPH.  WINDS GUSTS TO 40 MPH HAVE ALSO BEEN REPORTED AT MARATHON.
 
ESTIMATED MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE IS  965 MB...28.50 INCHES.

ADDITIONAL RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 5 TO 10 INCHES...LOCALLY 
HIGHER...ARE LIKELY ALONG THE PATH OF MICHELLE.  RAINFALL TOTALS OF 
1 TO 3 INCHES...LOCALLY HIGHER...ARE LIKELY OVER PORTIONS OF SOUTH 
FLORIDA.

STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 4 TO 5 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE LEVELS...ALONG
WITH LARGE BATTERING WAVES...IS EXPECTED ALONG THE NORTH COAST OF
CUBA TO THE WEST OF THE CENTER.

A STORM SURGE OF 1 TO 3 FEET ABOVE NORMAL...ALONG WITH BATTERING 
WAVES...IS EXPECTED TO AFFECT THE ATLANTIC COAST OF FLORIDA 
IN THE WARNING AREA.

STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 5 TO 8 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE LEVELS...ALONG 
WITH LARGE BATTERING WAVES...IS LIKELY OVER THE BAHAMAS ISLANDS NEAR 
AND TO THE RIGHT OF THE CENTER.

REPEATING THE 1 AM EST POSITION...23.1 N... 80.3 W.  MOVEMENT
TOWARD...NORTHEAST NEAR 13 MPH.  MAXIMUM SUSTAINED
WINDS...105 MPH.  MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE... 965 MB.
 
FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...PLEASE MONITOR
PRODUCTS ISSUED BY YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE.
 
THE NEXT ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER 
AT 4 AM EST. 
 
FORECASTER STEWART

[ChemistCat]

I have often wondered if cyclonic storms just love me. I was born on Guam and rode out three hurricanes there; my Dad was in the Navy. Got married to an Air Force man and the assignment fairy just seemed to know where to send us to ensure we'd have to cope with Big Winds. I've done Hurricane Elena in Mississippi, Hurricane Juan in the Florida panhandle... a couple of less well known downgraded ones...then Hurricane Hugo in South Carolina. Good grief, we were 100 miles inland at Shaw when that one hit. Thought, oh, no big deal, for once we're not at the seaside. HOLY COW. You can't take these things lightly; even in the tropical depressions you get tornadoes built in. I looked out a window during Elena and saw a huge tree TWIST and SNAP and go flying. (Was then dragged away from the window, and heavy furniture was moved in front of it.) I thought moving to Oklahoma would save me from the big storms, but Mother Nature did its best to construct a tornado that would compare--May 3, 1999--thing actually had an eye on radar. Any illusions I had about the safety of being in a brick house were quite well shattered.

Your daughter has my prayers because the coming days are going to be most uncomfortable. Water shortages (some bozos are sure to use the last water in the tower to rinse shredded leaves off their cars), no power, no hot food, no showers, and people needing help. My husband would go out with a chain saw and I wouldn't see him again until the next morning. He's got two humanitarian service medals. I became a "water girl"--the base had water and nobody else did, so I delivered water offbase to anyone I could get to, and tracked whose driveway was blocked and whose house needed a tarp.

We rigged a light in our living room by running lampcord (or was it speaker wire? living dangerously) in from the cars, and we'd sit and play Monopoly with a bunch of friends. The doorbell would ring over and over again--curious neighbors, "How did you get your power to come on?"

Saw a riot in a grocery store parking lot that had gotten in a truck load of drinking water in Sumter, SC. VERY unpretty. But mostly people are great and really help each other in the aftermath of a storm.

Tornadoes can create more total devastation (except for storm surge) than hurricanes, but this is so strange. If you're near the path of a major tornado, you can still drive ten minutes in the other direction and get a hot sit-down meal. That doesn't happen after hurricanes.

Tell your daughter she's in for the most interesting time of her life. She won't regret pitching in to help; it'll give her a lifetime of stories.

I'm very concerned about the Cubans--they aren't going to have much infrastructure to deal with this, and it looks to me like they might have lost a lot depending on storm surge v. tides.

[Mogger]

If you were on Guam during Typhoon Pamela, you might like to see the pictures here: http://www.edsanders.com/typhoon/pamela.htm

I took pictures of the FAA radar on Andersen every 15 minutes as the typhoon approached.

Further down you'll see the aftermath at Andersen.

You'll also find comments from folks who have e-mailed me about it.

[Travis McGee]

Pray for them all, but most of all for the yachties stuck riding it out at anchor behind low islands.

[ChemistCat]

I was ten years old and about ten moves away from Guam by then. I hear Pamela was AWESOME though. Karen was my big storm there, but I don't remember it--far too little.

[ChemistCat]

Is it my imagination, or has the largely-green-before-Michelle Cuba visibly changed color to gray since before the hurricane hit? WOW.

[DoughtyOne]

Here are two file photos.  I don't see noticable change.

[StrictTime]

I don't know about you, but I feel so blessed to be living in the OKC area (in regards to tornados). The advance warning we get on those storms is incredible! If we get a storm that could even POSSIBLY produce a tornado, or even rotation, for that matter, we get minute-to-minute coverage using the most advanced instrumentation available. The May 1999 tornado could have been so much worse if we hadn't had the prior warning that we did.
I'm most impressed by the stationary cameras all over the metro area that can actually film the tornado no matter where it happens to be, so you can SEE if it's heading for your house? Cool....

[ChemistCat]

Oh, absolutely. May 3 1999 came stunningly close to my house, but if I'd been tuned to the "other" station (you KNOW what I mean!) instead of "that" station, I wouldn't have had to spend quite so long in the bathtub with a very unhappy 18 month old and two not much happier older kids. (I did hear the tornado over the 18 month old's crying. Just.) She's four now, and she claims nothing scares her, but tonights viewing of MONSTER INC caused enough tense moments that we're going to get her a sitter for HARRY POTTER night if we go to that. (Minds are still not made up on that one.)