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I just read a rather grim report today from a group of world leading weather scientists. In the report, they stated that the entire SE, including the gulf of the USA would be greatly impacted and changed by a constant flow of ever increasing hurricane activity. The hurricanes are expected to not only increase in volume, but also intensity. The article mentioned all the usual southern states, but also had North Carolina in there. So my question and topic here, is what can we really truly expect here in the Triangle area? We are 110 miles inland, so I know the impact will obviously not be as great as on the coast. However, I can't help think what potentially 2-3 seasonal hurricanes at a category 2-4 per season would do to our area? Lets get some worst case scenarios?
The article did not get into specifics for those of us inland, but sure painted a VERY grim future for all SE coastal US cities. Many of the scientists suggested or implied we just let nature take back our coastal lining cities, as it is bound to happen anyhow. Could you imagine in influx of migrating people from such a scenario? We have 112,000,000 US citizens residing in these areas of our country.
I don't like to think about all the doom and gloom either, but reality is reality and this might be something we all have to face.
Interesting question from the very person who was pooh-poohing people's hurricane preparedness, a few weeks ago...!
Raleigh got a direct hit from Fran in 1996, and while there was no storm surge, the pine trees we have her have shallow roots and topple easily, since the ground is usually wet in addition to the winds. This means houses get damaged, and power lines go down. For Fran, most people didn't have power for 3-4 days, some for a couple of weeks.
Before Fran, the last to hit this area as a hurricane was Hazel in 1954, so they call it a "40-year phenomenon". But, that was on the "old" standards, and now, most do agree that hurricane activity (which is cyclical) is picking up.
I recommend the book North Carolina's Hurricane History, which any public library in the area should carry.
Google "hurricane fran Raleigh" and you'll see what the impact can be in the triangle area. That was 12 years ago and they called it a 30 year event back then, but now it seems they are saying that cycle has sped up and intensified so who knows. Fran was definitely the most intense natural disaster that we ever experienced in the triangle. The Dec 2002 icestorm and Jan 2000 blizzard coming tied for a somewhat distant second.
Interesting question from the very person who was pooh-poohing people's hurricane preparedness, a few weeks ago...!
Raleigh got a direct hit from Fran in 1996, and while there was no storm surge, the pine trees we have her have shallow roots and topple easily, since the ground is usually wet in addition to the winds. This means houses get damaged, and power lines go down. For Fran, most people didn't have power for 3-4 days, some for a couple of weeks.
Before Fran, the last to hit this area as a hurricane was Hazel in 1954, so they call it a "40-year phenomenon". But, that was on the "old" standards, and now, most do agree that hurricane activity (which is cyclical) is picking up.
I recommend the book North Carolina's Hurricane History, which any public library in the area should carry.
That was because Hannah was pushing across the Atlantic mostly as a tropic storm and only reached cat 1 just a day before going ashore. Then it fizzled into a trop storm as it hit land. It's called following the forecast, which they have gotten fairly good at these days. Had it been a cat. 3-5 with lots of fuel in front of it via very warm water, I would have been singing the "sky is falling." Trust me on that.
Bottom line, we are bound to have many more and my original question pertained to how bad it really might get. Also, the impact on us all from what the scientists basically predicting that we might end up eventually having to give nature back our SE coastal areas, where, (HELLO), 113,000,000 people reside!
the tornado in 1987 and the great flood of 1973 were far worse than the disasters i'minformed puts in the top three. what about hazel in 54? we had close to 24 inches of snow in the early 90's. the 100 flood in 73 left Crabtree 5 feet underwater. Raleigh history reaches beyond the last 30 years.
Speaking of natural disasters, does anyone remember the tornado of November 1988?It leveled a lot of homes and totally demolished a Kmart on Glenwood Ave.
and here are some stories about it.
newsobserver.com | Nov. winds evoke '88 twister memories (http://www.newsobserver.com/news/wake/raleigh/story/372192.html - broken link) Raleigh Tornado
... and California was supposed to fall into to ocean about 20 years ago, too. I stopped listening to weather men/scientists/computers/whatever when they failed to predict rain or sunshine reliably. Which is nearly every day.
... and California was supposed to fall into to ocean about 20 years ago, too. I stopped listening to weather men/scientists/computers/whatever when they failed to predict rain or sunshine reliably. Which is nearly every day.
Actually it is indisputable that a portion of California will eventually break from the mainland. Probably not for 10,000 or 100,000 years, but it will happen. Remember, many of our land masses today were at one time connected. We will also, at some point, have a super volcano and explosion that may wipe out a great portion of midwest. Probably not in our lifetime, but you never know.
I do think that given the current weather pattern we have seen in the Atlantic over the past 6 years, it is worth considering that things might be changing.
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