Sandy Sinks HMS Bounty, Knocks Off Gawker Websites 238
Black Parrot writes "Several news sites are reporting that the 1962 replica of the HMS bounty was lost at sea due to hurricane Sandy, about 90 miles off North Carolina. The latest news I find says 14 of 16 crew rescued, one drowned, and the Captain still missing." And on land, the combination of wind and water surges knocked off Gawker sites and the Huffington Post for a time, and forced the evacuation of NYU's Langone Medical Center. Did it affect you?
Re:last post (Score:4, Informative)
Re:last post (Score:5, Informative)
According to news reports, the engine broke down and they were not able to repair in time.
Re:Trapped (Score:4, Informative)
Here then, look at this neat map [hint.fm].
Kinda hypnotizing. (Wind map, in case anyone's scared to go there.)
Re:End climate silence (Score:5, Informative)
...Sandy blows all the historic stats out of the water, including 1938 hurricane Bellport [ucar.edu]. Calls bullshit on the "75 year cycle storm" theory - where is the data to back that up?
While a couple of hurricane landfalls in Florida have produced pressures in this range, most cities in the Northeast have never reached such values, as is evident in this state-by-state roundup. The region’s lowest pressure on record occurred with the 1938 hurricane at Bellport, Long Island (946 hPa).
The Data (Score:5, Informative)
The 1938 Hurricane wasn't called Bellport, that's where the measurement you're referring to was made. We didn't name storms back then. That storm was known as 'The Long Island Express' or 'Yankee Clipper,' as it was an incredibly powerful storm that reached a ground track speed of 70mph and struck Long Island and New England practically without warning.
Back to your question, however... The data doesn't exist, because we only recently understood what these storms are and had the capability to make these measurements! Flying aircraft into the center of hurricanes and dropping scientific measuring equipment into them is a relatively recent phenomenon. Otherwise, you had to be (un)lucky enough to be a ship or a city that the eye passed over to get an accurate measurement.
That being said, there is a well-documented history of incredibly powerful storms hitting the New England area, going back to the 1600s.
As previously mentioned, the Long Island Express [wikipedia.org] in 1938, which killed 700 people and did $6 billion in damages (2004 dollars). It had a minimum pressure of 947Mbar, compared to Sandy's 946 at landfall. The Express made landfall as a Category 3, however, showing that central pressure isn't everything. It created a couple new islands by breaking new inlets through the existing barrier islands.
Before that was the 1893 New York Hurricane [wikipedia.org] with a minimum pressure of 952. Came ashore as a strong Category 1. Killed 38, uprooted a bunch of trees, smashed some buildings... Completely removed Hog Island from the map. But pretty calm compared to the Express.
The 1869 Saxby Gale [wikipedia.org] also messed up New England pretty good. Killed over 100. Actually created a new land bridge between Nova Scotia and Partridge Island.
The 1821 Norfolk and Long Island hurricane [wikipedia.org] flooded NYC as well. It managed a 13-foot storm surge at low tide, compared to Sandy's 9-foot, which hit at high tide. Between Category 3 and 4 strength.
There was also the Great September Gale of 1815 [wikipedia.org]. Category 3. Actually created the island of Long Beach, as it used to be part of the Rockaways peninsula. This was actually the storm that apparently lead to the theory that Hurricanes were vortices, instead of just large waves of rushing atmosphere.
The most impressive one, though, and the one we sadly have very little direct data for is probably the Great Colonial Hurricane of 1635 [wikipedia.org]. It was most likely a Category 4, probably with a central pressure = 930Mbar. Simulations show a landfall pressure of 938Mbar in Long Island, which (if correct) would still beat Sandy for the all-time record above North Carolina. Damage was noticable 50 years later.
So there's the data we have. Doesn't look like a seventy-five year cycle to me. It does show, however, that such storms are unusual but not unheard of in recorded history. And, if I remember my studies correctly, there is evidence in the terrain of New England of even worse storms over the past thousand years.
What's changed? New England is much more densely populated than it used to be, our news is much more up-to-date and instantaneous, and our modeling and predictive capabilities are much better. The same was true of the Gulf Hurricanes a few years back (Katrina and Rita). Much of the areas that were devastated were areas that had been sparsely populated when they were previously destroyed (in Hurricane Camille, for instance), and had been spared destruction long enough for the memories to fade in people's minds.