Max Mayfield: Expect More Hurricanes

Posted on September 26, 2005

The Associated Press reports that Max Mayfield, the Director of the National Hurricane Center, recently gave Congress some news they didn't want to hear. Mayfield told them to expect more hurricanes and that this is a new cycle of increased hurricane activity.

Max Mayfield told a congressional panel that he believes the Atlantic Ocean is in a cycle of increased hurricane activity that parallels an increase that started in the 1940s and ended in the 1960s.
The ensuing lull lasted until 1995, then "it's like somebody threw a switch," Mayfield said. The number and power of hurricanes increased dramatically.

Mayfield also told Congress to expect more hurricanes this year and listed some cities vulnerable to hurricanes like New York City.

Mayfield also listed a number of cities and regions in addition to New Orleans he believes are "especially vulnerable" to damage from a major hurricane: Houston and Galveston, Texas; Tampa; southern Florida and the Florida Keys; New York City and Long Island; and New England.
"Katrina will not be the last major hurricane to hit a vulnerable area," he said.

What the NHC really needs is a boost in funding to increase their small staff and measuring equipment. If forecasts could better perfected then you might avoid situations like Hurricane Rita where millions of people in the city of Houston was evacuated even though Rita moved east and missed the major metropolitan area.