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TROPICAL STORM KARL BECOMES HURRICANE OVER GULF
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TROPICAL STORM KARL BECOMES HURRICANE OVER GULF 17 September 2010 From space the three storms, currently all hurricanes, are clearly visible Tropical Storm Karl has been upgraded to a hurricane having gathered strength as it passes over the Gulf of Mexico. The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) upgraded Karl to a category one hurricane and a few hours later to a category two. Before moving into the Gulf, Karl made landfall in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, where it downed trees and cut power. Out in the Atlantic two more hurricanes are churning, including a powerful category four storm, Hurricane Igor. On Wednesday, both Igor and Hurricane Julia were classified as category four storms, the first time in a decade that two simultaneous Category Four storms have been seen. However, according to the NHC Hurricane Julia has weakened to a category one storm on the scale of one to five and is currently pushing sustained winds of 128 km / h (80mph). Life-threatening swells Igor's top wind speed has increased to 230 km / h — making it the most powerful hurricane of the season. The NHC describes Igor as “large and powerful” and while the hurricane is not expected to make landfall for days, forecasters say that Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Bahamas are likely to feel the effects of storm swells by early on Thursday, and the US East Coast by the weekend. “These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions”, the NHC warned. Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula was hit by heavy rain and wind as Karl made landfall. Hurricane Karl's maximum sustained wind speed is put at 160 km / h (100 mph). The NHC said it could increase to major hurricane strength before making its next landfall sometime on Friday. When the storm passed over Yucatan, the sparsely populated peninsula was hit by heavy rain. The NHC warned that up to 20 cm (eight inches) of rain could fall, causing “life- threatening flash floods and mud slides” particularly in mountainous areas. Twenty-five people are reported to have been killed and almost a million people been affected by floods already this month in Mexico, which is in the grips of its annual rainy season. Following Karl's increase in power, a hurricane warning was issued for Mexico's coast from Palma Sola to Cabo Rojo, and a tropical storm warning issued for the stretch of coast from Cabo Rojo to La Cruz to the north of the storm and from Palma Sola to Veracruz in the south. Karl is currently located about 335km to the south-east of Tuxpan, Mexico, moving westwards at a speed of about 19 km / h. It is threatening to “pass very nearby” Pemex oil company installations, Jaime Albarran of the National Weather Service told AFP news agency. The Mexican state-owned oil operator evacuated workers from 14 oil platforms “as a precaution”, and shut down production. |