The last one to pass through, Helene, did a little damage in Pinar del Río in the west and caused some flooding and power cuts, but teams of engineers were soon able to restore the power lines and there were thankfully no casualties. Today, one of the worst ever seen, Milton, will begin passing through the gulf of Mexico. It is Category 5 (the highest), and the 5th strongest ever, by measurement of the barometric low. And it currently has sustained winds of 260 kph (161 mph) and obviously even stronger gusts. As such, ISMET has issued a warning that owing to its proximity to western Cuba, there will be winds from the south to the southwest this afternoon, with speeds ranging between 15 and 30 kilometers per hour. On Tuesday, sustained winds from Pinar del Río to Mayabeque provinces will be stronger, with speeds between 25 and 40 kilometers per hour and up to 50 kilometers per hour, with higher gusts in Pinar del Río from the end of the afternoon. Stay safe everyone.
Got family in Fort Myers. It was decimated a few years ago by a hurricane and looks like it’s happening again. My auntie has evacuated but last time she did that she didn’t have a house to come back to. Grim.
Yep, sadly not. This could potentially be their third house gone in 15 years. Not sure if they’ll stay for much longer
Tis an unfortunate danger of living in these coastal zones. Acapulco got destroyed by Otis, and this year battered by John, well mostly John's rains.
Worrying forecast from the BBC Weather App. Stay safe folks! Nice breeze for drying washing if you're quick though.
I only saw the 353. It's amazing how quickly you get used to these new climate change weather conditions. A couple of years and I reckon we could handle watching WFC in 50 degree heat in January. We are clearly a highly adaptable species.
50C is nothing. It was 404 degrees in Nottingham overnight. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0kjrp2rngzo
3539mph Give that's a good 4x the speed of sound you're not going to hear it coming. Not sure the fence panels I got replaced last year will hold out.
It’s great that Milton wasn’t as serious (although still obviously bad, as hurricanes naturally are) as initially thought, but the media don’t seem to be able to accept that and dial it back, and still insist on treating it like an extinction event.
Thankfully, Milton wasn't as bad as feared. I think so much was being made and Donald lies spread about Helene's aftermath that the Gov had to be seen to be more "active." Hence more reporting, evacuation notices, drama, etc. It was ´only' category 3 in the end, lots of tornadoes generated mind and Milton was very wide.
They almost all are by the time they hit land. Katrina was somewhere between Cat 1-2 when it hit New Orleans, but had been a monster Cat 5 out in the Gulf in the hours beforehand. I think it's a tad too soon to say it wasn't as bad as feared. It was never going to be apocalyptic, so @a19tgg is right about that, but meteorologically Milton was still a beast.
Cuba to face one very soon now! When it's the US of A it's all over the news, the others just roll in and out and little coverage.
The irony is, the far right wing nuts who believe that the US government can create a hurricane at will, have for years denied that the entire planet pumping out emissions from fossil fuels can have an effect on the climate.