Ramblings of a 70-year old: storms

Showing posts with label storms. Show all posts

Sunday, November 13, 2022

Sea level rise from Hurricane Nicole washes away many beachfront homes in Florida

Those who reside in beachfront homes in Florida witnessed the damages caused by Hurricane Nicole. The dangerous storm surge and powerful winds damaged or destroyed many of the homes in the neighborhood of Wilbur-By-The-Sea. The authorities deemed “unsafe” at least 49 beachfront properties in Volusia County. These included hotels and condos. Nicole was a Category 1 hurricane and videos showed homes that had crumbled and reduced to wreckage. These are the results of sea level rise due to global warming. Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reveals that sea level in this part of Florida has risen more than a foot in the past 100 years. The worst part is that most of that rise has occurred in the past three decades. ‘We didn’t think it would be this bad’: Beachfront homes in small Florida community washed away by Hurricane Nicole. Scientists and researchers have been warning about the effects of sea level rise associated with erosion and high tide flooding. Florida is witnessing the results.

There are sea walls erected to protect coastal communities from high waves and water levels. Nicole destroyed many of these. In fact, one seawall put up recently, crumbled into the ocean. People evacuated with their essential belongings. They have to rebuild their lives. Just six weeks ago, it was hurricane Ian. It eroded parts of Florida’s eastern coast. This back-to-back nature of storms is making seawalls more vulnerable. As an expert explains - “it doesn’t really take a strong storm – you just need high tides or storm-agitated tides to wash away or put extra stress on the walls. Having these two storms six weeks apart, if you don’t give places any time to repair or replenish, each storm definitely leaves its mark.”

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

A mini tornado in Croydon, South London, left a beer garden in shambles

The sudden gust of wind from this climatic disorder threw heavy garden tables into the air. It even ripped up slabs of concrete. The incident happened at the Forestdale Arms in Croydon, South London. A witness described the sequence of events. It seems “one of the tables in the garden was in the air swirling round and so was the gazebo. The doors blew in and one of the windows caved inwards. One of the tables ended up on the other side of the road. Slates were falling off of the houses opposite and one landed on one of the regulars' van. The wind was so strong it even ripped up concrete slabs." It appeared to be a one-off situation. Beer garden completely destroyed as 'mini tornado' swirls tables and rips up concrete. There is no confirmation from the Met Office about whether it really fell in the category of a tornado.

A spokesperson for the weather service explained - "There are a lot of active thunderstorms moving across parts of the UK, particularly the southern and southeastern parts of the UK that has been the case for the last few hours. So it’s certainly possible that a small tornado has formed in Croydon because we have the right atmospheric conditions for that to happen. We do see approximately 100 tornadoes in the UK a year.” Incidentally, it lasted for around a minute before the winds calmed down slightly. Apart from the above damages, there were also damages in Forestdale and New Addington. These involved brick walls torn down by the winds and roofs damaged. The Met Office had put a yellow weather warning in place. It had also warned of a chance of "sudden flooding" as rain poured down on London over the weekend. The warnings included possibilities of floods, power cuts, lightning strikes, hail and strong winds in London. A meteorologist from the Met Office added that storms could lead to 20 to 30 millimeters of rainfall in one hour. These could, in turn, lead to flash floods.

Sunday, October 23, 2022

Hurricane Roslyn, a powerful Category 4 storm, struck the Mexican resort of Puerto Vallarta

Hurricane Roslyn swept over the Pacific and struck the Mexican resort of Puerto Vallarta. It was identified as a powerful Category 4 storm. According to the U.S. National Hurricane Center, Roslyn had maximum sustained winds of 130 mph but could lose some power. The location of its core was about 65 miles from Cabo Corrientes and it was moving north at 12 mph. Cabo Corrientes is the portion of land that juts into the Pacific south of Puerto Vallarta. Forecasters cautioned that Cabo Corrientes and the Puerto Vallarta region could experience high winds, heavy rains and rough surf. Incidentally, Hurricane Orlene made landfall Oct. 3 near the same region, about 45 miles southeast of the resort of Mazatlan. There is a hurricane warning for a stretch of coast from Playa Perula south of Cabo Corrientes north to El Roblito and for the Islas Marias. ‘Full of Tourists': Category 4 Roslyn Barrels Toward Mexico's Coast. Many tourists were apparently not aware of the approaching storm. They thronged beachside eateries around Puerto Vallarta and smaller resorts farther north on the Nayarit coast where the storm likely was headed.

A receptionist at one of hotels in Puerto Vallarta said that if winds picked up, the hotel would gather up outside furniture “so nothing will go flying.” Of course, even though skies began to cloud up, waves remained normal, and few people appeared to be rushing to take precautions. Swimmers were still in the sea at Puerto Vallarta. As a receptionist at a hotel said - “The place is full of tourists.” The Nayarit state government explained that the landfall of the hurricane would possibly be near San Blas, about 90 miles north of Puerto Vallarta. An official of the state civil defense office said – it was patrolling the areas to alert the people about possible dangers. The neighboring state of Jalisco arranged to evacuate some of its people. Rains from hurricane Rosalyn could result in mudslides and flooding. The U.S. hurricane center cautioned about dangerous storm surge along the coast, accompanied by 4 to 6 inches of rain.

Wednesday, October 12, 2022

Odisha prepares for possible cyclonic strikes in October-November

The coastal state of Odisha is exposed to the vagaries of cyclonic strikes. These usually take place during October-November. Hence, the state government wants to take preemptive measures. It has directed the district officials in vulnerable pockets to remain ready to tackle exigencies arising from the situation. At times, the season of cyclones extend up to December 15. Odisha describes this as the “cyclone season.” Suresh Chandra Mohapatra is the Chief Secretary of the state. While presiding over a state-level cyclone preparedness meeting in Bhubaneswar, he said the geographical position and climate of Odisha is such the state is always prone to floods and storms. However, right now, there is no forecast of any cyclone in the next fortnight. The Regional Centre of the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) in Bhubaneswar confirms this. Odisha sounds alert for ‘cyclone season’ preparedness.

In view of the situation, the government wants all departments to remain alert and be ready to tackle any situation that arises during the cyclone-season. They have to ensure availability of all necessary equipment and human resources. This should be as per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). In addition, the government issued instructions to ensure that all the tube-wells are in functioning condition in rural and urban areas. The authorities must also make provisions for an adequate stock of medicines, bleaching powder, halogen tablets, ambulance and doctors’ team in full preparedness. Incidentally, there is an IMD forecast about formation of a fresh cyclonic circulation over the Bay of Bengal. This could likely be in the second half of this month (October 14 to October 20). Due to this, there could be another spell of heavy rain in the state.