Forecasters have upgraded a tropical storm that has been moving over the Atlantic to a category 4 hurricane.
Tropical Storm Humberto, the eighth designated tropical storm of the year, reached wind speeds of 34 knots earlier this week, prompting weather scientists to provide Americans with an update.
Over the weekend, residents of the Bahamas and the East Coast of America have been advised to monitor the storm’s progress.
FOX Weather Hurricane Specialist Bryan Norcross said: “There are too many imaginable scenarios to enumerate, but the bottom line is that everyone in the Bahamas and along the East Coast from Florida to the mid-Atlantic should plan to stay informed this weekend.”
Humberto officially became a hurricane yesterday, September 26, when it reached category 4.
‘Catastrophic devastation will ensue’ is what a category 4 storm indicates, according to the Saffir-Simpson storm Wind Scale.
“Well-built framed homes can sustain severe damage with loss of most of the roof structure and/or some exterior walls,” the National Hurricane Center’s (NHC) website cautions.
“Most trees will be snapped or uprooted and power poles downed. Fallen trees and power poles will isolate residential areas. Power outages will last weeks to possibly months. Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks or months.”
Although Hurricane Humberto is not expected to reach land, experts have cautioned about potentially fatal rip currents due to its ferocity.
Strong windswells—a kind of wave created by local winds blowing over the water—are being produced by Hurricane Humberto and are predicted to make their way to the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Bermuda, and the northern Leeward Islands, according to Newsweek.
The NHC reports that while there are currently no coastal warnings in effect in the United States, there are warnings for parts of the northwest Bahamas, including Eleuthera, New Providence, the Abacos, Berry Islands, Andros island, and Grand Bahama Island, as well as for Central Bahamas, which includes Cat Island, the Exumas, Long Island, Rum Cay, and San Salvador.
Concerns about the ‘Fujiwhara Effect’ are raised by the news that Humberto has strengthened into a category 4 storm.
According to reports, Hurricane Humberto and Potential Tropical Cyclone 9, formerly known as Invest 94L, were two storms moving across the Atlantic on Thursday, and there was a possibility that they may combine.
It can result in the two storms spinning around one another ‘before jetting off on their individual tracks’, the stronger hurricane absorbing the other, or the two storms combining and forming a single, stronger storm.
