ABC6 Hurricane Center

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-11-15

Fred Campagna — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:32:00 +0000

NOAA releases their report on October 2009 – top three coldest on record for the U.S. http://bit.ly/24LGMr #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-11-08

Fred Campagna — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:32:00 +0000

Ida surges back to hurricane strength in the Yucatan Channel. The storm threatens the Gulf Coast. http://bit.ly/1t9ESO #
Late-season Hurricane Ida hitting Central America. It may move north into the Gulf of Mexico by early next week. http://bit.ly/1t9ESO #
Disturbance off the east coast of Central America showing potential for development. http://bit.ly/1t9ESO #
Something brewing in the central Atlantic Ocean. It is heading in our direction, but will curve north before long. http://bit.ly/1t9ESO #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-10-18

Fred Campagna — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 22:32:00 +0000

Quiet Atlantic hurricane season a boon for insurers . Read article: http://bit.ly/2u5pql #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-10-11

Fred Campagna — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 01:32:00 +0000

Tropical Storm Henri forms in the Atlantic 965 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands. http://www.abc6hurricane.com #
Tropical Storm Grace forms in the most unusual of places: 500+ miles NE of the Azores. http://www.abc6hurricane.com #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-09-27

Fred Campagna — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 22:32:00 +0000

Remains of Hurr. Fred still kicking off the SE US coast, but no tropical storms in the N hemisphere on anniversary of the '38 hurricane. #

The Anniversary of The Big One

Fred Campagna — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:52:48 +0000

September 21 marks the 71st anniversary of the largest, most damaging hurricane to strike Southern New England in the past century. The Great Hurricane of 1938 killed 600 people and injured more than 4000 more. 75,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed. It is still the worst natural disaster in the history of New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. Here is an old newsreel recapping the Long Island Express.

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-09-20

Fred Campagna — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 22:32:00 +0000

Incredible pictures showing damage from Ike and the scene one year later. There are 2 links: http://bit.ly/hMNxH http://bit.ly/2o61LX #

Fred Campagna’s Tropical Storm Floyd Videos

Fred Campagna — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:49:42 +0000

I always knew there was a reason I kept some of my early work on television. It is so I can look at it and cringe. Today marks the 10 year anniversary of Tropical Storm Floyd. Here is a selection of some of my coverage before, during, and after the storm. Try to ignore the voice, glasses, and general awkwardness.

-Fred

Nothing Cooking in the Tropics

Fred Campagna — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:59:13 +0000

The tropics are unusually quiet for the middle of September. What’s left of Fred is drifting through the Atlantic north of the Caribbean Islands. It is not expected to regenerate, although I have seen one computer model that brings it back just east of Florida late in the weekend.

Elsewhere, there is a persistent area of low pressure continues to spin near the Gulf Coast, bringing soaking rains to the Southeastern US. This is not a tropical system, and it does not look like anything will be brewing in the Gulf of Mexico in the coming days.

There are no tropical waves coming off the coast of Africa.

Tropical Storm Floyd Anniversary

Fred Campagna — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:40:36 +0000

Tropical Storm Floyd roared through Southern New England September 16-17, 1999. The storm was a hurricane as it hammered the Mid-Atlantic, but it weakened as it moved over the eastern part of North Carolina. Floyd was downgraded from a category one hurricane to a tropical storm as it crossed Delaware Bay around midday on Thursday, September 16.

Floyd tracked well to the west of Providence, with the center moving over Central CT and MA. That track put RI and SE MA on the windy, but drier, side of the storm. The wind gusted to 60 mph Thursday evening at the New Bedford hurricane barrier. The strongest wind came shortly after midnight with the following gusts reported:

76 mph – New Bedford Hurricane Barrier
72 mph – Brewster, MA
71 mph – Barnstable

The storm also brought in a small storm surge. This is straight from the National Weather Service storm report:

MAXIMUM STORM SURGE AT NOS SITES..
          PROVIDENCE 3.7 FT AT 0206 UTC 9/17
          NEWPORT    2.6 FT AT 0136 UTC 9/17
          NANTUCKET  1.3 FT AT 0312 UTC 9/17
          BOSTON     1.6 FT AT 2100 UTC 9/16
     MAXIMUM STORM SURGE AT OTHER LOCATIONS..
          FOX POINT HURRICANE BARRIER    4.2 FT (0215 - 0345 UTC 9/17)
          NEW BEDFORD HURRICANE BARRIER  2.5 FT (0200 UTC 9/17)

You may remember one of the big news stories was about the generator at Rhode Island Hospital failing to turn on after commercial power was lost. As a result, a man died after his breathing apparatus failed.

On a national level, Floyd was a very big deal. The storm made landfall on the East Coast near Wilmington, NC. Although Floyd was once a 155 mph monster, it made landfall as a borderline category one storm. Max gusts were about 120 mph at the time of landfall, and the storm surge was near 10 ft. in a few spots along the North Carolina coast.

Floyd’s greatest legacy is the torrential rain and severe flooding that occurred just to the west of the storm’s track.

Floyd was responsible for 56 deaths – 55 of them in the United States. 48 of the people died as a result of freshwater flooding due to the heavy rain west of the storm’s track.

Here is a recap of the storm and its impacts.

Tropical Storm Floyd was the first tropical storm that I covered on television. I spent much of the day Thursday in Narragansett interviewing all the people who came to see the huge surf and outer rain bands moving in during the afternoon. I also did some work on storm preparation. I was back on the air Friday morning with live reports from the hurricane barrier in New Bedford.