ORLANDO, Fla. – Earlier Tuesday afternoon, I got to sit in on a conference hosted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, more specifically hosted by their Southeast and Caribbean forecast office, or SECART.
It was packed with a plethora of credible and need-to-know information not only for us forecasters but for you all at home.
In summary, first and foremost, the 2024 hurricane season was incredibly impactful. There were five U.S. landfalls, which were responsible for 358 deaths. Countless amounts of damage was left behind as well. Lots of this damage is still readily apparent even today.
Their primary key takeaway that everyone here in Florida MUST recognize is how much water is the main villain when it comes to anything tropical.
We could be faced with what’s considered a “sloppy” tropical storm, a fierce rainmaker at most for all of us in Central Florida, and yet the threats are still alive and well.
Believe it or not, it was the freshwater flooding that caused the most fatalities of the 2024 hurricane season, most of this attributed to Hurricane Helene well after it made landfall in our Big Bend area.
Ninety-five fatalities were reported as a result of lakes overflowing, rivers flooding neighborhoods or the simple piling up of rainwater that was dumped by the storm as it rocketed toward the northeast into Georgia and the Carolinas. A total of 59% of the total fatalities of last year’s season were all contributed by freshwater flooding.
Essentially, these are folks well inland, away from rip currents, tidal issues and, of course, storm surge.
Another tidbit that could be mind-blowing for some is there were nine total storm-surge-related deaths in the Helene event. All nine came from Pinellas County, Florida, a fair bit east of where the center of Helene moved and eventually made landfall.
Since the year 1963, up to the very moment you are reading this article, statistics show about 80% of direct fatalities in the U.S. as a result of tropical cyclone impacts are caused by WATER. You factor in the freshwater breakdown I listed above and it really starts to put things into perspective.
Especially in a state like Florida, being so close to sea level with only 5-10 feet on average above where the ocean laps at our shores, we should all take these weather entities serious when the watches, and more so, the warnings are issued.
Whether it be the rain, lakes coming up, rivers overflowing, storm surge pushing inland in your local area or a combination of all of the above, we need to be prepared for the water-based risks that come with any type of tropical feature.
A few other key takeaways include, the tornado threat that exists with every landfalling tropical storm or hurricane. The “dirty side” of the storm, the right front quadrant in relation to the direction the storm is moving, tends to produce the greatest amount of tornadic activity.
The same right-front quadrant is also known for producing the most wind-related fatalities as well.
The gusts in a tropical system are VERY important. Try to stray away from worrying specifically about where the eye is going, and what type of sustained wind estimate is forecast for your area. It only takes one powerful gust of wind to take down trees and other large structures that could prove lethal.
Meteorologist Jonathan Kegges provides the latest information about everything happening in the tropics.
