Hurricanes

[Randy]

A hurricane is a huge storm! It can be up to 600 miles across and have strong winds spiraling inward and upward at speeds of 75 to 200 mph. Each hurricane usually lasts for over a week, moving 10-20 miles per hour over the open ocean. Hurricanes gather heat and energy through contact with warm ocean waters. Evaporation from the seawater increases their power. Hurricanes rotate in a counter-clockwise direction around an "eye" in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise direction in the Southern Hemisphere. The center of the storm or "eye" is the calmest part. It has only light winds and fair weather. When they come onto land, the heavy rain, strong winds and large waves can damage buildings, trees and cars.

Ever been through one of these or known someone who has?
What happened as a result?

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

I suppose if you stayed in the eye the whole time, you'd be alright

 

[Jazzy]

I've never been in one myself. I have a friend who was in the path of hurricane Katrina. She lost everything. Her house was demolished.

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

I've never been in one myself. I have a friend who was in the path of hurricane Katrina. She lost everything. Her house was demolished.

Aww, how is she doing now?

 

[DrLeftover]

"Katrina was here"

©05 The Media Desk
http://themediadesk.com

The photo below is from July of this year, taken near Pascagoula, Mississippi, after Tropical Storm Cindy came through. In this photo, you are looking almost due North, Bayou Heron, Grand Bay, and the Gulf are behind the camera. During Cindy the water where these people are standing was about three feet deep. Look at the hood of the car behind the piling, you can see marsh grass that had been washed up onto it.

It is at the house on the Bayou owned by Mrs. Desk's father. (the taller man standing just left of center facing the camera). The site is just barely above the normal high tide level of the Bayou and about a mile from the Gulf of Mexico. The house itself had survived Camille and George and several other storms, including Dennis earlier this year, that had made landfall in this area.
[On a map, New Orleans is about sixty miles South West across Mississippi Sound]

The man in the white shirt in the center of the photo is her brother, Jimmy.

Jimmy is about six feet tall.

Compare his height to the piling behind him. It would be about eleven feet to the top of the piling.

That would make the floor of the house on the pilings about twelve feet above normal high tide.

During Katrina this area experienced a storm surge of over 20 feet.

The water was over the roof of the house.

Jimmy and his father found part of the kitchen floor in the woods in the background. The rest of the house is still missing.

At this point he is undecided as to if and what and when they will rebuild.

Thank you for your time

Photo is presented full size to preserve detail.