I was in Bermuda last weekend and experienced Tropical Storm Fay first-hand. The winds over the island did reach Category 1. My first experience of such a storm. I explored the island on a moped before, during, and after the tempest. During, the roads turned to rivers, the rain was almost horizontal, and the noise was ferocious. I explored the south-shore beach and was sand-blasted. When the winds passed a threshold of above 60 or 70 mph the branches and trees started snapping. Too bad the famous Bermuda cedar wasnt around, since it was pretty much hurricane-proof. This storm surprised the island, since instead of passing to the east by 75 miles as predicted it was a direct hit. And now Bermuda faces the Category 4 Hurricane Gonzalo, expected to pass 50 miles to the west of the island on Friday afternoon. Wind damage scales as wind speed to the 3rd power. So 130 mph versus 65 mph is 2x2x2=8 times stronger. Plus, since the cyclone rotates ccw, passing to the left exposed Bermuda to the worst winds possible. My biggest concern is that the branches and trees that fell from Fay will become projectiles with Gonzalo. Hawaii is expecting their own hurricane now, and Japan and India just had their Cat 4s.
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 15:44:11 +0000
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