Moving to higher Ground

Moving to higher Ground

Postby Jack Bennest » Sun Sep 14, 2008 6:31 am

History seems to repeat itself and I guess we don't really learn from it

Galveston Hurricane 1900

This killer weather system was first detected over the tropical Atlantic on August 27. While the history of the track and intensity is not fully known, the system reached Cuba as a tropical storm on September 3 and moved into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico on the 5th. A general west-northwestward motion occurred over the Gulf accompanied by rapid intensification. By the time the storm reached the Texas coast south of Galveston late on September 8, it was a Category 4 hurricane. After landfall, the cyclone turned northward through the Great Plains. It became extratropical and turned east-northeastward on September 11, passing across the Great Lakes, New England, and southeastern Canada. It was last spotted over the north Atlantic on September 15.

This hurricane was the deadliest weather disaster in United States history. Storm tides of 8 to 15 ft inundated the whole of Galveston Island, as well as other portions of the nearby Texas coast. These tides were largely responsible for the 8,000 deaths (estimates range from 6,000 to 12,000) attributed to the storm. The damage to property was estimated at $30 million...
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Postby jon » Sun Sep 14, 2008 8:28 am

Deadly combination of our inability to precisely predict weather and many people who believe that the history they have experienced is somehow more accurate at predicting the future than the history before they were born.

It easy to sluff off warnings when you've heard so many false alarms in the past, and when you've personally stayed put when the full force of a hurricane has past through your area.

Only thing I can relate to is the Pacific Ocean. "No two waves are created equal" is the way it was explained to me. Over the course of 10-30 minutes, you can figure out where to stand on the beach and "be safe". Then, all of a sudden, without warning, a wave that looks like dozens you've seen before finally reaches you and sweeps you off your feet. If the bottom is sharp lava and there is an undertow, as in much of the Big Island of Hawaii, your chances of survival are not so good.
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