It seems like this storm has been around for a long time slowly gaining strength and heading for the east coast. I was surprised to see it was getting this strong though: Isabel's sustained winds grew to 150 mph, putting it just under the 156 mph threshold for a Category 5 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale, the strongest and most dangerous type. Isabel Grows Into Monster Storm, Still at Sea By Jim Loney MIAMI (Reuters) - Hurricane Isabel, the strongest storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, chugged across the ocean on Thursday on a path that was expected to take it well north of the Caribbean islands. Isabel's sustained winds grew to 150 mph, putting it just under the 156 mph threshold for a Category 5 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale, the strongest and most dangerous type. Although it was expected to pass to the north, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Antigua and the other Leeward Islands could see dangerous surf conditions from the powerful hurricane's tidal surge during the next few days. The 5-day forecast from the U.S. National Hurricane Center (news - web sites) put Isabel several hundred miles east of the Florida coast by next Tuesday. Forecasters said it was too early to tell if residents along the U.S. East Coast would have to make storm preparations. "We're still in the realm of uncertainty here," hurricane specialist Richard Pasch said. At 11 a.m. EDT, Isabel was located about 535 miles east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands at latitude 21.4 north, longitude 54.5 west, the hurricane center said. The system, more powerful than Hurricane Fabian when it smacked Bermuda last week, was moving to the west at about 9 mph. It was expected to stay on that track for at least a day, forecasters said. Hurricane hunter airplanes from the United States were scheduled to travel into the storm on Friday so forecasters could get more accurate readings of Isabel's wind speed, internal pressure and forward motion. Category 5 hurricanes are rare. Hurricane Andrew, which hit south Florida in 1992 and became the costliest hurricane in U.S. history with more than $25 billion in damage, was a Category 5.
i always go back to the hurricane gilbert stories...but i remember getting that impression about it, too, meowgi. it basically filled the entire gulf...amazing.
Hurricane Allen and Gilbert totally amazing storms - if a storm as large as one of those two ever hit a major metro area...
I heard that if the hurricane that hit Galveston Sept. 8, 1900 (THAT KILLED OVER 6000 PEOPLE) hit again today, All of Galveston through Houston would be under 20 feet of water. OMG.
yeah...in the months that followed our "escape" from Gilbert there was all kinds of discussion about attempts to evacuate the city days out if a category 5 storm were on track for us again.
Ugh -- I live in utter fear of the day I have to somehow load 16 cats in the back of our truck and head for higher ground. What a freakin' nightmare that would be.
uh, thats one big sucka, a Cat 5 to boot, I would say NOW would be the perfect time to make storm preparations.
What's more frightening a Cat. 5 Hurricane or a Cat. 16 evacuation? I think I would just stay home and try to ride out the storm. I hope you have really quick cats and you're counting the same ones more than once... 16 cats
16 cats...that's crazy . I have a Caribbean cruise with my parents planned from Nov. 1 to Nov. 8...I hope it will not be affected by these damn hurricanes!
Tell me about it. I can only hope nothing ever happens to Jeff -- there's no way in hell I'd be able to get a date. Once they hear the words "16 cats", it's all over.
He's very patient. Of course, he brought home at least half of the cats himself, so he's got no reason not to be.
Damn, that is a hell of a storm. That thing is huge! http://image.weather.com/images/maps/tropical/strm13_strike_720x486.jpg
