Hurricane Earl
Navy ships in the Hampton Roads region are preparing to get underway within 24 hours of a sortie order as officials and forecasters continue to eyeball the progress of Hurricane Earl as it powers toward the southeast coast of the U.S.
On Tuesday afternoon, Earl was packing 135 mph winds on a west-to-northwest track. By Wednesday morning, however, Earl had weakened to a Category 3 storm, with 125 mph winds.
But the National Hurricane Center in Miami says fluctuations in strength are still possible over the next 48 hours. Currently, Earl is located about 815 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C., and is moving northwest near 16 mph.
Still, with the possibility of at least tropical storm-force winds over the region — NWS late Tuesday issued a hurricane watch for most of North Carolina’s coast up to its border with Virginia — and keeping in mind the weather service’s reminder of the uncertainties involved in forecasting a hurricane’s actual track and intensity, the Navy decided to begin storm preparations.
Late Tuesday afternoon, Vice Adm. Daniel Holloway, 2nd Fleet commander, set Condition Bravo, directing the commanding officer of every ship in the region to get prepared to get underway on short notice.
“The best time to get ready is before the storm,” Holloway said.
No decision has yet been made regarding a sortie of non-deployed aircraft in the region, although more than a few aircraft are at sea aboard the carrier Harry S. Truman, now deployed, and Enterprise, Dwight D. Eisenhower and George H.W. Bush, all of which are underway for training, according to Mike Maus of the Atlantic Fleet Naval Air Force. Just last week, Enterprise had to grapple with high seas generated by Hurricane Danielle.
Some ships, including the carrier Theodore Roosevelt, are tied up in maintenance availabilities and will have to remain in port, said Lt. Brian Badura of 2nd Fleet.
Holloway also called upon sailors and families to get prepared so that families “are prepared and will have the resources and support available for whatever challenges the storm may bring.”
Installations from Hampton Roads up to Brunswick, Maine, were placed under Condition Four early Tuesday, according to Mid-Atlantic Region spokeswoman Beth Baker. That spells a continuation of normal operations but also precautionary steps that include securing loose objects, such as trash cans and picnic tables in parks, and picking up debris.
“We’re not sandbagging yet,” Baker said. “We’re just taking a look and making preparations in the event that we need to.”
Baker also seconded Holloway’s call and urged families to ensure their emergency kits and family disaster plans are up to date.
Hurricane Earl
The eye of the storm was expected to pass about 50 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C. But even at that distance, Earl could have a punishing effect, since hurricane-force winds of 74 mph or more extended 70 miles from its center and [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]tropical [COLOR=#366388 !important]storm-force [/COLOR][COLOR=#366388 !important]winds[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] of at least 35 mph reached more than 200 miles out.
The end of an already dilapidated wooden pier in Frisco, one of the villages on Hatteras Island, collapsed after being battered by high surf Thursday. It had been closed to the public because of past storm damage.
Hundreds of the Outer Banks' more hardy residents gassed up their generators and planned to hunker down at home behind their boarded-up windows, even though officials warned them that it could be three days before they could expect any help and that [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]storm [COLOR=#366388 !important]surge[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] could again slice through the islands. It took crews two months to fill the breach and rebuild the only road to the mainland when Hurricane Isabel carved a 2,000-foot-wide channel in 2003.
"It's kind of nerve-racking, but I've been through this before," said 65-year-old Herma De Gier, who has lived in the village of Avon since 1984. De Gier said she will ride out the storm at a neighbor's house but wants to be close enough to her own property so she can quickly deal with any damage.
Officials warned once the winds began to pick up, police, firefighters and paramedics probably weren't going to answer emergency calls.
"Once this storm comes in and becomes serious, once it's at its worst point, we are not going to put any emergency worker in harm's way," North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue said.
Forecasters said that after Earl passes the Outer Banks, a kink in the jetstream over the eastern U.S. should push the storm away from the coast, guiding it like a marble in a groove.
Earl is expected to move north-northeast for much of Friday, staying away from New Jersey and the other mid-Atlantic states, but also passing very close to Long Island, Cape Cod and Nantucket, which could get gusts up to 100 mph. The storm is expected to finally move ashore in Canada sometime Saturday afternoon.
Much of New England should expect strong, gusty winds much like a nor'easter, along with fallen trees and [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]downed [COLOR=#366388 !important]power [/COLOR][COLOR=#366388 !important]lines[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR], forecasters said.
"This is the strongest hurricane to threaten the Northeast and New England since Hurricane Bob in 1991," said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist with the National Hurricane Center.
Clayton Smith and his colleagues at a yacht servicing company in New England scrambled to Nantucket to pull boats to safety, hoping to get about 40 vessels out of the water in two days.
"Complacency is a bad thing," Smith said. "It's better to be safe than sorry."
But many people in Nantucket weren't too worried about Earl. Arno's Main Street Grill plans to stay open Friday as long as possible said owner Chris Morris. The hurricane might even be good for business.
"There's not much else to do during a hurricane besides eat and drink," he said. "I mean, there's only so many times you can visit the whaling museum."
The storm is likely to disrupt travel as people try to squeeze in a few more days of summer vacation over Labor Day. Continental Airlines canceled 50 departures from Newark on its Continental Connection and Continental Express routes along the East Coast, beginning Thursday night. Other airlines were watching the forecast and waiving fees for changing flights. Amtrak canceled trains to Newport News, near Virginia's coast, from Richmond, Va., and Washington. Ferry operators across the Northeast warned their service would likely be interrupted. And the Army Corps of Engineers warned it would have to close the two bridges connecting Cape Cod to the rest of Massachusetts if winds got above 70 mph.
Navy ships in the Hampton Roads region are preparing to get underway within 24 hours of a sortie order as officials and forecasters continue to eyeball the progress of Hurricane Earl as it powers toward the southeast coast of the U.S.
On Tuesday afternoon, Earl was packing 135 mph winds on a west-to-northwest track. By Wednesday morning, however, Earl had weakened to a Category 3 storm, with 125 mph winds.
But the National Hurricane Center in Miami says fluctuations in strength are still possible over the next 48 hours. Currently, Earl is located about 815 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C., and is moving northwest near 16 mph.
Still, with the possibility of at least tropical storm-force winds over the region — NWS late Tuesday issued a hurricane watch for most of North Carolina’s coast up to its border with Virginia — and keeping in mind the weather service’s reminder of the uncertainties involved in forecasting a hurricane’s actual track and intensity, the Navy decided to begin storm preparations.
Late Tuesday afternoon, Vice Adm. Daniel Holloway, 2nd Fleet commander, set Condition Bravo, directing the commanding officer of every ship in the region to get prepared to get underway on short notice.
“The best time to get ready is before the storm,” Holloway said.
No decision has yet been made regarding a sortie of non-deployed aircraft in the region, although more than a few aircraft are at sea aboard the carrier Harry S. Truman, now deployed, and Enterprise, Dwight D. Eisenhower and George H.W. Bush, all of which are underway for training, according to Mike Maus of the Atlantic Fleet Naval Air Force. Just last week, Enterprise had to grapple with high seas generated by Hurricane Danielle.
Some ships, including the carrier Theodore Roosevelt, are tied up in maintenance availabilities and will have to remain in port, said Lt. Brian Badura of 2nd Fleet.
Holloway also called upon sailors and families to get prepared so that families “are prepared and will have the resources and support available for whatever challenges the storm may bring.”
Installations from Hampton Roads up to Brunswick, Maine, were placed under Condition Four early Tuesday, according to Mid-Atlantic Region spokeswoman Beth Baker. That spells a continuation of normal operations but also precautionary steps that include securing loose objects, such as trash cans and picnic tables in parks, and picking up debris.
“We’re not sandbagging yet,” Baker said. “We’re just taking a look and making preparations in the event that we need to.”
Baker also seconded Holloway’s call and urged families to ensure their emergency kits and family disaster plans are up to date.
Hurricane Earl
The eye of the storm was expected to pass about 50 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C. But even at that distance, Earl could have a punishing effect, since hurricane-force winds of 74 mph or more extended 70 miles from its center and [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]tropical [COLOR=#366388 !important]storm-force [/COLOR][COLOR=#366388 !important]winds[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] of at least 35 mph reached more than 200 miles out.
The end of an already dilapidated wooden pier in Frisco, one of the villages on Hatteras Island, collapsed after being battered by high surf Thursday. It had been closed to the public because of past storm damage.
Hundreds of the Outer Banks' more hardy residents gassed up their generators and planned to hunker down at home behind their boarded-up windows, even though officials warned them that it could be three days before they could expect any help and that [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]storm [COLOR=#366388 !important]surge[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] could again slice through the islands. It took crews two months to fill the breach and rebuild the only road to the mainland when Hurricane Isabel carved a 2,000-foot-wide channel in 2003.
"It's kind of nerve-racking, but I've been through this before," said 65-year-old Herma De Gier, who has lived in the village of Avon since 1984. De Gier said she will ride out the storm at a neighbor's house but wants to be close enough to her own property so she can quickly deal with any damage.
Officials warned once the winds began to pick up, police, firefighters and paramedics probably weren't going to answer emergency calls.
"Once this storm comes in and becomes serious, once it's at its worst point, we are not going to put any emergency worker in harm's way," North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue said.
Forecasters said that after Earl passes the Outer Banks, a kink in the jetstream over the eastern U.S. should push the storm away from the coast, guiding it like a marble in a groove.
Earl is expected to move north-northeast for much of Friday, staying away from New Jersey and the other mid-Atlantic states, but also passing very close to Long Island, Cape Cod and Nantucket, which could get gusts up to 100 mph. The storm is expected to finally move ashore in Canada sometime Saturday afternoon.
Much of New England should expect strong, gusty winds much like a nor'easter, along with fallen trees and [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]downed [COLOR=#366388 !important]power [/COLOR][COLOR=#366388 !important]lines[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR], forecasters said.
"This is the strongest hurricane to threaten the Northeast and New England since Hurricane Bob in 1991," said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist with the National Hurricane Center.
Clayton Smith and his colleagues at a yacht servicing company in New England scrambled to Nantucket to pull boats to safety, hoping to get about 40 vessels out of the water in two days.
"Complacency is a bad thing," Smith said. "It's better to be safe than sorry."
But many people in Nantucket weren't too worried about Earl. Arno's Main Street Grill plans to stay open Friday as long as possible said owner Chris Morris. The hurricane might even be good for business.
"There's not much else to do during a hurricane besides eat and drink," he said. "I mean, there's only so many times you can visit the whaling museum."
The storm is likely to disrupt travel as people try to squeeze in a few more days of summer vacation over Labor Day. Continental Airlines canceled 50 departures from Newark on its Continental Connection and Continental Express routes along the East Coast, beginning Thursday night. Other airlines were watching the forecast and waiving fees for changing flights. Amtrak canceled trains to Newport News, near Virginia's coast, from Richmond, Va., and Washington. Ferry operators across the Northeast warned their service would likely be interrupted. And the Army Corps of Engineers warned it would have to close the two bridges connecting Cape Cod to the rest of Massachusetts if winds got above 70 mph.
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