You Tell Me

[Windtalker1]

That this was caused by a Cat 1 Hurricane...... http://lan.atlaspencil.com/hurricanewilma.html

[DESTRUCTION5]

Nice pics...Agree No Cat 1 fore Sure....

[StJoe]

Agreed! As soon as I have "real" power, I'll post my pictures from Wellington. We were being blasted with at least 100-125 mph winds on the backside of Wilma! Cat 1 my butt, maybe strong cat 2, possibly 3 through Palm Beach County...

[cjrciadt]

Wow thanks for those pics.

[Scorpion]

No, its because genuine hurricane force winds were actually experienced in South FL, unlike before. I do think that Category 2 winds were experienced in Broward and southern Palm Beach County though.

[wxmann_91]

Actually, I don't think anyone realizes just how strong genuine Cat 2 or Cat 3 winds are. The picture shows winds more like a Cat 1.

Not that I'm saying S. Florida didn't receive Cat 2 winds, but this picture is a good example of Cat 2 winds.

EDIT: Shoot, I didn't scroll down, I only saw the first picture. The latter pictures do show some greater damage. Forget this post, yeah some of it does look like Cat 2 damage, though some may be caused by microbursts.

[Anonymous]

That this was caused by a Cat 1 Hurricane...... http://lan.atlaspencil.com/hurricanewilma.html

It was caused by a Category 1/Category 2 hurricane. Winds gusted over 100 mph in many instances in South Florida. That's plenty enough to cause damage.

However, when I think of DESTRUCTION...I think of Waveland, and Port Charlotte, and Homestead.

[Scorpion]

Cat 2 sounds about right for most of those pictures.

[Brent]

I think people simply fail to realize what a Category 1 is capable of. There may have been a small band of 100 mph sustained winds in the eyewall, but no strong 2 or 3 winds. Maybe next time I won't hear "It's only a 1 or 2"

Category One Hurricane:
Winds 74-95 mph (64-82 kt or 119-153 km/hr). Storm surge generally 4-5 ft above normal. No real damage to building structures. Damage primarily to unanchored mobile homes, shrubbery, and trees. Some damage to poorly constructed signs. Also, some coastal road flooding and minor pier damage

Category Two Hurricane:
Winds 96-110 mph (83-95 kt or 154-177 km/hr). Storm surge generally 6-8 feet above normal. Some roofing material, door, and window damage of buildings. Considerable damage to shrubbery and trees with some trees blown down. Considerable damage to mobile homes, poorly constructed signs, and piers. Coastal and low-lying escape routes flood 2-4 hours before arrival of the hurricane center. Small craft in unprotected anchorages break moorings. Hurricane Frances of 2004 made landfall over the southern end of Hutchinson Island, Florida as a Category Two hurricane. Hurricane Isabel of 2003 made landfall near Drum Inlet on the Outer Banks of North Carolina as a Category 2 hurricane.

[Scorpion]

Well most of the time if a Cat 1 hits you you won't get Cat 1 winds as the land friction reduces the winds unless you're right on the beach. As for a Cat 2, you usually will only get Cat 1 winds. So Wilma was a Cat 3 at landfall but the friction reduced those winds to still Cat 2 strength on the other side of the state.

[sponger]

Brent, what I saw fits the cat 2 to a tee. I think many are caught up on this issue from the Katrina debate and have carried it over to Wilma. Solid Cat 2 winds for NW Broward and Southern Palm Beach. I will eat 2 servings of crow if ever proven wrong.

[Dr. Jonah Rainwater]

Actually, it doesn't look any worse than Katrina's Cat1 landfall in South Florida. I can believe that damage was caused by a Cat1. I mean, think about straightline winds. Out here in the Texas prairies, we have lines of severe thunderstorms that can sometimes carry winds of 50-60mph, sometimes with higher gusts. They only last about as long as the thunderstorm, perhaps half an hour, but I would not be surprised to see straightline winds cause all of the damage I saw in those pictures. Mobile homes are no match for genuine straightline winds either, and an unsupported brick wall isn't the most secure structure to begin with. Shingles always go flying, and debris like that probably caused alot of those broken windows you see, and trees and power lines wouldn't even stand up to a strong tropical storm. The only additional thing you had was the surge, which even at 6-10 feet, could easily flip those cars. Think about how powerful a fast-moving flash flood is. They only need to be a few feet deep, and it's right along the beach.

What's really scary is that Wilma might become more expensive than Andrew...without actually doing any real structural damage aside from mobile homes. The post-Andrew building codes have saved South Florida from the prospect of structural damage outside of an enormous landalling Category 4 or 5, but there are just so many soft targets that price tags near Andrew, Wilma, Charley, and Ivan may become routine every time a major hurricane strikes the Florida peninsula. Even Frances became like the 5th costliest hurricane (after Hugo, as of 2004) just by striking Florida as a Category 2. Keep in mind, West-Central Florida and Northern Florida still haven't been tested at all, meaning that none of their "soft targets" have been weeded out yet, meaning that a Wilma-type storm striking the Tampa area sometime in the future may end up being just as costly as Wilma, and Wilma was actually a fairly routine situation in the Gulf of Mexico in October. It probably won't be very many more years.

[Anonymous]

Actually, it doesn't look any worse than Katrina's Cat1 landfall in South Florida. I can believe that damage was caused by a Cat1. I mean, think about straightline winds. Out here in the Texas prairies, we have lines of severe thunderstorms that can sometimes carry winds of 50-60mph, sometimes with higher gusts. They only last about as long as the thunderstorm, perhaps half an hour, but I would not be surprised to see straightline winds cause all of the damage I saw in those pictures. Mobile homes are no match for genuine straightline winds either, and an unsupported brick wall isn't the most secure structure to begin with. Shingles always go flying, and debris like that probably caused alot of those broken windows you see, and trees and power lines wouldn't even stand up to a strong tropical storm. The only additional thing you had was the surge, which even at 6-10 feet, could easily flip those cars. Think about how powerful a fast-moving flash flood is. They only need to be a few feet deep, and it's right along the beach.

What's really scary is that Wilma might become more expensive than Andrew...without actually doing any real structural damage aside from mobile homes. The post-Andrew building codes have saved South Florida from the prospect of structural damage outside of an enormous landalling Category 4 or 5, but there are just so many soft targets that price tags near Andrew, Wilma, Charley, and Ivan may become routine every time a major hurricane strikes the Florida peninsula. Even Frances became like the 5th costliest hurricane (after Hugo, as of 2004) just by striking Florida as a Category 2. Keep in mind, West-Central Florida and Northern Florida still haven't been tested at all, meaning that none of their "soft targets" have been weeded out yet, meaning that a Wilma-type storm striking the Tampa area sometime in the future may end up being just as costly as Wilma, and Wilma was actually a fairly routine situation in the Gulf of Mexico in October. It probably won't be very many more years.

Exactly, sustained 50 mph winds to the average joe, may seem like Cat 1. Then when they have a gust to 99 mph, they think they just had a gust to 130 mph.

[Scorpion]

Yes people have no idea how strong winds are. Just put your hand out the window going 70 mph in the car, and thats not even hurricane force. My area recieved genuine Cat 1 conditions, 80-90 mph winds. But we weren't in the worst part of the storm, that was Broward and S Palm Beach. 95-100 mph sustained were probably experienced by those folks.

[Windtalker1]

Actually, it doesn't look any worse than Katrina's Cat1 landfall in South Florida. I can believe that damage was caused by a Cat1. I mean, think about straight line winds. Out here in the Texas prairies, we have lines of severe thunderstorms that can sometimes carry winds of 50-60mph, sometimes with higher gusts. They only last about as long as the thunderstorm, perhaps half an hour, but I would not be surprised to see straight line winds cause all of the damage I saw in those pictures. Mobile homes are no match for genuine straight line winds either, and an unsupported brick wall isn't the most secure structure to begin with. Shingles always go flying, and debris like that probably caused alot of those broken windows you see, and trees and power lines wouldn't even stand up to a strong tropical storm. The only additional thing you had was the surge, which even at 6-10 feet, could easily flip those cars. Think about how powerful a fast-moving flash flood is. They only need to be a few feet deep, and it's right along the beach.

What's really scary is that Wilma might become more expensive than Andrew...without actually doing any real structural damage aside from mobile homes. The post-Andrew building codes have saved South Florida from the prospect of structural damage outside of an enormous landalling Category 4 or 5, but there are just so many soft targets that price tags near Andrew, Wilma, Charley, and Ivan may become routine every time a major hurricane strikes the Florida peninsula. Even Frances became like the 5th costliest hurricane (after Hugo, as of 2004) just by striking Florida as a Category 2. Keep in mind, West-Central Florida and Northern Florida still haven't been tested at all, meaning that none of their "soft targets" have been weeded out yet, meaning that a Wilma-type storm striking the Tampa area sometime in the future may end up being just as costly as Wilma, and Wilma was actually a fairly routine situation in the Gulf of Mexico in October. It probably won't be very many more years.

I have to disagree!!! Katrina was not nearly as bad as Wilma. My wood fence and shed with stood all that Katrina had to throw at me. My wood fence and shed were gone from the western side of her eye wall....From someone who has been through both storms, Wilma was by far the strongest and worst....95% of Mobil homes in one park were destroyed....a micro burst did this to a whole park? Sorry can not convince me otherwise that this was smaller than a strong Cat 2.....

[thunderchief]

generally looks like 2 type stuff.

[schmita]

I hear the arguments but don't understand what the Cat 1 people are saying as far as "structural damage" goes. Brent's explanation of Cat 2 seemed right on the mark for North Broward, South Palm Beach counties. I have family in Wellington (roof damage, car demolished), Boca Raton and Pembroke Pines (roof damage, turbines gone, post wooden fence gone). All three took good hits.
I just heard today from Tropical Shipping in NJ that the roof of their 4 year old office building in Opa Locka collapsed on them yesterday after the rains. Apparantly they sustained more damage than they thought. Isn't that "structural damage"?
irina

[brunota2003]

It doesn't look that bad, I have to say Cat 1...

[schmita]

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13056573.htm

This is what is going on now...where is FEMA?

[sponger]

Doesnt look that bad from pictures, most taken in Dade county. I promise you the visual assessment Monday night, after the storm was an eye opener to say the least. Lets wait for reanysisi and we will dig this and other threads back from the grave!