Tag archive: Typhon

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Hurricane Helene

Atlantic storms with PNAs (Personal-Named Asteroids) equating to their designated names, which find these connected to the Sun when they make landfall, often prove to be among the worst, most powerful and destructive hurricanes on record, not to mention the most expensive.  Such was the case with Hurricane Irma, which made landfall in Florida on 10 September 2017, with the Sun conjunct asteroid Irma (estimated cost $65 billion); and Hurricane Maria, which made landfall in Puerto Rico ten days later, with asteroid Maria exactly squared the Sun (estimated cost $115 billion).  And such is the case now, with Hurricane Helene striking Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 4 hurricane, the largest ever to hit the region, on September 26th, under a precise conjunction of the Sun with asteroid Helena (with an early estimate of the storm’s damage at $95-110 billion).

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Debby Down(pour)er

Hurricane Debby made landfall as a Category 1 storm in the small town of Steinhatchee, in Florida’s Big Bend, at about 7 AM EDT on August 5, 2024.  Debby had been named as a Tropical Storm just two days before, an unusually short interval between naming and effect.  Winds began falling rapidly shortly after Debby went inland, and she was downgraded to Tropical Storm status again within a few hours, but Debby’s impact is expected to be felt in the arena of rain, with as much as 30” predicted in some regions.  Already as of this writing (August 6), Debby has dropped some 16” in Manatee County, Florida, and historic flooding is expected in Georgia and the Carolinas.

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Hurricane Idalia Swamps Northern Florida

On 30 August 2023 the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season kicked off with a bang, as Hurricane Idalia battered the northern Florida coast with 125 mph winds and a 7-foot storm surge, making landfall as a category 3 storm at Keaton Beach, in the Sunshine State’s Big Bend region, at 7:45 AM EDT.  Earlier projections had seen the storm coming ashore somewhat further south, in more populous areas, but despite the already swampy terrain and smaller communities in its path, Idalia is estimated to have caused some $9 billion+ in damage.  Thankfully, loss of life was minimal, with three traffic-related fatalities attributed to Idalia’s effects.

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The Turkish Earthquake

On 6 February 2023 at approximately 4:17 AM local time, the border region between Turkey and Syria was rocked by a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake, estimated to be one of the deadliest of the decade.  As of this writing (Feb 12), more than 34,000 are confirmed dead, with much of the debris yet to be excavated for survivors or remains.  Known as the Kahramanmaras quake, for the nearest large city, the epicenter is closer to Nurdagi, a smaller town on the outskirts.

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Hurricane Season Heats Up

After a fairly somnolent summer, the Atlantic hurricane season has been working overtime to make up the deficit, with two powerful storms wreaking havoc up and down the east coast of North America in the last week of September.  Hurricane Fiona devastated areas of the Canadian Maritimes on the 24th, while Hurricane Ian pounded central Florida on the 28th with nightmarish winds and massive flooding, traversed the Sunshine State, then refueled in the Atlantic and turned its sights on the Carolinas.

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Kentucky Rain Keeps Pouring Down

Torrential rains drenching eastern Kentucky in late July led to massive flooding on July 28, 2022, particularly of isolated rural communities in the poorest areas of Appalachia, where rivers and creeks swelled to overflow their banks by as much as 20 feet, filling the hollows and washing away some homes and businesses, inundating others in feet of standing water.  Hardest-hit areas received 8-10 inches of rainfall within 48 hours.  As of this writing (July 31) 26 are dead and dozens more still missing, while continued rain forecasts imperil search efforts and threaten to exacerbate an already tragic situation.  Among the dead are four young siblings from Montgomery, Kentucky:  Maddison, Riley, Nevaeh and Chance Noble, aged 2 to 8, torn from their parent’s arms by the current’s grip as the family’s mobile home was swept away.

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