Monday, December 20 1999

Manatee has long string of good luck


By KEVIN HORAN

Herald Staff Writer



BRADENTON - Dame Fortune must have a summer home in Manatee County - and a direct line to Mother Nature.

How else to explain another in a long string of hurricane-free summers here, especially when the deadly tropical storms continue to flatten other areas of the country?

"Once again, we were extremely lucky," said Jay Moyles, Manatee County's marine rescue chief.

Luck here, however, often translates to misfortune elsewhere. And so it went during the six-month hurricane season last year, when most of the wild weather systems that sprang to life steered clear of the Sunshine State.

Of 12 named storms - given monikers when sustained winds reach 39 mph - just Tropical Storm Harvey in late September and Hurricane Irene a month later scored direct hits on Florida.

Hurricanes Dennis and Floyd threatened the state, but turned north at the last minute and dealt Florida only swiping blows with sweeping rains.

Thus was the state spared much of the damage the monster storms often wreak.

On average, roughly 10 tropical storms spring to life in the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico between June 1 and Nov. 30, according to records kept by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Six of those storms power up to hurricane force, with sustained winds clipping at least 74 mph, and about half those muscle up to Category 3 level, with winds of at least 111 mph.

The storms combine to cause just less than $5 billion in property damage in the United States and its territories, NOAA data show.

Last year's hurricane season topped the typical.

The first storm of the 1999 season sprang to life June 11 in the mid-Atlantic Ocean. Arlene spun its way to sustained winds of 58 mph, before spinning out of existence well out of harms way.

By the time the season closed with Hurricane Lenny blowing out of the Caribbean Sea on Nov. 23, 12 named tropical storms had roared into existence. The storms killed 69 people on U.S. soil, and caused some $7 billion in damages.

And the damage totals still could climb.

"The dollar figures are notoriously slippery," said Frank Lepore, a spokesman with NOAA's National Hurricane Center in Miami. "There's no uniform way to gather statistics, firstly. And secondly, it takes a fair amount of time for both the insured losses to be tallied and the uninsured losses."

Florida shouldn't have much tallying to do.

Hurricane Dennis, the season's first storm to catch the attention of local emergency officials, popped up on Aug. 24. It danced its way toward the Florida shoreline as a Category 2 storm, with steady winds of 104 mph.

Shortly before reaching shore, however, the storm started sweeping to the north. It curled along the coast, eventually slicing into North Carolina with tropical storm strength, killing four and damaging $157 million worth of property.

Hurricane Floyd, a Category 4 monster, came next.

Some four times the size of Hurricane Andrew, by official estimate, Floyd spawned widespread evacuations along the state's eastern coast when it roared to life in early September, powering winds topping 150 mph.

Instead of striking Florida, however, Floyd curled off to rip a deadly path through North Carolina. By the time the storm slowed to a tropical depression, its torrential rains had caused flooding that killed nearly 60 people and caused between $3 billion and $6 billion in damages.

In comparison, the storms that did slap Florida seem relatively minor.

Tropical Storm Harvey churned up in the Gulf Sept. 19 and immediately sprinted toward the Suncoast. As the storm strengthened and made a beeline for Tampa Bay, local officials pondered the possibilities.

"That thing was hanging off our coastline," Moyles said. "You never know what they're going to do."

What it did was take an abrupt turn to the south as it neared, sparing the area. Instead, it slid southward along the coastline some hundred miles offshore, then straightened out for a strike at Fort Myers, dumped nearly a foot of rain there and caused $15 million in damage.

A month later, Hurricane Irene rolled out of the Caribbean, slashed across Cuba and then zipped through the Florida Keys and the southeastern corner of the state. Packing winds of 109 mph at its peak, the storm killed eight in Florida and damaged some $800 million in belongings.

Florida's activity closed with Irene, but the hurricane season did see another storm of note.

Hurricane Lenny rolled up on Nov. 13, quickly strengthening to a Category 4 hurricane. When it did, it marked the fifth Category 4 storm of the season, a first in NHC annals.

Lenny wasn't done, however. The storm cut a path eastward through the Caribbean Sea, also a first.

And, despite those firsts, no one complained about one first that didn't come. Nobody raised issue with the fact that another year rolled by without the first hurricane to hit locally in years.

"This is the thing that scares me," Moyles said, pausing for emphasis, "it's out there."




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