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   U.S. East Coast prepares for Isabel

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Topic: U.S. East Coast prepares for Isabel (Read 181 times)

Rhune
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U.S. East Coast prepares for Isabel
« on: Sep 15^th, 2003, 8:51am »

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U.S. East Coast prepares for Isabel
Monday, September 15, 2003 Posted: 9:01 AM EDT (1301 GMT)

(CNN) -- Hurricane Isabel's winds have slowed slightly as the dangerous storm remains on a predicted path toward the U.S. East Coast, the National Hurricane Center said Monday.

The latest advisory, issued at 5 a.m. EDT, rated Isabel as a Category 4 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of near 150 mph (240 km/h), 5 mph (8 km/h) slower than they were late Sunday.

"It's a little too early to know whether we're going to have a direct hit on the Eastern U.S., but it's increasingly likely that the area from the Mid-Atlantic to the Northeast will be affected by Isabel," said Ed Rappaport, the hurricane center's deputy director.

According to the hurricane center, the storm is about 820 miles (1,320 kilometers) south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and about 525 miles (845 kilometers) east of Nassau, Bahamas.

Isabel was moving to the west-northwest near 10 mph (17 km/h), and forecasters said they expected it to turn gradually northwest during the next 24 hours.

U.S. Navy and Air Force commanders are considering whether to order hurricane evacuations for military ships and aircraft to safer inland bases and ocean areas outside the storm's path.

If plans are activated, hundreds of fighter jets, transport planes and helicopters would be sent to safer inland bases, and ships would be ordered to evacuate bases and sail to safety outside Isabel's projected path.

The hurricane has twice reached the Category 5 threshold of 156 mph (250 km/h), but forecasters said the storm likely would experience a gradual weakening before landfall. Category 5 is the most powerful hurricane rating on the Saffir-Simpson scale of strength.

If it does reach land, Isabel is expected to be a Category 3 hurricane, with winds from 111 mph to 130 mph (178 km/h to 208 km/h), center meteorologist Michelle Mainelli said.

Category 3 storms are capable of doing structural damage to homes and buildings and blowing down large trees. Low-lying escape routes are cut by rising water at least three hours before the eye of the hurricane hits.

But Rappaport said that minor fluctuations in strength would make little difference in Isabel's effects.

"Once you get to a Category 3 or higher, you can expect extensive damage and adding 5 mph or taking away 5 mph is not going to change that," he said. "This will be one of the strongest storms seen in the landfall area in the last several decades."

The hurricane center warned that large ocean swells and dangerous surf conditions were likely over parts of the Greater and Lesser Antilles, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Bahamas over the next several days. Those surf conditions also were predicted to affect the Southeastern U.S. coast.

The last Category 5 hurricane to strike the United States was Andrew in 1992.

Rappaport said the storm's strength -- and the relative inexperience in dealing with strong hurricanes -- could pose problems.

"We don't have many people who have gone through that," he said. "The people who went through Andrew went through Hugo, but we haven't had a major hurricane of this strength since those two hit the United States."

Hurricane Hugo came ashore as a Category 4 storm in South Carolina in September 1989, tracking well inward over western North Carolina and Virginia, through the Midwest and Great Lakes area and into Canada as it gradually diminished. In 1996, Fran, a Category 3 hurricane, made landfall in North Carolina.

National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield advised residents on the East Coast to take time to check their hurricane plans and know what to do should Isabel strike their communities.

Southeastern retailers reported that residents were stocking up on supplies, according to The Associated Press.

"They don't want to get caught with their pants down," Steve Myers, co-manager of a lumber store in Georgetown, South Carolina, told the AP. Despite higher plywood prices, Myers told the AP that prices are still "cheaper than a $300 window." (Full story)

Andrew -- which stands as the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history -- killed 43 people in Florida and Louisiana and caused $26.5 billion in damage, according to the National Weather Service.

Another Category 5 hurricane, Camille, hit the upper Gulf Coast in 1969, causing $1.4 billion in damage.

In 1998, Category 5 hurricane Mitch hit Central America, killing about 11,000 people, according to the AP.

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lakelady
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Re: U.S. East Coast prepares for Isabel
« Reply #1 on: Sep 16^th, 2003, 6:20am »

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Looks like Isabel is due to hit North Carolina/Virginia on Thursday around noon. Thankfully it has dropped from a Category 5 to a 3. Winds *ONLY* 100 miles per hour. Batten down the hatches and our prayers are with you friends in the area.

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Pocket
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Re: U.S. East Coast prepares for Isabel
« Reply #2 on: Sep 16^th, 2003, 9:13am »

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Everyone on the east coast......hang on! I hope it diminishes a lot before it hits. BTW, I'm sorry it's supposed to hit on Thursday.....Survivor day. If you're OK but don't power, I will understand your frustration. If you're in the midst of high winds and heavy rain, that will be the least of your problems, however.

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Dameon Alexander
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Re: U.S. East Coast prepares for Isabel
« Reply #3 on: Sep 16^th, 2003, 10:27am »

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thank God it turned northward. I was scared for awhile that it was going to hit here (Savannah, GA).

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Irishlass
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Re: U.S. East Coast prepares for Isabel
« Reply #4 on: Sep 16^th, 2003, 10:29am »

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I'm sending good thoughts Bumper's way and to anyone else who happens to be in the watch area. I know he was getting ready to secure his property, I hope he has secured everything by now and has settled back to "wait and see".

As many of you know, we vacation on the Outer Banks of North Carolina every summer. It looks like that area is in for a direct hit if Isabel stays on her present track. I was watching the news this morning and many of the spots we visit each summer were being discussed. I'm hoping no one recieves too much damage.

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Addams
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Re: U.S. East Coast prepares for Isabel
« Reply #5 on: Sep 16^th, 2003, 11:58am »

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In Toronto this hurricane is being compared to hurrican Hazel (October 1954).

There are few hurricanes that have ever arrived in Southern Ontario, Hazel was one of them. Isabel has the same projected path and size as Hazel was.

Once Hazel came over the Appalachians she started to re-intensify which although rare is always a possibility in Southern Ontario because of our latitude and the accumulation of moisture passing over the mountains. In 1954 on one toronto street alone there were 35 people who drowned.

I was born in 1958 but still vividly recall my father driving with me in the car as a youngster and telling me about Hurricane Hazel. Showing me the water marks on houses at the third story.

We have been instructed to prepare for the worst even here in Southern Ontario including power outages and water damage. We have been instructed to clean our eaves if possible and to put anything that may fly into safe storage. Our Garage will be flooded for sure. We have lots of water problems with it. We are now planning to put everything up off the floor in the garage and put things into storage which is high off the ground wherever possible.

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Addams
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Re: U.S. East Coast prepares for Isabel
« Reply #6 on: Sep 16^th, 2003, 3:45pm »

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wind shear has reduced the hurrican isabel to category 2 for now. It looks like it's headed for DC/Baltimore. Please take care everyone . It may be upgraded again before it hits land.

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MzWings
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Re: U.S. East Coast prepares for Isabel
« Reply #7 on: Sep 16^th, 2003, 6:12pm »

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I'm praying so hard for Isabel to NOT be hugely damaging. This hurricane is my middle name - she's just GOT to be a good girl and go POOOOF!

Be safe!

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lakelady
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Re: U.S. East Coast prepares for Isabel
« Reply #8 on: Sep 16^th, 2003, 6:24pm »

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Dameon, I'm with you. I was SO afraid it would swing and hit the gulf and most of my family lives along the coast. Now I am worried about all my online friends. Hopefully though, it won't be as destructive as we first thought.

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