Oceans Live!
Q & A
Week 1—September 20, 1999
What is a hurricane? Do you expect to experience one on South Caicos
this semester? ...Julie, Montana, USA
by Sarah Carew, September 12, 1999
Hurricanes are violent winds which move at least 74 miles per hour. Hurricanes are usually accompanied by rain, thunder, and lightning. Most of the time, hurricanes happen in the tropics. For example, Hurricane Floyd is currently about 300 miles northeast of the Virgin Islands and will be close to South Caicos in two days. Floyd is a Class 2 hurricane right now, meaning that its winds are 96-100 miles per hour. Meteorologists expect that within the next day, it will become a Class 3 storm (111-130 mph), which could cause much more damage if it comes closer to land.As for the students here on South Caicos, we are all getting excited about the chance of seeing huge waves and the different marine organisms that will be stirred up after a storm like Floyd. I am not worried about anything bad happening, because the storm will probably pass us further out to sea. Also, if by any chance something bad does happen, there is an emergency plan that will have us evacuated to Orlando.