Could Hurricane Spoil ASLA Show?

 

Hurricane Mitch hit Central America in late October of 1998 and then swung up to Florida as a tropical storm by Nov. 5, causing an estimated $40 million in damage in the state.

Meteorologists who specialize in hurricanes say there is a strong likelihood that another intense storm will occur in October.

The ASLA?EUR??,,????'???s annual Meeting and EXPO takes place this Oct. 7 through 10 in Ft. Lauderdale. Peak hurricane activity ends by Oct. 10, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Statistics show that late-season storms tend to track eastward toward Florida or don’t make landfall at all. One forecast group is predicting that October will see two hurricanes, one of them reaching Category 3, 4 or 5. The chance of that storm making landfall in the United States is estimated at 21%, said Philip J. Klotzbach, a member of the tropical storm forecasting team led by William M. Gray of Colorado State University. Klotzbach was quoted in a Sept. 28 story in the Los Angeles Times.

The last storm to affect the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale area was Katrina this August, which passed 20 miles south of the area with wind speeds of 80 mph.

On Oct. 15, 1999, Hurricane Irene hit southeast Florida. In one incident, a waterspout hit Ft. Lauderdale?EUR??,,????'???s Elbo Room Bar, breaking windows and sending six patrons to the hospital with cuts.

Visitors to the Elbo Room?EUR??,,????'???s web site can see live streaming video of the beach and local weather conditions. The address is www.elboroom.com and requires registration.

The Colorado State weather team bases its forecast on an amalgam of pressures, wind speeds and ocean temperatures from around the globe. The experts also rely on a simple rule: “When September is active, October tends to be active,” Klotzbach said.

The odds that Ft. Lauderdale will actually be hit during the Oct. 7-10 period remain statistically very low, of course. ASLA organizers have not said what would happen if a storm threatened the event, but a serious threat would likely result in the meeting being cancelled or postponed.

That?EUR??,,????'???s what happened to the ASLA?EUR??,,????'???s Louisiana chapter, which had set its annual meeting for this Sept. 31 and Oct. 1 in New Orleans. The meeting is now being rescheduled, possibly for late October or November in Baton Rouge.