Chapter 110
5:45 PM CST Day three of 1260 Kansas City, Missouri - Liberty Memorial, Anchor Desk
“We are back with our two hour special on the events happening since Jack South appeared in our studios on Monday.”
“We are now going to Houston, Texas, which along with Galveston, is supposed to receive a direct hit from Hurricane Alex, a category four storm, in the early morning Monday. According to the Saffir-Simpson scale, a category four storm has wind speeds of 131 to 155 mph, and storm surges of up to eighteen feet. Based on that, this type of hurricane can produce complete roof structural failure on small residences, gas station canopies, and other types of overhanging structures. Mobile and manufactured homes will be, leveled. There will be extensive beach erosion and flooding inland. Now let us go to our correspondent in Houston, Maria Schroeder. Maria, can you hear us?”
“Yes John.”
“What is happening there in Houston in preparation for what appears to be the largest hurricane to hit that area in over a century?”
“The difference right now compared to the past, is that normally where the hurricane was expected to land would not be known and several cities would be put on a hurricane watch. The experts at the National Hurricane Center would issue warnings and then wait and see in which direction the hurricane would eventually take. Normally, hurricanes are not very predictable. Then, within a day or two of knowing, within a certain margin of error, that the hurricane was on its way to a specific area, the evacuations would start to take place.”
“Now, with Jack South’s predictions being at one-hundred percent accuracy, some people are taking heed and leaving the area earlier than normal. They are moving inland towards San Antonio, across I-10 and north toward Dallas on I-45. Both highways today are jammed. You may note, that in normal evacuations, the highways would be closed going east, and traffic would flow towards the west in all lanes. This corridor has yet to be opened, mainly because they usually are not until a day or two before the storm is expected and the authorities authorize it. It is the same with I-45.”
“Maria, has the Mayor of Houston or surrounding cities made any comments yet?”
“No, they do not seem to be responding with any public announcements as of yet. We do know that the Federal Government has contacted them about what to do in the event Alex does hit at the strength Jack predicted. However, no concrete plans have been put in place, at least at the moment. No public announcements have been made either.”
“Do we know what those plans are yet, or have any idea what the Federal Government has suggested?”
“No we do not John. I think the people who are leaving are the believers and the ones that can afford it. The others are waiting for the government to tell them what to do or where to go. I might also mention John, that there are no hotel rooms anywhere within fifty miles of San Antonio, Dallas, or even Austin. That may well be a problem in the next few days and the government will have to step in to ensure that there is shelter for these people.”
“Thank you Maria. We will be getting back with you.”
“Thank you John. This is Maria Schroeder reporting from Houston, Texas.”
Turning back to the anchor desk from the monitor, John said, “We will be going to Biloxi, Mississippi, where according to Jack, the second hurricane will hit on the 14th. It too is supposed to be a category four. You may remember that Katrina not only destroyed New Orleans, but also Biloxi, Mississippi. It destroyed not only the Infrastructure, but also the casinos and tourism, which is the lifeblood of their economy. Now once again, it appears they are in the bull’s eye for another disaster. This also means that New Orleans, which is only ninety miles away, may have a repeat of Katrina.”
“Tonight we have as a guest here in Kansas City, Professor Marlan Anderson, Dean of Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Colleges at Columbia University in New York.” John turned to the Dean sitting next to him at the anchor desk and asked, “Professor, with two major hurricanes most imminent of a total of seven, is there anything of significance that sticks out for you that you could share with the audience?”
“John, what I can say is what is happening is almost totally impossible with the knowledge that we currently have. However, multiple storms coming off North Africa during hurricane season is not that abnormal. In some cases, we have had four or five active at any given time, but in those cases, they usually went out to sea in the Atlantic and not hit the mainland of the U.S. Now, like you and everyone else, I have listened to Jack’s predictions on your show. I think several things are tied in here that most people did not catch. The first is the warming of the poles, which in turn makes it warmer here. That also warms up the oceans. So how do we predict bad hurricane seasons? Simply put, when the water temperature rises we have more, which is what is happening now. You may note the water temperature was already the highest recorded ever, in the past hurricane season. We also can add that the rains in Northern Africa are also putting an abnormal amount of moisture in the air there.”
“In normal circumstances, as low pressure systems blow off the continent of Africa, this increases tropical depression activity. It is normal for tropical waves or troughs of low pressure to move westward across Africa, but normally they do not pick up moisture over land. However, after these troughs reach the warm waters of the Atlantic, they would then get massive amounts of water vapor and heat energy from tropical waters. This in turn forms tropical storms and hurricanes.”
“What’s different here is that there is moisture already in the atmosphere, because of the rains in North Africa. Now, by the time these troughs hit the Atlantic, they are already forming, are quite powerful, and appear to be coming one right after the other. Therefore, what I am saying is that Jack predicted rain there for thirty days. The hurricanes and the temperature changes at the poles will also last 30 days or so. They will all begin and end, almost in the same time period.”
“So what you’re saying Professor, is that if what Jack predicted does happen, it was a very well thought out strategy?”
“Yes John, that is right. The rain in Northern Africa and higher temperatures will result in much more powerful hurricanes. It may not have happened this way otherwise. In addition, as a footnote, with all this rain, comes the issue of locust plagues. That scenario had been suggested before, if it were ever to rain like this in Northern Africa. If that happens, it could destroy the entire food crop for a continent. However, this for the moment, is still conjecture. It is something we may want to keep an eye on.”
“That’s very interesting Professor. We had not thought about the moisture having that effect on locusts hatching, but I, like you, remember hearing something like that before. But Professor, regarding the rains and hurricanes, what is your take on the chances of it happening exactly as Jack said it would?”
“Based on science or based on Jack?”
“Best guess Professor.”
“Almost 99.999 percent in both cases, I am afraid to say. In addition, based on Jack’s education, he had to have had help from somewhere; his God or some other power. There is no way he could have understood that all these factors needed to be present for this to occur.”
“Thanks Professor.”
John turned back in his chair, faced the camera and said, “When we come back, we will go live to both Biloxi, Mississippi and New Orleans, Louisiana.”