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Hurricane myths: What you should not believe
Sun Sentinel ^ | 5/31/18 | David Fleshler

Posted on 05/31/2018 5:46:06 PM PDT by Moonman62

The most dangerous element of the storm is wind: For all the focus on wind speeds and hurricane categories, the real killer is water. Storm surge, the temporary rise in sea level caused by the storm’s winds, causes more fatalities than any other part of the storm. A study of tropical storms and hurricanes from 1963 to 2012 by Edward Rappaport, deputy director of the National Hurricane Center, found that 49 percent of deaths were caused by storm surge, 27 percent by rain and 6 percent by surf. Wind accounted for 8 percent of deaths and tornadoes for 3 percent.

The focus on wind speeds has led to a phenomenon in which people “overevacuate,” fleeing areas that are not in evacuation zones, which are located near water, said Johnson, Palm Beach County’s emergency management director. This puts a strain on roads, shelters and other resources.

Once a hurricane has passed, the danger is over: A very dangerous misconception, as shown by the deaths of 12 people in a Hollywood nursing home after Hurricane Irma knocked out power. After a storm, people die from downed power lines, heat from loss of power, flooding and falls off ladders as they make repairs.

(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Science; Weather
KEYWORDS: hurricane; myths
Very good article. People also hurt themselves preparing for a hurricane.
1 posted on 05/31/2018 5:46:06 PM PDT by Moonman62
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To: Moonman62

Excellent article.

Thanks for posting.


2 posted on 05/31/2018 5:48:53 PM PDT by generally ( Don't be stupid. We have politicians for that.)
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To: Moonman62

Think about the air pressure myth. Even a one pound difference in air pressure would mean a difference of 144lbs per sq ft. For a typical door that could mean some 1728lbs pushing outward. At that level it would be like a two door car pushing against it.


3 posted on 05/31/2018 5:58:20 PM PDT by LukeL
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To: Moonman62

I suspect that most people already know that storm surge is the worst thing.

Still wind and tornadoes spawned from hurricanes kill a lot too.


4 posted on 05/31/2018 6:01:56 PM PDT by yarddog
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To: Moonman62

The myth that always bothered me, and affected me most,

“The hurricane passed safely out to sea”


5 posted on 05/31/2018 6:04:05 PM PDT by Cold Heart
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To: LukeL

Somebody’s confusing hurricane myths with tornado myths. I’ve never in my life heard to open a window in a hurricane. That’s just bizarre, your house would be filled with water. The wind drives very heavy rain into the oddest places with the house closed up tight as you can close it, let alone leaving a window open.

I have, however, heard that about a tornado.


6 posted on 05/31/2018 6:04:48 PM PDT by RegulatorCountry
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To: LukeL

I was 5 years old during the Northeast hurricane of 1938,and I can still hear the dreadful sound of the wind.

I was terrified.

.


7 posted on 05/31/2018 6:05:34 PM PDT by Mears
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To: generally

I knew three people near the center of Andrew who survived the wind without injury. One guy hid under mattresses with his family after barrel roof tiles blew out his windows. Another guy got in the corner of his garage after the wind blew a large object through a wall. Another guy had his roof blown off. He got in his car in the garage with his wife and his dogs.


8 posted on 05/31/2018 6:05:47 PM PDT by Moonman62 (Give a man a fish and he'll be a Democrat. Teach a man to fish and he'll be a responsible citizen.)
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To: Moonman62

That is also great info to have. I hope I never need it!


9 posted on 05/31/2018 6:13:12 PM PDT by generally ( Don't be stupid. We have politicians for that.)
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To: Moonman62

I drove right through the eye of Hurricane Edith in Sept. 1971. I was driving from Florida to Texas to see a girl that I was just crazy over.

I drove through the eye in Louisiana just befor entering Texas. I was the only car on I-10. Winds were around 80-90 mph. Driving on the interstate was not so bad except every time I drove under an overpass, the car swerved. After a couple of them I was able to anticipate it.

The real danger was objects such as signs blowing across the highway.

I didn’t realize just how stressful it was until I got into Texas and the winds died down. I suddenly realized I had a death grip on the steering wheel.


10 posted on 05/31/2018 6:15:42 PM PDT by yarddog
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To: yarddog

Well.....how did it go with the girl you were crazy for?????


11 posted on 05/31/2018 7:15:37 PM PDT by Deaf Smith (When a Texan takes his chances, chances will be taken that's fore sure)
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To: Deaf Smith

Everything went well for a couple of weeks but she was in college in Texas and me at Troy. She eventually went back to her Texas boyfriend, married him and had 4 kids.

One of them was a second team all American. Another did well in American Ninja competition.

It broke my heart. I eventually married an even prettier girl.


12 posted on 05/31/2018 8:40:37 PM PDT by yarddog
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To: Moonman62

June. Too soon
July stand by
August. Look out you must !
September. Remember !
October. All over


13 posted on 05/31/2018 10:33:20 PM PDT by Truthoverpower (The guvmint you get is the Trump winning express !)
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To: Moonman62

Read about the Labor Day hurricane of 1935
The 1935 Labor Day Hurricane was the most intense hurricane to make landfall in the United States on record[1] and the most intense Atlantic hurricane until Hurricane Gilbert. The second tropical cyclone, second hurricane, and second major hurricane of the 1935 Atlantic hurricane season, the Labor Day Hurricane was the first of three Category 5 hurricanes to strike the United States at that intensity during the 20th century (the other two being 1969’s Hurricane Camille and 1992’s Hurricane Andrew). After forming as a weak tropical storm east of the Bahamas on August 29, it slowly proceeded westward and became a hurricane on September 1.

Men caught in it literally had all their flesh and bones ripped their bodies tend were not able to be ID
No warning in the keys at ALL
NOW
warnings are ridiculous. And good that they are
Remeber. Last year kids ?


14 posted on 05/31/2018 10:38:30 PM PDT by Truthoverpower (The guvmint you get is the Trump winning express !)
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To: Truthoverpower

Hemingway wrote an article about it.

And from what I can tell most if not all of the deaths were due to storm surge rather than wind.

https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/16158


15 posted on 06/01/2018 12:30:10 AM PDT by Moonman62 (Give a man a fish and he'll be a Democrat. Teach a man to fish and he'll be a responsible citizen.)
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To: Mears
I was 5 years old during the Northeast hurricane of 1938,and I can still hear the dreadful sound of the wind.

My Dad also had bad memories of that storm, watching it blow over huge trees on the farm. For the rest of his life the sound of wind whistling around the house would make him nervous.

16 posted on 06/01/2018 5:50:58 AM PDT by ken in texas
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