AFTER EFFECTS: A coastguard vehicle drives along the promenade as waves crash into the shoreline at Blackpool in northern England on October 21. Britain is facing strong winds and rain from the remnants of Hurricane Gonzalo, local media reported.                                                                               Photo: REUTERS


By Steff Gaulter

 

Hurricane Gonzalo has wrecked havoc in Bermuda. The storm made a direct hit on October 17, just one week after another storm, Tropical Storm Fay, had slammed onto the tiny Atlantic island. Fay was far weaker than Hurricane Gonzalo, but nearly the entire island lost power during the tropical storm, and power still hadn’t been restored to 1,500 households when Hurricane Gonzalo made landfall. Branches from trees, coconuts and other debris were piled up around the island, which were easily picked up by the stronger winds of the hurricane.

The residents of Bermuda had a good reason to be nervous as the Hurricane Gonzalo approached. The storm had already killed one person in St Martin, and caused damage to many homes in Antigua and the nearby Caribbean Islands; at this point the storm had been far weaker.

As it tracked across the Atlantic towards Bermuda, Hurricane Gonzalo strengthened to become a powerful category four storm on the five-point Saffir-Simpson Scale, which is used to rate hurricanes in the waters around the Americas. A category four hurricane is the second most powerful category there is, and is expected to cause “catastrophic” damage. Thankfully the storm weakened to a category two hurricane before grazing the island. As the storm raged over the island, the sustained winds were 177kph (110mph), with a number of locations reported gusts as high as 230kph (144mph).

At 8pm in the evening of October 17 an eerie calm descended on the island. The winds suddenly dropped and tree frogs started to croak. However, the storm hadn’t actually cleared the island, the lull was simply the eye of the storm passing over the island.

The calm lasted about an hour, after which the winds suddenly returned, blowing just as powerfully as before. The lull in the winds can be particularly hazardous, because it can often lull people into a false sense of security. Thinking the storm has passed, people can venture out, and then find themselves being pummelled by some of the storm’s strongest winds.

Whilst the strength of the wind before and after the eye is usually fairly similar, the real difference in the winds is the direction from which it blows. In Bermuda, as the eye of Hurricane Gonzalo moved across the island, the winds changed from easterly to westerly. This can bring renewed dangers; the winds on the leading edge of the storm can weaken a structure, then the renewed pounding from the opposite direction can cause the building to collapse.

As Hurricane Gonzalo moved away from Bermuda, approximately 35,700 of the island’s 36,000 metered homes were without power and the local newspaper the Royal Gazette reported that “barely a road was passable,” after the winds ripped down trees and powerlines. However, the damage could have been significantly worse.

Bermuda heavily invests in its meteorological service to ensure it is prepared for powerful hurricanes. The National Hurricane Centre of Bermuda uses the latest technology and forecasting techniques and its forecasters all go through rigorous training. In fact, I’ve just discovered that I did my training at the UK Met Office with the Deputy Director of the Bermuda Weather Service! The investment in the hurricane centre not only ensures that the forecasts are as accurate as possible, but also ensures that the warnings are issued as soon as possible. This prevents residents and tourists from venturing out at high-risk times and in high risk areas.

The risk of serious injury is also reduced because the island is very wealthy. It’s estimated that the average resident earns more money than 99 percent of the world’s population and billionaires such as Silvio Berlusconi and Michael Bloomberg own properties here. There are very strict building regulations; by law, all homes and businesses must be built of limestone rock or concrete blocks, so that they can withstand strong winds as much as possible. This is in stark contrast to many other Caribbean islands that are struggling financially, where homes are often more rustic and constructed with corrugated iron roofs.

Nature also plays a part in protecting the island. The island is surrounded by coral reefs, which form a natural barrier against storm surges which may otherwise swamp the island. Of course, even this natural barrier can’t completely stop all hurricanes and in 2003, Bermuda was hit by a particularly powerful storm. Hurricane Fabian was the worst hurricane to hit the island in the last fifty years.

Hurricane Fabian was a powerful category three storm when it hit the island, and caused widespread damage. Even during this powerful storm, the death toll was surprisingly low. Only four people lost their lives in the storm, and this was the first time that anyone had lost their life in a hurricane since 1926.

Given Bermuda’s vulnerable position, as a speck in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, you might be forgiven for wondering why it’s not hit more often. After all, the majority of hurricanes and tropical storms sweep up the east coast of the USA, perilously close to the island. The truth is that the size of the island stops its getting hit. Its tiny size means that the chances of a hurricane making a direct hit are quite low. You can picture this as rolling a bowling ball down a bowling alley and trying to hit a pea. If the pea is small, it makes it very difficult to hit.

On average Bermuda is brushed by a tropical storm every two years, but most of them are fairly weak. Only ten major hurricanes of category three or stronger have tracked within 75 miles of Bermuda since 1899. This means that although the island may seem vulnerable, it’s actually more resilient than you may think.