IS YOUR RETIREMENT HOME LOCATION 25 FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL?
Ivan Gillis
HOW MUCH
ABOVE SEA LEVEL IS YOUR RETIREMENT HOME?
If under 25 feet read this article
now!
Do you know this
jingle?
June ---- too soon.
July --- stand by.
August --- look out you
must.
September ---
remember.
October --- all
over.
It is a mariner's poem by Richard Inward
published in 1898 in Weather Lore.
Officially the hurricane season run from
June 1st to November 30th with the highest chance in
September. However, Mother Nature
does not follow any government rules and/or
schedules.
If you live near or lower than 25 feet
sea level from the Gulf and Atlantic coast, you should be aware of hurricanes,
their effects, and have a plan to deal with tropical storms and/or
hurricanes.
New Orleans and costal Mississippi have
a 40% chance of suffering a tropical storm and/or hurricane in any given
year. Miami and Atlantic coast have
a nearly 50% chance of a tropical storm and/or hurricane. A tropical storm becomes a hurricane
when the wind speed reaches a sustained 74 miles per
hour.
Staffi-Simpson
Scale
Category Maximum Sustained
Barometric
Typical storm
Winds (mph)
pressure (in)
surge (ft)
1
74-95
28.94 & higher
3-5
2
96-110
28.50-28.93
6-8
3
111-130
27.91-28.49
9-12
4
131-155
27.17-27.90
13-18
5
156+
27.16 or less
19+
Courtesy
Of NOAA
Hurricanes cause damaged in 4 different
ways:
High Winds--Literally blow things up
and/or away. The high winds over roofs tend to lift the roofs just as the air
over an airplane wing lifts it.
Heavy Rains--The in-land flooding from
heavy rains is the major cause of death and destruction in the
U.S.
Storm Surges--Is the wave created ahead
of the storm by the winds. These
can be as high as 25 feet and extend for 50 miles along the storm front. They are the second highest cause of
death and destruction.
Tornadoes--Are spun off from the winds as
the hurricanes come ashore. They
are highly destructive and nearly impossible to
predict..
The only safe way to deal with these
storms is to get out of the way.
Hopefully our readers all have an
evacuation plan and start their flight before the traffic becomes grid locked,
as it did when Rita approached Houston.
NOAA broadcasts hurricane and other storm
alerts 24 hour per day 7 days per week at the following
frequencies:
162.400
162.500
162.425
162.525
162.450
162.550
162.475
These are VHF frequencies and require a
special receiver and/or scanner to receive. These receivers range from console types
to hand-held units, which can be obtained at most electronic
stores.
All in all one should give serious
thought about the weather affecting your choice of a retirement home
location.
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