Sep 04 2008
Hurricane Hanna Halts Island Bound Ships
Hanna stops cruise lines from reaching their destination in the Bahamas. Two of Royal Caribbean ships were detoured from stopping at their private island, CocoCay, instead heading for Key West, Florida. Mariner of the Sea, another Royal Caribbean ship, will skip CocoCay this week with no alternate stop. Norwegian Cruise Lines will be changing this weeks normal itinerary from the Bahamas to Bermuda.
It’s possible that Ike will be causing these same problems for cruise lines next week as the increasing storm reaches the Bahamas east side by Sunday. Categorized as a tropical storm yesterday, Ike has blown up to a category 4 hurricane. As of this morning, the hurricane was located approximately 550 miles east of the Leeward Islands, heading straight for the Bahamas.
Meanwhile, Hanna most likely will turn away from the Bahamas, heading for the Carolina coast. This tropical storm is just shy of reaching hurricane status at sustained winds of 70 miles per hour.
Tropical cyclones have three primary classifications, depending on intensity: tropical depressions, tropical storms and hurricanes or typhoons. For a tropical storm to turn into a hurricane it must have sustainable winds of 75 miles per hour or more. An “eye” is generally formed in the center of the storm that remains calm. The eye wall surrounds the eye of the hurricane. This is where the strongest winds circulate. The strongest hurricanes have been estimated with sustainable winds at195 miles per hour.
The reason tropical storms were given names was to eliminate confusion when there were more than one storm brewing in the same location. Most of the times a storm keeps the same name even when it changes categories, until it dies. Name lists are created several years in advance. Storms that are named have their name retired after they die down
