All about hurricanes

We're moving to the gulf coast of Mississippi.That means long summers, mostly mild winters with a few cold spells now and again and hurricane season.

I am dreading hurricane season. I recall all too vividly the utter devastation that Hurricane Katrina did to the area. After all, I am a weather nerd who is glued to the TV after major weather events. You know if it's severe, Jim Cantore and gang will be there. I sure don't ever want to see them standing on my beach.

The towns of Waveland and Pass Christian are a short 20-30 miles away. Those were the towns that were both put on the map and wiped off the map from Katrina. No one had ever heard of those small towns before the storm, but thanks to the utter destruction and devastation brought by Katrina, people came to know where they are. Or where they were before they were wiped off the map at least.

Here's what Katrina looked like. The image is from Weather Underground and I added the text.






You can see that the new base was just east of where the eye made landfall. The worst part of a hurricane's path to be in is the northeast quadrant. There's a scientific reason for that, but I won't bore you with the details. As you can see, Keesler took almost a direct hit and as such sustained a lot of damage.

They had to tear down all of the housing units and replace them with steel-reinforced homes that can allegedly withstand 140mph sustained winds and built at 18 feet above sea level (though Katrina's surge was about 20-22 feet). The base is still in the process of rebuilding and a new commissary and BX are set to open soon if they're not already open.

I live in the midwest right now under the threat of tornadoes in the spring and summer (though they really can happen year round). You would think the hurricanes would not phase me but they do. It's such a larger storm than a tornado. Tornadoes are destructive, but are so hit and miss compared to the scale at which hurricanes destroy property and lives.

Though I am excited to be moving to a place like this:



I'm weary because I know that in a matter of hours, it can turn into this:



The good news is that there is usually ample lead time ahead of a hurricane to get out of harm's way. Though the redhead and I will be manditorily evacuated, my husband may not always get to come with us and may need to take shelter with his tech school students (he's going down there to be a teacher!).