Videoconference with Jay Barnes

10:00AM - 11:00AM
September 22, 1999

Jay Barnes: Sure, Glenn...NC ranks third in the number of hurricanes after Florida and Texas. And here are a few more facts....Hurricane Hazel is the only category 4 storm to hit NC this century. Fran was a 3. "Category 4" is on the Saffir Simpson scale of hurricane intensity...a scale that goes from 1 to 5.....5 is the worst!

4th Gr. at Bennett: Hello.... y'all.... Here we are at Bennett School in Chatham County.... We are a 4th grade class of 21 students..... *S*

Jay Barnes: Welcome 4th graders!

Soehl MS: Hi to Chatham County, from Linden, NJ!

Jay Barnes: Have floodwaters receded there yet?

Soehl MS: Yes, but in Linden schools we are drinking bottled water still!

4th Gr. at Bennett: Hello...Linden...NJ

Jay Barnes: I would have to say Hurricane Ginger in 1971. It was tracked for 31 days, 20 of which it was a hurricane. Ginger went way east....past Bermuda, then turned around and hit NC!

Beaufort Middle 3: Where did it strike first?

Jay Barnes: It was at sea up until landfall in NC

4th Gr. at Bennett: What hurricane did the most damage in NC?

Jay Barnes: We'll have to see what the numbers are for Floyd, but up til now it has been Fran

Beaufort Middle: What hurricane lasted the longest?

Jay Barnes: Ginger was tracked for 31 days, 20 of which it was a hurricane.

Soehl MS: Jay...what category was Floyd in NC?

Jay Barnes: Floyd was a weak 3 or (or strong 2) when it hit...winds of 110-115 mph.

Jay Barnes: Two hurricanes rarely "collide" but they do influence each other; sometimes they will spin away as if two magnets approached each other.

4th Gr. at Bennett: What makes a hurricane stronger?

Jay Barnes: Hurricanes get their energy from heat...warm water in the ocean and warm air in the atmosphere.

Glenn Gurley: Last Wednesday late afternoon in Charlotte, the sky turned a greenish-yellow--we saw what looked to be hurricane clouds going fast counter-clockwise and the clouds and blue sky above that. Was that Floyd and the clouds part of system?

Jay Barnes: You probably were seeing what is called the outflow...The energy of the storm dissipates outward on top. 

Jay Barnes: People so often think of hurricanes as coastal storms...but as we've seen with Floyd and Fran, inland counties are hit very hard!

Jay Barnes: Fast moving storms are typically in the northern latitudes...like those that hit New England...they can move up to 50 mph forward speed!...typically in the Caribbean they move around 12 mph.

4th Gr. at Bennett: How fast moving was Hurricane Andrew?

Jay Barnes: Andrew was plodding along around 15-mph forward speed.

4th Gr. at Bennett: What does a hurricane do when it hits the coast?

Jay Barnes: Hurricanes hit with heavy rain (up to 20 inches), high winds (74-150 mph) and a storm surge, or rise in sea level that floods the coast.

4th Gr. at Bennett: How high can a hurricane's winds get?

Jay Barnes: A category five storm has sustained winds of 155 mph or more...Cat 5s are rare. Only two have hit the US in this century.

4th Gr. at Bennett: Jay... Have you ever been in a plane above a hurricane?

Jay Barnes: No, I've never been in a plane in one...but researchers and meteorologists do fly in the "hurricane hunter" planes to get readings.

Jay Barnes: When Dennis hit the second time, it was as a tropical storm so the winds were not too bad....but still damage occurred from flooding.

4th Gr. at Bennett: Has a hurricane EVER knocked over a lighthouse?

Jay Barnes: No NC lighthouses have been knocked over that I know of, but in Florida they have.

Beaufort Middle: Why does every hurricane seem to cause more monetary damage than the one before?

Jay Barnes: As time goes by, more and more homes, roads, businesses, etc. have been built along the NC coast, and elsewhere. We just have more "stuff" standing the in the way of a hurricane than we used to.

4th Gr. at Bennett: How many hurricanes do you know have hit NC?

Jay Barnes: NC has had more than 100 storms in the last 200 years.

DPI ERE 4: It seems that the East Coast has been hit really hard the past few years? I think that also happened in the 1930s... what causes cycles of heavy hurricane years?

Jay Barnes: Some researchers now think that we are in a cycle of more active seasons that may last another 20 years...no one knows for sure why.

Jay Barnes: Much of eastern NC is still in a critical flood. Cities like Greenville, Kinston, Washington, Tarboro, etc. have thousands of homeless in shelters, and a massive effort is underway to send them food and water.

DPI ERE 4: Is there anything we can do to help the people in Eastern NC?

4th Gr. at Bennett: Our school is collecting water and food for the people in the Coastal Plain.

Jay Barnes: Anyone who wants to help can raise funds or collect goods (food, water, cleanup supplies, etc.) to be picked up by the red cross. There is still a massive need.

Jay Barnes: Sea turtle nests have been virtually destroyed all along the NC coast this year, due to Dennis and Floyd. The peak time for turtles to hatch out is August to early October...the peak of the hurricane season!

4th Gr. at Bennett: Did Hurricane Floyd affect the islands off the coast?

Jay Barnes: Floyd had a big impact on Oak Island in Brunswick County, where I hear that up to half the beach front houses were destroyed. Heavy erosion hit the beaches from Carolina Beach to Atlantic Beach, but losses there were not as great as Fran.

4th Gr. at Bennett: Do we know how many people died in Hurricane Floyd?

Jay Barnes: The number of deaths is still being tallied. At least 40 in NC, so I have heard. Some of those, though, are heart attacks, car accidents, etc. that are related to the storm.

Beaufort Middle 2: What is the deadliest hurricane that has ever hit in the world?

Jay Barnes: The most deadly tropical cyclones have hit India and Pakistan…They call them cyclones, but they are the same types of storm as hurricanes...One in 1974 killed over 250,000! Another deadly storm was hurricane Mitch last year, which killed at least 11,000 in Honduras and Nicaragua.

Beaufort Middle: What are the most hurricanes you've seen in one year?

Jay Barnes: In 1933, there were 21 tropical storms in the Atlantic, a modern record...in 1995, we had 19...11 of which were hurricanes...In the average year, we have 10 tropical storms and 6 hurricanes in the Atlantic.

Jay Barnes: They form in the tropics and start as thunderstorms associated with low pressure. These are called "waves", and often come off of the steamy jungles of Africa. They begin to form only if they have plenty of warm water over which to draw energy.

Soehl MS: Do all hurricanes form off the coast of Africa?

Jay Barnes: No, not all form off of Africa. Sometimes they form in the Gulf of Mexico or the Caribbean…The worst ones, though, usually form way out there.

Soehl MS: Jay, has anyone ever tried to figure out a way to "interfere" with hurricane formation off of Africa? Weird idea, I guess...

Jay Barnes: Yes, there have been attempts to stop hurricanes. Back in the 1940s there were tests to see if dropping dry ice from planes would weaken storms, but it didn't work.  Some even thought we could drop a nuclear bomb into one to destroy it...bad idea!

Soehl MS: Yes, that would be a bad idea; we need future scientists to work on this one!

4th Gr. at Bennett: How do hurricanes form tornadoes?

Jay Barnes: Tornadoes can form in any severe thunderstorm, and hurricanes have lots of those!

Jay Barnes: There have been lots of cities to be completely flooded...We have some right now in NC!

4th Gr. at Bennett: How much total rain did the Coastal Plain get during the hurricane?

Jay Barnes: I've heard that some places got 15-20 inches in 24 hrs! The problem was that those same areas had gotten much rain prior to the storm.

4th Gr. at Bennett: How bad are the floods in the Coastal Plain since they've gotten more rain?

Jay Barnes: The recent rains have probably not made the waters higher, just prolonged the misery.

4th Gr. at Bennett: Did SC get more damage than NC?

Jay Barnes: NC received much more damage from Floyd than SC. SC was on the western side of the storm and that is usually the weaker side

4th Gr. at Bennett: Did Floyd affect the aquarium at Myrtle Beach?

Jay Barnes: I talked with someone there, in Myrtle Beach, and aside from losing power, they were OK

Glenn Gurley: I took my parents home to North Myrtle Beach and went for a walk on the beach Sunday afternoon and all looked normal... could not even tell Floyd had been by... just a little brush in yard and a few shingles... Why don't hurricanes hit Georgia very often?

Jay Barnes: The Georgia coast is "tucked in" somewhat and therefore doesn't stick out like NC.

Jay Barnes: The word hurricane is derived from the Mayan word "huraken" which meant "storm god"

Jay Barnes: Evacuate when asked to do so! It helps to know the elevation of your home, to make sure you're not going to get flooding....also to leave mobile homes.

DPI ERE 3: We associate the month of September with "hurricanes" -- what is the latest a hurricane has occurred?

Jay Barnes: The hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov 30 but most of ours come in Sep. We once had a hurricane come near us in December, but we have had some hits in November.

Soehl MS: How far can a hurricane go in land?

Jay Barnes: Strong hurricanes going inland can affect the entire east coast...like Camille in 1969 that was a Cat 5, hit Mississippi, and went on to cause flooding and destruction all the way to New England.

4th Gr. at Bennett: Has a hurricane ever hit New York?

Jay Barnes: New York has been hit before, particularly Long Island.

Soehl MS: We got Floyd as a tropical storm...not much wind but 20 inches of rain.

Jay Barnes: NC ranks third in the number of hits after Fla. and Texas...lately, for whatever reason, we've gotten more than our share!

4th Gr. at Bennett: Why do hurricanes turn and go back out into the ocean?

Jay Barnes: Hurricanes have no steering mechanisms of their own...they rely on the atmosphere that surrounds them...so they are usually pushed offshore by approaching storm fronts.

Soehl MS: When hurricanes go back out to the ocean, can they turn around and come back inland, but more powerful?

Jay Barnes: Yes, some storms can move out to sea, regain strength, and hit land again....this has happened before in NJ.

4th Gr. at Bennett: Are hurricanes more powerful at this time than in the past?

Jay Barnes: No. Hurricanes today are not more powerful, or even more frequent than they used to be....we just see more damage because there are more homes and businesses to destroy

Jay Barnes: No one knows when NC will be hit by the next storm. Certainly, there is no way to say 3 more will come this year.

Soehl MS: Has a hurricane ever gone as far inland as North Dakota?

Jay Barnes: Hurricanes have not been recorded that far west (ND) but dissipating storm rains can hit the Ohio Valley.

Beaufort Middle: Is there any prediction that any more may be heading for NC or the surrounding region?

Jay Barnes: Eventually NC will get hit by more hurricanes, but no one knows when or where. More could come this year, or it could be 10 years from now.

Jay Barnes: Thanks for joining us today...It's been fun!

4th Gr. at Bennett: Folks... we are going to have to go... for we need to be in the cafeteria by 11: 00.... Thank you, Jay and Glenn. ... good bye to all the schools participating..... *S*

Glenn Gurley: Are there any last questions for Jay?

Jay Barnes: And to our friends in NJ, we hope you dry out soon and get your water supply back.

Soehl MS: Thanks, we don't often get bad storms, so this is a disaster! Bye, everyone.

Jay Barnes: Bye, everyone.

Beaufort Middle: Bye.

Glenn Gurley: It has been wonderful and the hour seemed like just a few minutes. I appreciate your taking time to share with students!

Jay Barnes: My pleasure, Glenn.