![]() ![]() This array of data supplies the information for complex computer modeling and human expertise, which are the basis for the Center’s storm track and intensity forecasts. The Central Pacific Hurricane Center continuously monitors weather conditions, employing a network of satellites, land- and ocean-based sensors and aircraft reconnaissance missions operated by NOAA and its partners. Together, we can make our communities more weather ready and resilient.” Make a preparedness plan, and communicate it to your friends and family. Heed the advice of public safety officials. “Throughout the state of Hawaii, we must take note that the possibility of a hurricane in these islands is real. “Hurricane Iniki, a major hurricane, directly hit Kauai 30 years ago this year, and those impacted still remember the incredible destructive power Iniki delivered,” said Chris Brenchley, director of NOAA’s Central Pacific Hurricane Center. The Central Pacific hurricane season begins June 1 and runs through November 30. This outlook is a general guide to the overall seasonal tropical cyclone activity in the Central Pacific basin, and does not predict whether, or how many, of these systems will affect Hawaii. “The ongoing La Niña is likely to cause strong vertical wind shear making it more difficult for hurricanes to develop or move into the Central Pacific Ocean.” “This year we are predicting less activity in the Central Pacific region compared to normal seasons,” said Matthew Rosencrans, NOAA’s lead seasonal hurricane forecaster at the Climate Prediction Center. A near-normal season has 4 or 5 tropical cyclones. This number includes tropical depressions, named storms and hurricanes. The outlook also indicates a 30% chance for near-normal activity, and only a 10% chance of an above-normal season.įor the season as a whole, 2 to 4 tropical cyclones are predicted for the Central Pacific hurricane region, which is located north of the equator between 140°W and the International Date Line. Disaster preparedness plans need to include methods to increase services and supplies at existing medical facilities.There is a 60% chance of below-normal tropical cyclone activity during the Central Pacific hurricane season this year, according to NOAA’s Central Pacific Hurricane Center and NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, divisions of the National Weather Service. Although no changes occurred in the proportion of patients needing hospitalization, additional injuries and illnesses after a natural disaster can burden existing medical facilities in a rural community with limited resources. Significant increases in the incidence of injuries, asthma, and cardiovascular disease occurred following Hurricane Iniki. Physician visits for asthma and cardiovascular disease were also significantly increased in the post-Iniki period (relative risks, respectively: 2.81, 95% confidence interval 1.93-4.09 2.73, 95% confidence interval 1.51-4.94). Open wounds constituted over half of these injuries. Incidence of injury, cardiovascular disease, and asthma for the 2-week period following Hurricane Iniki were compared to those for the 2-week period preceding Iniki.Ī total of 1,584 injuries were treated in the post-Iniki period compared with 231 injuries treated in the pre-Iniki period (relative risk = 6.86, 95% confidence interval 5.98-7.87). Medical chart data were abstracted from all facilities providing primary and emergency care on Kauai. ![]() This study is the first attempt to measure increases in injuries and other health outcomes among an entire population in the impact zone of a hurricane. On September 11, 1992, Hurricane Iniki, a Class III/IV storm, passed directly over Kauai. ![]()
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