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Tropical Storm Paloma formed in the Caribbean today and could strengthen rapidly into a hurricane on a path threatening storm-weary Cuba, US forecasters said.
The 16th tropical storm of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season posed no threat to vital US oil installations in the Gulf of Mexico.
But it came in the last month of what experts correctly predicted would be a busier than normal storm season and may bring more grief to Cuba, which is still reeling from two powerful hurricanes that caused more than $5 billion in damage two months ago.
At 10 am (3pm Irish time), Paloma was located 75 miles northeast of Cabo Gracias a Dios on the Nicaragua-Honduras border, the US National Hurricane Center said.
The Miami-based center said Paloma was moving north-northwest at 7 miles per hour with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph.
"Steady strengthening is forecast during the next couple of days," it said, adding that Paloma could become a hurricane by Friday.
A hurricane watch was in effect for the Cayman Islands meaning that hurricane conditions, including rainfall totaling up to 12 inches were possible within 36 hours.
Jamaica could also be affected as the storm churned north and then northeastward and the National Hurricane Center said Cuba faced the biggest potential threat.
Computer models varied on the future intensity of the storm. But the hurricane center's official forecast called for it to become a hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of at least 74 mph, by early tomorrow.
It was expected to strengthen into a Category 2 hurricane with top winds of at least 96 mph in two days, US forecasters said, adding that it was likely to plow across central Cuba on Sunday before weakening back into a tropical storm as it takes aim at the Bahamas.
The Atlantic storm season, which runs from June 1 to November 30, has seen seven hurricanes so far. |
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AUSTIN, Texas -- More than 400 families, affected by Hurricane Ike, are settling into their manufactured housing either on their own property or in an established commercial mobile home park. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is implementing this form of direct housing in response to a request from the state and is working with both the state and local communities to ensure the process goes smoothly.
Used only under the most severe circumstances, direct housing-the use of mobile homes and park model housing units-becomes an option when alternate sources such as hotels and apartments are not available for temporary housing. They are also a practical and convenient temporary housing solution for homeowners, who have the space to put these units on their private property, as they begin repairing or rebuilding their damaged homes.
Thus far, 408 applicants have signed occupancy agreements for units in Chambers, Galveston, Jefferson and Orange counties. Of these, 385 are on private property and 23 are in commercial mobile home parks.
Another 427 manufactured housing units are in the installation process for both private and commercial sites.
"Manufactured housing is another avenue used to augment housing choices when rental units are scarce," said Federal Coordinating Officer Sandy Coachman who heads up the federal recovery for Texas. "We are pleased that displaced Texans have moved into more than 400 units, and we continue to work quickly and diligently to ready additional units."
In an effort to find solutions to speed up the process of installing manufactured homes, FEMA is asking local officials to sign waivers that would allow the temporary placement of manufactured housing in floodplains; and in some cases, FEMA is working with local communities to relax electrical permitting requirements.
FEMA and Entergy have also partnered to look for ways to trim the amount of time it takes to make mobile homes ready for occupancy. Entergy has added more manpower from the power crews to those who process work orders to help speed the process of installing power to manufactured units.
FEMA coordinates the federal government's role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror. |
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FAIRHOPE, Ala. — It should come as no surprise three named tropical systems formed in the Atlantic basin this month. After all, that’s exactly the number Dr. Philip Klotzbach and Dr. William Gray of Colorado State University predicted Oct. 1, saying conditions were ripe for development.
Questioned Thursday about the accuracy of their additional prediction that one of those storms would become a major hurricane, Klotzbach told a Gulf Coast Newspapers reporter that Hurricane Omar had reached Category 3 or possibly 4 status on the Saffir-Simpson Scale while most of us slept the previous night, then began weakening as it continued a northeasterly track over open water.
A crew of meteorologists who flew into Omar overnight Wednesday measured the storm’s winds at around 132 knots at flight level, which translated into about 115 knots at the surface, he said. It maintained that strength for nearly 12 hours.
Neither Marco, Nana or Omar threatened the northern Gulf Coast.
“We thought the first couple of weeks in October would be fairly active and they were,” Klotzbach said. “We think it was largely due to an atmospheric pattern in the Atlantic that was stable for the genesis of storms. It’s going to start getting quiet now.”
The Atlantic Hurricane Season began June 1, and will officially end Nov. 30, but nature doesn’t always heed the calendar. The 2005 season produced so many tropical storms and hurricanes that National Hurricane Center officials had to dip into the Greek alphabet in order to designate storms when the initial list of names was exhausted.
Although the 2008 season hasn’t exhibited as much activity as the year that produced Hurricane Katrina, nearly twice the activity of the average October was predicted by the CSU team.
Warmer water temperature (about 1 degree Fahrenheit more than average), a weak trade wind with a reduced vertical shear over the Atlantic and neutral ENSO atmospheric activity over the Pacific Ocean enabled the Atlantic activity to increase this month, Klotzbach said.
He added, “Here on out, the odds of storms forming and intensifying are much less. There is certainly the possibility of one or two more storms this year.”
Through the end of September, this season brought 12 named storms, six hurricanes and three major hurricanes. There were 74.5 named storm days to that point, which is nearly twice the number expected through the end of last month.
Three named storms formed during a very active July (Bertha, Cristobal and Dolly). Bertha became the longest-lived July storm on record, while Hurricane Dolly made landfall in south Texas as a Category 2 hurricane.
August had slightly above-average activity due largely to Hurricane Gustav, which became a major hurricane in the northwest Caribbean late in August and made landfall in central Louisiana on Sept. 1.
September also had slightly above-average activity. Several storms formed during the early portion of the month, with Hurricane Ike being the most notable.
“The central Gulf Coast did well this year,” Klotzbach said. “Louisiana and Texas got pummeled, however.”
He noted Ike, a Category 2 storm that battered the Caribbean before it devastated Galveston, Texas last month, could be recognized at the third most destructive hurricane of all time.
At least 196 people died as a result of the storm, and 202 are still missing. The wind and waves caused $12-14 billion in insured damage, with total damage reaching $30 billion.
Hanna and Kyle also reached hurricane strength in September.
According to the CSU forecast team, net tropical cyclone activity through September is about 155 percent of the long-period average for that time period.
The CSU team is expected to issue a verification of all 2008 Atlantic basin hurricane forecasts on Nov. 24. |
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