Re: [ft-l] Barking all night and such.

I think the answer to your question about hype lies in the facts you
stated - that 134 people died in Camille,etc and so far as we know 0 have
died in Floyd.  Regardless of wind speed and size (and I lived through
Camille and Betsy in New Orleans and several others since), Floyd had the
potential to be a real killer.  The fact that it swerved to the north at the
last minute not withstanding, the weather service and public emergency
service people were correct to issue the evacuations and people were right
to heed them, even if perhaps some tired and easily excitable news crews got
a bit hysterical.  It would make little difference to your family and
friends if you were killed in a Camille, a Gilbert or a no-name.  Whether
the storm was the size of Texas or "only" the size of Georgia.  Whether the
wind speeds were 74 mph or 210 mph.  You'd still be gone.  I'll take the
"hype" anyday if it will help move people out of harms way.

Cricket

> Floyd was a big storm, but this is another case of people having very
short
> memories. Camile had winds of 210 mph:
>
> "Final data on the storm reported wind velocity in excess of 210 miles per
> hour and a tidal surge in excess of 24 feet topped with at least a 10 foot
> sea.  Many of those who refused to believe the forecast and stayed at home
> to ride out the storm lived to regret it.  Some did not live through it.
> The latest survey reveals l34 deaths; 27 missing; 8,931 injured; 5,662
homes
> destroyed and 13,915 suffering major losses"
>
> This was in 1969, many people think the storm of 1935 was probably the
most
> intense of this century. The strength of a storm's winds increase with the
> square of velocity, so a 210 mph storm is almost twice as strong as a 155
> mph storm. Gilbert was another major storm that had the lowest central
> pressure every recorded in the western hemisphere- 888 mb that was in
1988.
> Wes Skiles the diver from Ginny Springs near Gainesville was in Mexico
when
> Gilbert hit, he was in a third floor hotel room and waves were breaking in
> the windows of his room.
>
> "Barometric pressure is the most accurate gauge of a storm's strength,
> determining how much fuel the hurricane will be capable of harnessing from
> warm ocean waters; the lower the pressure, the stronger the storm. Gilbert
> broke the previous record of 26.35 inches during an infamous 1935
hurricane
> that devastated the Florida Keys (hurricanes still weren't named in 1935).
> Gilbert was enormous in both its intensity and its size, encompassing an
> area roughly the size of Texas.
>
> On Sept. 14, the eye of the storm swirled over the Mexican resort areas of
> Cozumel and Cancun with 160 mph winds -- the first time a Category 5 storm
> had struck land in the Western Hemisphere since 1969, when Hurricane
Camille
> battered the U.S. Gulf Coast. "
>
> I doubt Floyd would even make the top 5 list of major storms so I couldn't
> figure out the hype I kept hearing on the idiot box and news papers.
>
> Bryan
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>
> > We are counting our blessings here on Fl east coast tonight but our
> > hearts and thoughts go out to those in North and South Carolinas. In Fl
> > Floyd was the biggest and most powerful storm I have ever seen and he
> > really shook me up with the chance of a direct hit having seen the
> > devastation Andrew caused awhile back.
>
>
> * From the Florida Trail Mailing List | http://www.backcountry.net *


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