NAMED NATIONAL FOUR-YEAR DAILY NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR FOR 2020-21 IN THE COLLEGE MEDIA ASSOCIATION’S PINNACLE AWARDS
Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022
Volume 159 No. 17 SERVING SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1934
WWW.SJSUNEWS.COM/SPARTAN_DAILY
PHOTO COURTESY OF SJSU METEOROLOGY
As of 12 a.m. today, the Category 4 Hurricane Ian, the most powerful hurricane recorded to hit the U.S., continues on its path upward on the east coast as it plows through Florida, which has experienced severe damage since the hurricane touched the southwest coast on Tuesday. 24-hour satellite footage can be found on the SJSU meteorology webpage.
Record hurricane hits Florida State suffers severe flooding, power outages and extreme winds By Nick Zamora STAFF WRITER
Hurricane Ian, a Category 4 storm, made landfall on the southwest coast of Florida Tuesday afternoon. Hurricane Ian slammed into Florida as one of the most powerful hurricanes recorded in U.S. history with winds as fast as 150 mph, according to a Wednesday AP News article. Catastrophic storm surge and inundation of 12-18 feet of water is expected along Florida’s southwest coastline, according to a National Hurricane Center (NHC) key messages advisory for Hurricane Ian. “The expected weather conditions have already happened: massive destruction on the southwest coast of Florida,” said Alison Bridger, San Jose State professor of meteorology.
The storm has left more than 2.3 million Floridians without power, with over 500,000 consumers losing power between 5:00 p.m. and midnight on Wednesday alone, according to PowerOutage.us, a power outage aggregate service used by AT&T and the U.S. military. “By morning we will see how Orlando has fared too,” Bridger said in an email. “After that, it will move back over the Atlantic, then move north and come ashore again around South Carolina, producing lots of rain.” Bridger said warm air in the tropics can originate in the east or near Africa and then gain momentum as it approaches the Caribbean. That pressure system was bolstered by hurricane-favorable atmospheric conditions and very warm waters in the western Atlantic, which became Hurricane Ian’s main power source. Hurricane Ian was declared a Category 3 hurricane on Tuesday but after a rapid intensification just before landfall, it was declared a Category 4, according to a Wednesday CNN article. That means its wind speeds rose more than 35 mph in 24 hours, which is a rare phenomenon that is occurring with more frequency as the climate crisis grows and
ocean temperatures rise, according to the CNN article. Category 3 hurricanes are storms with winds of 111-129 mph while Category 4 hurricanes are identified by having winds 130-156 mph, according to the National Weather Service’s webpage on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. On Tuesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis requested President Joe Biden grant a Major Disaster Declaration for all 67 counties, for all categories and for all types of assistance, according to a statement posted to DeSantis’ website. The state has activated its Emergency Operation Center, expended $400 million on response costs, activated 10,000 of the state’s national guard and opened about 220 shelters across the state, according to the Major Disaster Declaration request. What separates Hurricane Ian further from other Categories 3 and 4 hurricanes in previous years is the sheer size of it, with hurricane force winds spreading 80 miles in width, according to the CNN article. One serious area of concern is the almost 1 billion tons of slightly radioactive waste that is sitting in open-air ponds that are expected HURRICANE | Page 2
IN BRIEF
The Category 4 Hurricane Ian slammed into Florida as one of the most powerful hurricanes recorded in U.S. history with winds as fast as 150 mph and a diameter of 80 miles. Catastrophic storm surge and inundation of 12-18 feet of water is expected along Florida’s southwest coastline. As of Wednesday night, the storm has left more than 2.3 million Floridians without power. One serious area of concern is the almost 1 billion tons of slightly radioactive waste that is sitting in open-air ponds that are expected to overflow as flooding comes over the next week.