Hurricane Hugo, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Charleston, South Carolina, September 17-22, 1989 (1994) / Chapter Skim
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Conclusions and Recommendations
Conclusions and Recommendations
Pages 155-165
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From page 155... ...
The importance of aerial reconnaissance to hurricane monitoring was vividly demonstrated by the fact that, even though an aircraft experienced some extreme turbulence and lost one engine during the initial penetration into Hugo, valuable measurements were relayed to the NHC in real time that confirmed the hurricane's growing strength and threat to the Caribbean islands. Moreover, satellite estimates made just prior to the aircraft's encounter with Hugo were indicating a much weaker hurricane, with central pressures some 30 mb higher and much lower peak wind speeds than were actually measured.
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From page 156... ...
Cronc late on September 17. Moreover, after the storm brushed the northeast coast of Puerto Rico early on September 1S, great dispersion developed in the various predicted track models available to the NHC forecasters when Hugo was north of Puerto Rico.
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From page 157... ...
The team urges that the Caribbean islands, again with assistance from the United States and international organizations such as the WMO, strengthen their conventional upper-air rawinsonde networks with additional sites. At the same time, recognizing the labor-intensive nature of taking balloonborne soundings, the study team urges that early application of Wind Profiler technology be sought to provide continuous vertical-wind profiles for improving the analysis of the hurricane atmospheric environment and other tropical weather disturbances.
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From page 158... ...
If the public believes that the wind speeds were as high as reported, building owners watt fee} that their structures performed very well or were lost in an extremely rare event. These owners will see no need to improve wind resistance, while the reality wall be that their buildings barely met—or did not meet—contemporary structural design requirements.
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From page 159... ...
ALERT AUTOMATIC RAIN GAGE NETWORK AND BACKUP POWER SUPPLY FOR WATER REGULATORY STRUCTURES Conclusions The hydrology of Hugo was well defined only over Puerto Rico, where conventional rain gages were augmented with data from a special ALERT network. Whereas the ALERT network (mostly situated over the western two-thirds of the island)
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From page 160... ...
Recommendations The ALERT automatic rain gage network started over Puerto Rico by a cooperative effort among the local NWS office and other agencies should be expanded to include the Virgin Islands, with adequate provision for real-time communication, data display, and equipment capable of withstanding winds of 100 to 200 knots (~15 to 230 mph)
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From page 161... ...
The results of this evacuation study were used by both NWS and the civil defense officials to time the evacuation and determine optimal, safe routes from the population centers. A principal negative finding was a failure of the sheltering phase during the evacuation: (~)
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From page 162... ...
COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT PLAN Conclusions The shoreline response to Hurricane Hugo was investigated by the team through direct inspection of the Puerto Rican coastline, from the west of San Juan around to the southeast coast; this area fell south of the eye passage. Peak stormsurge heights were experienced along the northeast coast, just east of San Juan, at 4 to 6 ft.
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From page 163... ...
There was considerable damage to both public and private beaches and coastal developments along the entire northeast coast of Puerto Rico, especially sidewalks, seawalIs, paved roads, and many small structures. Direct-wave attack and storm-wave overwash were the principal forces of erosion impacting the shorelines of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
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From page 164... ...
Finally, the hazards and tradeoffs in hurricane-prone coastal areas must be cogently communicated to government policymakers and planners at all levels. Puerto Rico needs a unified plan and approach to coastal zone management; indeed, it should make a concerted effort to protect its valuable resources of beautiful recreational beaches.
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