By Amanda Ojeda, Anjali Patel
Flynn, Kathleen. JJ McNelis tries to recover some items from his building after Hurricane Sally swept through. September 17, 2020. Perdido Key, Florida, USNews.com. https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2020-09-17/after-the-floods-assessing-hurricane-sallys-damage
Photographer: Kathleen Flynn.
This year’s record breaking hyperactive hurricanes in the Atlantic have five active tropical cyclones spinning synchronously. An event like this is only the second of it’s kind known to man. The five systems are Hurricane Sally, Hurricane Paulette, Tropical Storm Teddy, Tropical Storm Vicky, and Tropical Depression Rene. These are five of the many storms. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), they gave the probabilities of a 60% chance of an above normal hurricane season, and an estimation range of 13-19 named storms, 6-10 of which will become hurricanes, and 3-4 of which will become category 3, 4, and 5 hurricanes. This above normal forecast means damage to many homes and lives. So, how will this hurricane season affect us?
Tropical Storms Teddy and Vicky, along with Tropical Depression Rene left little to no damage. However, Hurricane Paulette started out as a category 1 hurricane but strengthened into a category 2, and just recently left Bermuda as the first hurricane they’ve had since Gonzalo in October 2014. This natural disaster left the people in Bermuda with an island wide power outage, that is still being recovered from. Hurricane Paulette dissipated on September 30.
Hurricane Sally was a category 2 hurricane that was the first hurricane to hit Alabama since Ivan in 2004. The hurricane left a severe amount of flooding and an extensive amount of damage to the state. “We have just endured a horrific storm that has had a huge negative impact on the lives of everyone here in our community, staff and residents. We are urgently working with contractors to start immediate remediation in your homes. … We are asking for your patience as we work through this together. This was not expected, the damage to our community is massive. We are doing all we can under a considerable about of stress; we too have suffered damage to our homes, to our vehicles, to our neighborhoods. We are committed to working with you through this process.” This post was given to the tenants at The Reserve from the management team on September 21, and gives outsiders a look into the aftermath of Hurricane Sally. Hurricane Sally dissipated on September 18.
“The biggest challenge was preparing in the midst of COVID-19, it gave us more to think about when heading out to get supplies in crowded places.” This quote from Bobbi Singh, a Bermuda resident of 8 years, describes how although she has been through many storms, each one has an unexpected element to it, this year’s especially. Being in crowded places to get supplies in the midst of a pandemic, is most definitely not an ideal situation for anyone. This was a concern for many in Bermuda, Alabama, Florida, and other surrounding states. “It’s amazing when the water comes up on the sound side, … We just didn’t think Sally was going to be anything big, nobody did.” Fred Simmons owns a bar and grill and an inn on pensacola beach and tells the interviewer how many people were unaware of the power and sheer force that Hurricane Sally would exert. With the pandemic, gathering supplies and proper safety precautions were more a challenge than ever.
Everyone is preparing for this disaster, including the US navy and NOAA. They will be sending underwater hurricane gliders to watch the hurricanes behavior and keep an eye out for damage. The NOAA is very much prepared for this natural disaster and will be updating citizens as the hurricane proceeds. NOAA will be using their Cosmic-2 satellites to help give the most accurate information as possible. NOAA has already held together a conference with the Federal Emergency Management Administration to plan for evacuations and rescues as they come necessary. A challenge will be to safely rescue and evacuate while maintaining a 6 foot social distance for rescuers.
Global climate change is going to be one of the most important factors as to why hurricanes have gotten bigger and stronger. Over the past 40 years, global temperatures have been rising, causing hurricanes to intensify using these warm air and water temperatures.
By all measures, many organizations will help guide citizens through these tough times. With the remaining fear of catching COVID-19, many residents might not want to evacuate. But there will always be risks in many decisions, it’s up to you to jump or drown. 2020 is going to be a hard one many will not forget.
