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One Busy Hurricane Season

Andrea Delbanco

Experts predicted an intense hurricane season this year. And they appear to be right. Hurricane Gustav's whipping winds and driving rain slammed the Gulf Coast last Monday. Gustav first ripped across the Caribbean. The hurricane then lost steam and was downgraded to a Category 2 storm (see "What the Categories Mean") before lashing Louisiana and Texas.

New Orleans, Louisiana, is still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. Katrina devastated the city in 2005, almost three years before Gustav hit. The city's protective floodwalls, called levees, were seriously weakened by Katrina. But the repaired levees held up against the surge of water, preventing major damage to much of the city.

New Orleans mayor C. Ray Nagin took no chances. He ordered residents to evacuate their homes. Two million people along the Gulf Coast waited out the storm in hotels, shelters and other people's homes.

As Gustav wound down, two other tropical storms revved up. At press time, Hanna and Ike were gathering strength.

It is not unusual to see a cluster of storms like this one. "Normally, in an active season, there are bunches of hurricanes and lulls," says Hugh Willoughby, who teaches meteorology at Florida State University. "It just doesn't seem like there have been bunches of lulls."

The weather ingredients that produce storms are lined up to create further chaos. Hurricane season typically peaks in mid-September. Says Willoughby, "I sure hope we're not still talking (hurricanes) on Christmas Eve."

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