Brian Malone is a dear friend and a Bahamian whose immediate family is about to have a horrific experience caused by Hurricane Dorian. Brian’s parents and relatives live in Hope Town on the Abaco Islands which is part of the Bahamas. Category 4 and 5 hurricanes are terrible freaks of nature, but living through 24 hours of it will undoubtedly make an impact on the psyche of his relatives in harm’s way of Dorian.
Continue Reading The Emotional Toll of Hurricanes
Insurance companies and their attorneys bet they can beat me for a living – they are professional litigators and have a frequent motive to deny or underpay claims. My firm and I are in their way from profits and bad publicity for their manner of delay and denial way of life in the insurance claims business. It is a high stakes game and a very competitive forum where winning is everything – to prove who is “right.”
Continue Reading Rocco Calaci – Is Rocco the Best Meteorologist?
(*Chip Merlin’s Note–Rocco Calaci has been a noted meteorology expert witness in the Katrina Legal Wars. Click here to read his previous guest blogs)
Tropical Storm / Hurricane / Tropical Storm Isaac is gone, but it generated numerous tornadoes along the East Coast; from Florida to the Carolinas, in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. In my area of Northwest Florida, there were many public reports of tornadoes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Unfortunately, the large majority of these tornadoes were never reported to the proper authorities. This creates a huge problem for everyone.
From my home office, the weather is beautiful: sunny skies and a light breeze blowing through the palm trees. Yesterday was also a picture perfect day in most of Florida, but the Bay area is now under a Tropical Storm Watch as all eyes keep a close look on Isaac. The nice morning weather we are having today should not lull Floridians and others in coastal states from taking precautions. Tropical Storm Debbie was a great reminder that a windstorm, even with a lower classification, can cause evacuations and loss of life.
Guessing where a hurricane is heading is not an exact science. Those predictions are much better today than in the past due to better hurricane modeling. Via television, everybody can get constant updates on The Weather Channel. As Tropical Storm Bonnie approaches the oil drenched areas of the Gulf of Mexico, I wanted to share a few Internet sites I visit to quickly get an idea about what is going on and, if I have time, some fun.
(*Chip Merlin’s Note–Rocco Calaci has been a noted meteorology expert witness in the Katrina Legal Wars. Click here to read his previous guest blogs)
In late April and May 2010, I wrote about the La Niña situation in the eastern Pacific Ocean, how it would develop, and its impact on the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season. One reason the forecast numbers for potential hurricanes is above average is due to the expected La Niña.
Insurance agents should use two recent events to encourage their clients to purchase flood coverage. The recent Nashville Flood is one example of how quick generally unaffected areas can be swamped from rain. The other is the upcoming 2010 hurricane season, which meteorologists seem to predict as a windstorm Armageddon.
(*Chip Merlin’s Note–Rocco Calaci has been a noted meteorology expert witness in the Katrina Legal Wars. Click here to read his previous guest blogs)
In about six weeks, the 2010 hurricane season will begin….
Continue Reading Rocco Calaci Contemplates the 2010 Hurricane Season
No hurricanes all summer. The water is cooling. People are preparing for Thanksgiving and muttering about retail shops putting up holiday lights in the first week of November. And out of the blue comes Hurricane Ida.
Continue Reading Hurricane Ida and the Unpredictable Weather
I get asked that question quite often. Doing what I do for a living, given my last name, and having proven my prognostication prowess (with money backing up my opinion) by opening our Texas office BEFORE the first of two major hurricanes to hit Texas, I can understand why many come to me for that answer rather than professional meteorologists and psychics. I am not betting on any “major” hurricanes this year. El Niño seems to be preventing tropical storms from making the trek across the Atlantic Ocean. Upper level wind shear has been destroying the movement towards the coastal United States and Gulf regions. Let’s hope it stays that way. And, as I suggested in May with a post, Weak El Nino and Cooler Tropical Waters Lead to Predictions of Fewer Hurricanes, who really knows?
Continue Reading Are There Going to Be Any Hurricanes in 2009?