Millions in Florida could be left without power as Hurricane Dorian is forecast to slam the state’s east coast next week.
Model
“Our model predicts the fraction of the population (people) without power. Utilities report the number of customers (meters) without power. Our past research has found that in Florida there are approximately 2-3 people per meter on average across the area. To compare our predictions with what utilities end up reporting, use the customer number estimate on the graphic, not the population estimate,” the university’s researchers wrote on its website. It noted that there is an uncertainty in the track of the hurricane.They also wrote: “These are experimenal results, not a fully operational forecasting model. This model takes as input track and intensity forecasts from the National Hurricane Center and estimates the fraction of the population without power at the census tract level,” adding that the model is for “informational purposes only.”
It noted that if the storm deviates to the south and hits the Miami-Dade area, more people could lose power. The official forecast would bring Dorian onshore south of Orlando in Central Florida.
During Hurricane Irma in 2017, some 4.2 million FPL customers lost power across the state.
Trump declared a state of emergency in Florida and authorized the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster-relief efforts. The hurricane center’s projected track showed the storm hitting around Palm Beach County, the site of Mar-a-Lago.
At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, NASA began slowly moving a 380-foot-high mobile launch platform to the safety of the colossal Vehicle Assembly Building, built to withstand 125 mph wind. The launcher is for the mega rocket that NASA is developing to take astronauts to the moon. The hurricane season typically peaks between mid-August and late October.
One of the most powerful storms ever to hit the U.S. was on Labor Day in 1935. The unnamed Category 5 hurricane crashed ashore along Florida’s Gulf Coast on Sept. 2. It was blamed for over 400 deaths.
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