Posts Tagged ‘Hurricane Irene’

Before 1950, hurricanes didn’t have names. The more memorable ones were simply described, such as the “1935 Labor Day hurricane” and the “1821 Norfolk and Long Island hurricane.” Starting in 1950, hurricanes began getting names but for the first three years the same names repeated each year, which became confusing. In 1979, the naming for hurricanes runs alphabetically through male and female names starting with a name beginning with the letter A, such as Arlene. Continue

Atlantic City-Ocean City area residents who have not evacuated the state-ordered mandatory evacuation areas are hunkering down, some behind plywood-covered windows and doors. Reportedly, Ocean City is nearly a ghost town, with the evacuation of Cape May County a successful effort with only about 10,000 remaining in the state’s southernmost county. As thousands of residents and tourists evacuated the Jersey shore to other parts of New Jersey or to nearby states such as Pennsylvania, shelters have been set up across the affected areas for those evacuees who have nowhere else to go.

Gov. Chris Christie has dispelled rumors that officials planned to shut down power and gas service to residents in Atlantic City. “Power will continue to flow as long as it can,” Christie said, according to NJ.com. “Power loss will be due to the severity of the storm.” In all, Hurricane Irene has claimed eight lives and left millions either without power or away from their homes, or in some cases both. Nearly all of some areas of NJ, like New Jersey’s Cape May County, have evacuated, as the hurricane approaches. Moreover, where they could not get away, intense flooding offered a path of escape. NJ.com reports that a woman in Nutley, New Jersey reportedly jumped from a bridge and “rode the current to Belleville,” New Jersey. Captain Victor Mesce of the Belleville Police Department said “Our guys found her at 681, Main Street.”

Hurricane Irene was an active tropical cyclone that currently poses a threat to Hispaniola and the Bahamas. Irene was developed from the clear Atlantic tropical wave, which shows signs of development of the tropical eastern Lesser Antilles. It developed a number of steady atmospheric convection and a closed cyclonic circulation center, prompting the National Hurricane Center to begin final public advisories on August 20. The next group occurs due to convective pass Leeward Islands, and August 21 was moved very close to Saint Croix. Irene made landfall in Puerto Rico near hurricane strength the next day, where high winds and flashing torrents caused moderate damage to property.

There are the Irene characteristics which have to be known by people to avoid the impact of Hurricane Irene. First, they should be prepared for at least 5 to 10 inches of rain due to the strength of Hurricane causes flooding. Hurricane Irene is strong since it sustains winds of 40 to 70 MPH. The last, the impact of Irene causes flooding. Moreover, its wind impact may cause power outages. Irene is moving northward, approaching the North Carolina coast, as predicted. The storm will continue to move northward, making landfall across extreme eastern North Carolina. Before the storm reaches land, it could possibly strengthen to a very dangerous Category 4 storm.