Fourth Hurricane of Season Forms: Igor
Late tonight [Sept 11] Tropical Storm Igor gained strength and was upgraded to a Hurricane, however it posed no immediate threat to land. The US National Hurricane Center said Hurricane Igor had top sustained winds of 75 miles per hour, a Category 1 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale. “Additional strengthening is forecast and Igor could reach major hurricane strength by late Monday,” they added. The Hurricane is presently about 900 miles east-northeast of Bermuda. The forecast map below, courtesy of the NHC, shows the expected path of the weather system:
The satellite image below, courtesy of the US Naval Research Lab, shows Hurricane Igor earlier today:
The 2010 Atlantic hurricane season, which ends on Nov 30, was predicted to be extremely active by most forecasters. The three hurricanes prior to Igor [Alex, Danielle and Earl] all spared Bermuda, with only Hurricane Danielle even forecast to come within the island’s vicinity.
Update 3:45pm: Hurricane Igor has rapidly grown in strength today, and is now a category 4 hurricane.
If Igor heads to Bermuda as a Category 5, will Bermuda be evacuated? If so, how long would evacuation take?
why would bermuda be evacuated? obviously we don’t want a cat 5 hitting us. or any hurricane for that matter. but if you’re going to go through a hurricane, there is no place safer on the planet to be than here. this isn’t the gulf coast or carribean.
No, we won’t be evacuated. Our buildings are built to withstand hurricanes, and our infrastructure is in place to quickly remedy damage.
Yea, the only thing Bermuda doesn’t have is the supply line to support 65k people without significant influx from external sources. If a hurricane destroys our shipping harbor, or destroys our airports ability to land cargo planes safely and numerously, we are up shit creek without a paddle. There is no way to effectively prepare for something this large. The only way that we can be prepared is advanced notice and warning so that we have enough time to stockpile necessary supplies.