HURRICANE EARL

Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University of North Carolina, USA

HURRICANE EARL BECOMES A CAT 4 STORM

AGAIN AS IT HEADS TOWARDS THE EAST

COAST OF USA

WIND BANDS EXTEND 200 MI FROM EYE

AUGUST 29 – SEPTEMBER 4, 2010

ATLANTIC BASIN TROPICAL STORMS AND HURRICANES: 2010

• Alex (H) June 21

• Bonnie July 27

• Colin Aug 3

• Danielle (H) Aug 21

• Earl (H) Aug.29

• Fiona Aug 30

ATLANTIC BASIN TROPICAL STORMS AND HURRICANES: 2010

• Gaston Sept 1

• Hermine (Pending)

• Igor (Pending)

• Julia (Pending)

• Karl (Pending)

• Lisa (Pending)

NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: FLORIDA

HURRICANE EARL

Starting in 1980, the name, “Earl,” has been used in six Atlantic tropical storm

seasons.

AUGUST 29

DANIELLE, EARL AND FRANK: AUG 29

Tropical storm Earl formed on Sunday , August 29th.

AUGUST 30-31

Hurricane Earl grew to a Category 4 storm with 5-10 inches of rain and 135 mph winds on Monday, tearing

roofs off buildings and cutting power along a path that included Anguilla, Antigua, Barbuda, St.

Martin/St. Maarten, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, on a likely course

towards the eastern USA.

HURRICANE EARL PHOTO-GRAPHED FROM ISS: AUG 30

FLOODING: ST JOHNS, ANTIGUA

WIND AND WAVES: SAN JUAN, PR; AUGUST 30

More than 100,000 people were left without power in Puerto Rico.

Schools and government offices, were closed on Monday and

Tuesday.

The U.S. Virgin Islands imposed a curfew from 6 p.m. Monday to 5:30 a.m. Tuesday for the islands of St.

Thomas and St. John.

Airline flights were cancelled throughout the area and cruise

lines diverted ships to other ports in the Caribbean and Mexico,

customary precautionary measures.

On August 30th , the National Hurricane Center announced the

formation of Tropical Storm Fiona.

AUGUST 31: HURRICANE EARL’S FORECAST

SEPTEMBER 1

SEPTEMBER 1

• On Wednesday morning, September 1, Hurricane Earl diminished to a very large CAT 3 storm with winds of 125 mph and wind bands extending 200 miles radially from the eye..

SEPTEMBER 1

• Later during the day, Hurricane Earl strengthened again to a huge CAT 4 storm. .

HURRICANE WATCHES AND WARNINGS

• The National Hurricane Center has hurricane watches and warnings in effect from Cape Hatteras (North Carolina) to Cape Cod (Massachusetts) to Long Island (New York).

HURRICANE EARL’S FORECAST: SEPT 1

The forecast’s margin of error was as many as 300

miles.

Under the current forecast for Earl, the Cape Hatteras, NC, area is at highest risk on Friday morning,

September 3rd, and the Massachusetts' Cape Cod and the

Maine shoreline on Friday night and Saturday morning.

.

Cape Hatteras and other parts of NC’s barrier islands are expected to

face huge waves, beach erosion, up to 6 inches of rain, and property

damage overnight..

Cape Cod, Nantucket, Long Island, and Rhode Island will face a similar scenario as North Carolina, except

it will be worse in some ways because the storm and its rain

bands and wind bands will spread out as it moves north into New England and Atlantic Canada.

.

5,000 EVACUATE NORTH CAROLINA’S OUTER BANKS: SEPT 1

On September 1st, the National Hurricane Center announced the

formation of Tropical Storm Gaston.

TROPICAL STORM GASTON JOINS EARL AND FIONA: SEPT 1

SEPTEMBER 2

GOOD NEWS: The storm takes a turn to the north and decays

to a CAT 2 hurricane

HURRICANE EARL ON SEPT 2

WAVES ARRIVING AT SOUTHERN SHORES, NC: SEPT 2

INSTALLING BARRIERS AT ATLANTIC BEACH, NC: SEPT 2

SEPTEMBER 3

Earl races towards New England.

President declares state-of-emergency in Massachusets

EARL’S SIGNATURE: NAGS HEAD, NC; SEPT 3