Preparations
Before Isidore became a hurricane, there were fears that the storm would end up being a significant threat. The upper level environment ahead of the storm was very favorable, and the oceanic heat content was very high. Just ten months after the destructive Hurricane Michelle, Hurricane Isidore threatened to cause similar effects in Cuba. In preparation for the storm, about 292,000 people and thousands of farm animals were evacuated in the Pinar del Río province. Hurricane Warnings were posted about 48 hours before landfall, leaving ample time to prepare for the storm.
Once in the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Isidore became a major Category 3 storm with winds of 125 miles per hour (201 km/h). The forecasts then predicted Isidore to move westward in the Gulf of Mexico for a few days, before turning northward towards the Gulf Coast as what was predicted by then to be a strong Category 4 hurricane. Initially expected to remain north of the peninsula, hurricane warnings were issued just over a day prior to landfall, with no watch preceding Isidore's passage. More than 70,000 people were evacuated, and ports on the Gulf coast of Yucatán were closed. Mexican authorities declared a state of emergency prior to the arrival of the storm. Due to Isidore's unexpected southward turn into the Yucatán Peninsula, Isidore weakened significantly to a tropical storm which limited potential damage along the United States Gulf Coast. In preparation for the hurricane, the Red Cross mobilized its members across Texas, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida days before Isidore's expected landfall. Volunteers were sent in the days prior to ensure families had a family disaster plan and a disaster supplies kit in their household. Hurricane watches raised for the United States Gulf coast between Cameron, Louisiana and Pascagoula, Mississippi late on the morning of September 24 were discontinued early on the morning of September 25, when the storm was no longer expected to restrengthen into a hurricane.
Read more about this topic: Hurricane Isidore
Famous quotes containing the word preparations:
“At the ramparts on the cliff near the old Parliament House I counted twenty-four thirty-two-pounders in a row, pointed over the harbor, with their balls piled pyramid-wise between them,—there are said to be in all about one hundred and eighty guns mounted at Quebec,—all which were faithfully kept dusted by officials, in accordance with the motto, “In time of peace prepare for war”; but I saw no preparations for peace: she was plainly an uninvited guest.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“In all the important preparations of the mind she was complete; being prepared for matrimony by an hatred of home, restraint, and tranquillity; by the misery of disappointed affection, and contempt of the man she was to marry. The rest might wait. The preparations of new carriages and furniture might wait for London and the spring, when her own taste could have fairer play.”
—Jane Austen (1775–1817)
“Whatever may be the reason, whether it was that Hitler thought he might get away with what he had got without fighting for it, or whether it was that after all the preparations were not sufficiently complete—however, one thing is certain: he missed the bus.”
—Neville Chamberlain (1869–1940)