Maryland?s coasts are up against an “above-normal” hurricane season this summer as federal officials predicted an increased chance that the storms will strike land.
“It?s a big mistake to count on being lucky,” Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in a news conference Tuesday.
This season, which begins June 1, officials predict 13 to 17 named storms in the Atlantic, seven to 10 of which could be hurricanes, said retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad Lautenbacher, administrator of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.
Three to five of these hurricanes could be major storms, rating Category 3 or higher, he said.
“Our coasts are becoming more populated,” Lautenbacher said, adding that more than half of the nation?s population lives in coastal, hurricane-prone areas.
“This day is about preparedness; it?s about getting the word out that hurricanes are dangerous,” Lautenbacher said. “They can be destructive. They can be lethal.”
Since the start of the active hurricane era in 1995, nine of the 12 seasons have been “above normal, and the rate of landfall hurricanes has increased sharply,” said Gerry Bell, lead seasonal hurricane forecaster at the NOAA Climate Prediction Center.
Many of the storms are expected between August and October, andthey tend to track westward, threatening the United States, Bell said.
A condition known as La Nina ? unusually low water temperatures in the eastern Pacific and the opposite of the hurricane-squashing El Nino ? could develop in the next one to three months, meaning more active hurricanes, Bell said.
Federal and local officials have been reviewing emergency and evacuation plans. Residents should be prepared with supplies, food and 1 gallon of water per person for at least three days, officials said.
“Whatever the hurricane season, we hope for the best, but we prepare for the worst,” Chertoff said.
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