Deathly Storm

Deadly Atlantic Storm Parallels US Coast
AP
Posted: 2007-11-02
13:01:29
"NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) - Hurricane Noel, the deadliest storm to hit
the Atlantic this year, paralleled the U.S. coast on Friday, losing strength as
it headed north towards Nova Scotia.Noel slammed the Caribbean earlier this week
with heavy rains that caused flooding and mudslides, leaving 118 dead, officials
said.After drenching the Bahamas and Cuba on Thursday, the Category 1
hurricane's sustained winds were at 80 mph on Friday and its center was about
425 miles south of Cape Hatteras, N.C., the U.S. National Hurricane Center in
Miami said. Noel is moving to the north-northeast at about 17 mph, but was
expected to pick up speed.Jack Beven, a hurricane specialist at the center, said
Friday that "we don't expect the center to cross the U.S. coast. The track would
take the center of the system over Nova Scotia."But Beven also noted that the
storm "is going to increase rather significantly in size" and that its effects
could be felt in the U.S. Forecasters say 2 to 4 inches of rain could fall in
North Carolina's Outer Banks, while isolated areas of New England might see 6
inches.On Thursday, muddy rain-swollen waters overflowed a dam in Cuba, washing
into hundreds of homes, over highways and knocking out electricity and telephone
service. Dozens of small communities were cut off.Cuban soldiers went
door-to-door in low-lying areas and evacuated about 24,000 people, according to
state radio and television reports. At least 2,000 homes were damaged by flood
waters, but there was no official word of deaths.In Ciego de Avila province in
central Cuba, flooding wiped out nearly 2,000 tons of corn, potato, banana,
cucumber and tomato harvests, said Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, a vice
president.The storm brought a record 15 inches of rain to the Bahamas, Prime
Minister Hubert Ingraham said. Flooding killed at least one man in the Bahamas
and forced the evacuation of almost 400 people. Ingraham said the majority of
the evacuees were from the northeast Bahamian island of Abaco."

Hurricanes can be deathly and very dangerous. They are destructive and ruin thousands of innocent peoples homes. This hurricane Noel swiped through the Bahamas. Many were killed and homes were ruined by rain, mudslides, and floods. Being in a hurricane, having first hand account it is very scary. This summer I went to Mexico , when the first hurricane of the year decided to hit, Dean. Of course I was scared and unsure of what to do since back in New Jersey hurricanes are not heard of. So like all the natives to Mexico, we had to learn what to do. Our hotel was boarded up and this got us nervous so we decided to rent a car and drive South. Little did we know 5 hours in that the hurricane was now headed toward us. So we stayed a night at a hotel, turned around and headed back to our hotel. We were boared up in a room with alot of people, a bag of food and a water. We had to stick it out through the hurricane and hope for a flight out as soon as possible. Luckly for us, it ended up passing by a little bit so we were a little safer then others and we got out the next day. I could only imagine being flooded though and having to go through what many people do all the time with hurricanes. It is a very scary thought.