Good News August 2017 Broward

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12 August 2017 LOCAL Good News - Broward Edition
Stanley Goldenberg
Good News
Hurricane season official-
ly lasts from June 1st through
November 30th, and 2017 has
already seen four systems reach
tropical storm strength. Howev-
er, most activity typically occurs
during August through October
– the peak months of the sea-
son. August 24th will mark the
25th Anniversary of Hurricane
Andrew. Andrew was one of
only three hurricanes known to
have made landfall in the United
States at Category 5 intensity, was
the most destructive hurricane
in Florida’s history, and up until
2005, was the costliest storm in
U.S. history.
Most people want to know if
their home or community will be
impacted during this hurricane
season. Although the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
ministration (NOAA) and others
issue outlooks for each season’s
overall activity, no prediction can
say with any level of certainty if a
particular region will be impact-
ed in any given year. Therefore,
every individual and community
should be prepared every year.
It is the responsibility of the Na-
tional Hurricane Center (NHC)
to issue up to 5-day operational
track and intensity forecasts for
each storm and to provide watch-
es and warnings to geographic
areas that may be affected.
Basin-wide hurricane activi-
ty varies greatly fromyear-to-year
– both in the number and inten-
sity of storms and in the regions
where the storms make landfall.
Since 1995, the North Atlantic
Hurricane basin (which includes
the North Atlantic, Caribbean
Sea and the Gulf of Mexico) has
experienced generally height-
ened levels of hurricane activity
compared to the levels experi-
enced during the period 1971-
1994. This heightened activity
has been attributed to natural cli-
mate fluctuations. It is not known
when this heightened activity will
end.
Although the North Atlantic
basin hurricane activity has been
above average during most of the
years since 1995, there have been
some years with average or even
below-average activity. Keep in
mind, however, that even “aver-
age” years can produce devas-
tating storms (1960 with Donna,
1979 with David and Frederic,
1985 with Elena & Gloria, etc.).
Hurricane Andrew was an ex-
ample that even a below-average
year like 1992 can create a devas-
tating hurricane! It only takes one
tropical storm or hurricane to
cause a disaster. No matter what
the seasonal outlook is, every re-
gion needs to be prepared.
Preparedness
This is the time to check your
preparedness for your home,
family and business. You can al-
ways be better prepared. There
are many excellent resources
online. Now is the time to make
a plan and get supplies early. If
you want to do any construction
to improve your structure’s resis-
tance to hurricane damage, don’t
wait until a storm is approaching.
When you do these improve-
ments, be sure to contact your
home insurance agent (and have
an inspector come to check the
house) to see if you qualify for
additional discounts in your pre-
mium.
5 P’s of Preparedness
A good way of focusing on
overall preparedness is to check
off these five P’s of Preparedness:
1) Protect: The highest pri-
ority should be to protect life and
property.
2) Provisions: Make sure you
have emergency provisions on
hand. Don’t wait until a storm is
approaching and have to stand
in long lines at the stores. Get
the non-perishable products
now. And don’t forget any special
needs provisions such as baby
(and pet) food, diapers, medi-
cines, etc. As for water, simply
stock up on clean, empty bottles
and fill them with tap water if
you are placed under a watch or
warning.
3) Plans: Decide now what
you will do if a storm approaches.
Are you in an evacuation area?
Where would you go? When will
you put up shutters, etc.? If you
are in a mobile home, or other
non-hurricane code housing,
plan to go to a shelter or friend’s
house. Make the plan and share it
with your family.
4) Predictions: Follow the
predictions of NHC directly from
their website (hurricanes.gov) or
through various media outlets.
Always remember every forecast
has uncertainties, but please take
the warnings seriously.
5) PRAY: The first time I
shared the “4” P’s of preparedness,
someone in the audience add-
ed this one. I have kept it on the
list ever since. Pray! Pray for your
family and friends. Pray for wis-
dom. Pray for the officials han-
dling the approaching hurricane
(NHC forecasters, FEMA, those
flying into the storms to collect
data, etc.)
Matthew 7:24-27 is appro-
priate for hurricane prepared-
ness: “Anyone who listens to my
teaching and follows it is wise,
like a person who builds a house
on solid rock. Though the rain
comes in torrents and the flood-
waters rise and the winds beat
against that house, it won’t col-
lapse because it is built on bed-
rock. But anyone who hears my
teaching and doesn’t obey it is
foolish, like a person who builds
a house on sand. When the rains
and floods come and the winds
beat against that house, it will col-
lapse with a mighty crash” (NLT).
Let’s be people who “build
their house upon a rock” – those
that hear wise words to prepare
and do it! As an old Russian prov-
erb states: Hope for the best: Pre-
pare for the worst!
For operational hurricane
forecasts, preparedness tips, his-
torical data and other hurricane
information, go to NHC’s web-
site: hurricanes.gov
Stanley Goldenberg is a federal
hurricane research meteorologist who
published scientific articles and has
flown on numerous hurricane mis-
sions. He and his family experienced
the maximum winds of Hurricane
Andrew just 12 hours after the birth of
their fourth child (Pearl) and were in
their house when it was blown apart.
His story can be seen in many TV
hurricane specials such as National
Geographic’s CYCLONE special at:
JxqoVsUUY7Y
Stanley Goldenberg in front of his home which was devastated by Hurricane Andrew
(Aug 1992).
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25 Years After Hurricane Andrew,What Will
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