Serving as a wake-up call to forecasters, Hurricane Bertha formed much farther east than usual, being so early in hurricane season and strengthened much quicker than predicted. Hopefully, this is not an indication of a busy year.
The storm formed near the Cape Verde islands off Africa on July 3rd and by July 7th it had become the first “major” Atlantic hurricane of 2008, with sustained winds of at least 115 miles per hour, a Category 3 storm, according to the Saffir-Simpson scale.
Heading northwest, it was predicted to pass near Bermuda, and predicted to loose strength due to atmospheric conditions in its path. In fact, the center of Bertha passed to the east of Bermuda, at tropical storm strength, soaking the island and leaving about 4,000 without power. Presently it is headed east and away from the Northern U.S.
Hurricane Fact: Bertha became the longest-lived July Atlantic tropical cyclone on record as of July 15th.
The National Hurricane Center’s Web site’ information on Bertha
When preparing the patio and pool area of a property for an approaching hurricane, people used to believe that they should drain the water from their swimming pool. Why was that?
If it was it to prevent the water from overflowing, then besides being a futile effort, it could have caused more harm than good. If a pool is drained more than a few feet, the shell of the pool (concrete or otherwise) could literally pop out of the heavy, water-saturated ground. The pool actually needs the weight of the water in it to hold it in place.
So what should you do to prepare your swimming pool for a hurricane? Before the storm, add extra chlorine or whatever chemicals you normally use to keep your pool clean, and keep extra chlorine and chemicals on hand for after the storm.
Remove automatic pool cleaners, vacuums and accessories and store inside. Turn off the power to the pool pump at the breaker and if possible, have your gas company disconnect gas to the pool heater (if you have one). Tie a waterproof cover over your pool pump motor, and if it is in an area that is known to flood, you may want to remove it and store it inside.
Another “no-no” - never put your patio furniture into the pool to keep it from blowing away! First, it could scratch the surface of your pool, and second, all those extra chemicals you put in the water may ruin the furniture.
A recent report published in the February 2008 edition of the Natural Hazards Review, which was written by researchers from the National Hurricane Center, along with researchers from Universities and private weather and insurance firms, seems to indicate that global warming has not caused a significant increase in destruction from hurricanes. In fact, it may surprise some of you to learn that the most costly decade in U.S. history was 1926 to 1935.
The report uses a term called “normalization” which basically amounts to translating the damage estimate in dollars from past storms to ‘today’s dollars’ after calculating the changes in inflation, population, income, housing costs, etc. After their calculations, they have determined that there is no set trend of increasing intensity or frequency of storms - the examples of damage amounts over several decades prove very interesting. They site 1926 and 2005 as the most damaging years.
For those of you who have lived in hurricane prone coastal areas for many years, all of this may not come as such a surprise. The experience of living in these areas has proven to many that seasons can vary drastically from year to year. Hurricane predictions and forecasts (especially those of recent years) have been looked upon as somewhat of a joke, but no one is laughing.
If you would like to read the full report, go to the ASCE Research Library
