They don't know what it's like to look 

 a Hazel or a Hugo in the eye; what it's like 

 to be lashed by winds of 120 mph, bat- 

 tered by waves more than 15 feet tall or 

 inundated by a storm tide that exceeds 12 

 feet; or what it's like to drive away from a 

 home of possessions and memories know- 

 ing they might not be there tomorrow. 



But this lack of experience with hurri- 

 canes isn't limited to North Carolina. All 

 along the East and Gulf coasts, officials 

 with the National Weather Sendee are 

 working to educate the growing number 

 of transplanted inlanders about the hazards 

 of hurricanes. 



In North Carolina, it isn't just new 

 seaside residents who need an education. 

 Many long-time coastal dwellers don't 

 have much knowledge of these ferocious 

 stonns either. 



Since the 1950s when Hazel and her 

 sisters came calling (see story, page 6), 

 hurricanes have shied away from the Tar 

 Heel coast. During the last decade, Diana 

 played tag with the southern coast in 1984, 

 Gloria brushed by the Outer Banks in 

 1985, Hugo spread its fringe effects into 

 Brunswick County in 1989 and Bob 

 skirted by Cape Hatteras in 1991. 



But Bob, Gloria and Diana certainly 

 weren't in the same class of hurricanes as 

 Hugo, Hazel and Camille. These cata- 

 strophic stonns are among the 12 most 

 costly and deadly storms of the century. 



Hugo and Hazel were what the 

 weather service classifies as Category 4 

 storms. Their winds ranged from 131 to 

 155 mph, and their storm tides, or surges, 

 reached 13 to 18 feet. 



Camille, which came ashore along the 

 Gulf Coast in 1969, was one of only two 

 Category 5 hurricanes to strike the United 

 States this century. Her winds exceeded 

 155 mph, and the storm surge measured 

 more than 19 feet. 



If a storm of Camille's magnitude 

 struck the Tar Heel coast, the majority of 

 the barrier islands would be under several 

 feet of water, says Rogers. 



But luckily, storms that size don't oc- 

 cur often. During an average year, 12 

 tropical disturbances become tropical 

 stomis and receive the dubious distinction 



of receiving a name. Four of these stonns 

 will become hurricanes, and one of the 

 four will become a Category 3 or higher 

 storm, Hinn says. 



Oddly enough, weather patterns in 

 Africa may play a key role in affecting hur- 

 ricane activity in the United States. 



If rainfall amounts are above normal 

 in Africa, then weather patterns favor the 

 formation of tropical waves across the con- 



NOAA airplanes fly into the eye of a hurricane. 



tinent. These waves become imbedded in 

 the westward-blowing tradewinds and, 

 under certain conditions, intensify to be- 

 come hurricanes in their trek between Af- 

 rica and the Caribbean, Hinn says. 



"By and large, most of the hurricanes 

 that have struck North Carolina developed 

 between the Leeward Islands and the Ba- 

 hamas," Hinn says, "The exceptions were 

 Hazel in 1954 and Donna in I960." 



Hinn adds that the Outer Banks are 

 the most likely target for these tropical 

 cyclones. Including Bob, 23 hurricanes 

 have left their mark on the Outer Banks 

 this century, but only nine have tangled 

 with counties south of Carteret. 



Hinn attributes the difference to the 

 shape of the North Carolina coast. Because 

 Cape Hatteras juts eastward into the Atlan- 

 tic, it's more likely to be clipped by these 

 northbound freight trains of atmospheric 

 energy. 



Although close calls by hurricanes 

 such as Bob and Gloria are not to be 

 scoffed at, they're nothing like a direct hit 

 from a storm traveling perpendicular to the 

 coastline, Hinn says. 



Take Hugo for example. It struck the 

 South Carolina coast head-on. And that 

 means the storm's strongest sector, the 

 right front quadrant, slammed ashore from 

 Folly Beach to Brunswick County. Not sur- 

 prisingly, these were the areas that sus- 

 tained the most damage, 



Hinn says the right front sector tends 

 to be most severe because the energy 

 from both the hurricane's forward and ro- 



tating motion are concentrated there. In 

 contrast, the left front sector poses the 

 least threat. The wind direction in this area 

 is mostly offshore. That's why Bob's pas- 

 sage east, instead of west, of the Outer 

 Banks meant good news. 



A tropical storm becomes a hurricane 

 when its maximum sustained winds ex- 

 ceed 74 mph. The winds blow in a coun- 

 terclockwise spiral around a calm center 

 — the eye of the hurricane. 



The winds within this whirlwind spi- 

 ral at a faster and faster rate as they near 

 the hurricane's center of low pressure. The 

 fastest winds, those within the wall cloud 

 surrounding the eye, can easily gust to 

 more than 200 mph. 



Although a hurricane's winds are a 

 force to be reckoned with, they are one of 

 the least destructive aspects of these cy- 

 clones. It's the storm surge that causes the 

 most damage to structures and nine out of 

 the 10 deaths associated with hurricanes. 



The storm surge is the rise in water 

 level that occurs as the hurricane moves 

 ashore. It does not include the waves that 

 ride atop it. 



If a storm of Camille's magnitude struck the Tar Heel coast, the majority of the 



4 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1991 



