Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Hurricane seasons starts in a few weeks, so it’s time to pause and look at the forecasts. This year also marks the fifth anniversary of the devastation caused in Asheville and across Western North Carolina by the remnants of Hurricanes Frances and Ivan. WLOS promises a report on Monday, so it’s worth thinking about where we’ve come.
First, the forecast for this hurricane season. Blogger Thunder Pig points to this story:
HOUSTON (Reuters) Private forecaster AccuWeather.com on Thursday cut its forecast for this year’s Atlantic Hurricane season, which begins June 1, to 10 named storms from the 12 it predicted in March.
AccuWeather forecast six of the storms will be hurricanes, down from eight predicted in March, with two of them rated category 3 or stronger on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale.
AccuWeather’s forecast is the latest of several to predict a less active hurricane season than in 2008, when hurricanes Gustav and Ike shut offshore oil and natural gas production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico and refineries in Louisiana and Texas.
Forecasts from AccuWeather and the company’s Chief Long-Range and Hurricane Forecaster Joe Bastardiare closely watched in energy markets.
AccuWeather predicts three tropical storms will hit the U.S. coastline, including two hurricanes, one of which could be at least category 3 strength. That forecast is unchanged from March. It might would be smart of people to already begin planning previsions for the storms that will hit. Some have been talking to people similar to Water Damage and Roofing of Austin – Roof Repair Contractor in preparation for the worst.
So we’ll have to wait and see what the season actually brings.
In terms of the fifth anniversary of the damage wrought by Hurricanes Frances and Ivan, I’m wondering where we stand in Asheville. Remember the massive flooding in Biltmore? Remember the houses flooded in Haywood County and how hard Canton was hit? Remember the homes and people swept away in the mudslide at Peek’s Creek in Macon County?
I remember it, and I’m wondering if we get those kinds of storms again, are we better protected? Is weather forecasting improving? What’s the impact of building on steep slopes? What’s the impact of development forcing more runoff into storm sewers? Have we done anything to mitigate these effects?
I don’t think so.
