Southwinds Sailing June 2004 - Southwinds Magazine

Probabilities for at least one major (Category 3-4-5) hurricanelandfall on each of the following coastal areas:1) Entire U.S. coastline - 71% (average for last century is 52%).2) U.S. East Coast Including the Florida Peninsula – 52% (averagefor last century is 31%).3) Gulf Coast from the Florida Panhandle westward toBrownsville – 40% (average for last century is 30%).4) Expected above-average major hurricane landfall risk in theCaribbean.(Information provided by the 2004 Forecast by Dr. William M. Gray,Colorado State University, Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences).Hurricanes:Finding Safe Harbor in a MarinaBy Jo WebnarEveryone knows that hurricane damage can amount to over abillion dollars, but how about tropical storms? According toNOAA, “Hurricanes are categorized according to the strengthof their winds using the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. A category1 storm has the lowest wind speeds, while a category 5hurricane has the strongest. These are relative terms, becauselower category storms can sometimes inflict greater damage thanhigher category storms, depending on where they strike and theparticular hazards they bring. In fact, tropical storms can alsoproduce significant damage and loss of life, mainly due toflooding.”On September 14, 2001, tropical storm Gabrielle hit thewest Florida coast. At 5 a.m. sustained winds were clocked at70 mph, with gusts over 85 mph. Gabrielle arrived nine hoursearlier than the 5 p.m. forecast, was stronger than anticipated,and surprised boaters who didn’t have enough warning to addextra lines. Reuters News Service reported the Manatee Riverwas between 5 and 10 feet above flood stage caused by the 11inches of rain from the storm. From Key West to Clearwater,tropical storm Gabrielle sank boats and destroyed marinas.Why? This was only a tropical storm.Are marinas in Florida built to withstand these storms? Inthe state of Florida, I could not find any state, municipal, orcounty regulations that require marinas to be built to a specificlevel to protect against wind velocity, storm surge, or flooding.If you sign a lease, a marina may tell you that it can withstanda class 1 or 2 hurricane, but you won’t see a guarantee inprint, and it may not be the truth. There are numerous buildingordinances for storm protection, but none of them apply tomarinas. There are no set standards that any governmentagency I contacted was able to provide. What this means isthat you are the only one responsible for the safety of yourboat. Before you sign a contract, you might want to make surethat the marina is built well enough to withstand a class 2 hurricane.You’ll have to do your own research, because there isNEWS & VIEWS FOR SOUTHERN SAILORS SOUTHWINDS June 2004 29