Brandon C. Meudt

The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against Sea.  By Sebastian Junger.  New York London: W.W. Norton & Company, 1997. http://www.amazon.com/The-Perfect-Storm-Story-Against/dp/006101351X/ref=cm_lmf_tit_12/190-9037860-6772427

During my reading, and upon completion, of The Perfect Storm it became completely apparent to me that the author Sebastian Junger could easily draw in readers.  He has an ability with is writing that can place the reader of his text directly in the middle of the story; painting a clear image of exactly what is happening on the decks of the Andrea Gail and in the minds of its six man crew, the names of the crew members were Pierre, Tynes, Murph, Sullivan, Moran, Murphy, and Shatford.  At the beginning of his book, before the chapters even begin, he mentions that he fictionalized almost nothing about this story and sought after exact accounts and truths about what happened to the crew.  Sebastian Junger took on an enormous uphill battle accepting the fact that he wanted to get every piece of information he could to put together the story of the actual accounts of what happened during the perfect storm; but more importantly, what happened on the nights of October 28^th and 29^th in the waters of the Great Banks; the waters that destroyed numerous ships and called for countless acts heroic rescue missions.  Throughout the book you can easily see the amount of knowledge that Sebastian gained about the sword boating industry along with the information he was able to present about the “perfect storm.”  The “perfect storm” was a mixture of three independent storms that all came together to form one hellish of a ride for anybody caught in its path. Those who sailed the seas knew of such dangers every time they ventured out into the open water; knowing it was all in the dice as to whether they return with 20-40 thousand tons of fish or none at all; none at all because they did not make it back. 

In my opinion the story was a great one because it drew me into right away.  Especially knowing what I was reading were true events.  It placed you right into the lives of a sword fisherman on the docks of Gloucester, Mass. in 1991, sword fisherman who were about ready to take the Andrea Gail on its final voyage.  The book drew me because of its detailed explanations and descriptions of every little thing that was happening, as if I were living at that time; but another big part of the book that Sebastian incorporated was his knowledge of storms and storm patterns the he previously had, or gained through countless interviews.  Part of the book was about the overall strength and power that a hurricane, in this case hurricane Grace, could accumulate to at sea and the hell that the fishermen go through, and the decisions that have to be made with navigating through 45-100 foot waves; waves which in turn can roll a boat over in seconds. The author invited new material and definitions that readers will not know but he did a great job of describing what he was talking about.  

 The first few chapters of the book introduce very little into the concepts of terrible weather because you are getting integrated into the lives of the fisherman.  It was said that the sword fisherman had one life he lived out on the water, and a completely different life back ashore.  Sebastian gathers through his interviews that sword fishing is a young and single man’s game because they are gone almost seven months, sometimes more out at sea in any given year.  When they come home they are big spenders for a few weeks only to go back out onto the ocean once again.  In chapter two Sebastian introduces the concept of Gale Winds.  Gale Winds are classified as winds with speeds up to 34-47 knots, which equals out to 39-54 mph winds.  These winds can be very dangerous out at sea for many reasons.  In chapter five Sebastian mentioned that in the open sea, waves are a matter of how hard the wind blows, how long it blows, and how much sea there is for the wave to travel.  The harder the wind blows the bigger the wave you will receive because air is being caught in the wave causing it to get bigger and bigger.  He describes a scenario where a gale blows across a thousand miles of ocean for 60 hours, and how it can cause 97 foot waves with peak heights of almost 200 feet, which have never been recorded.  These types of waves can be considered rogue waves and can sink a ship in seconds upon impact.  He also talks a little bit in chapter two and other parts of the book later on about how the NOAA, National Oceanic and atmospheric Administration, always broadcasts weather forecasts to the captains of the boats out at sea.  Also, the NOAA has buoy’s that relay oceanographic information back to shore every single hour.  These types of devises can read win speeds and water elevations.

        Getting into chapter four, Sebastian starts to recollect the final days and hours of the Andrea Gail.  It starts receiving back wind, which essentially tells its crew members that a low pressure system is going into its cyclonic spin.  The chapter also does a spectacular job at describing how hurricanes brew in the Luke warm waters around the equator causing huge amounts of water into the air; and all this evaporated air is unstable and has actual energy.  Than you start to see a rotation drawing in warm violent air that gets sent to the vortex and eventually the inward air can’t overcome the centrifugal force, which in turns causes the eye of the storm to form.  Also, in this chapter you see the emergence of hurricane Grace and that it is going to collide head on with the cold front that is coming from the Canadian Shield.  When these two forces collide you’re going to have a pressure gradient that many meteorologists may never see in their lives.  At this point on October 28^th 1991, Billy Tyne, the captain of the Andrea Gale is headed directly into the heart of the storm.  Chapter five talks about the graveyard of the Atlantic which refers to Sable Island; it is given this name because both the Gulf Stream and the Glacial Labrador current converge at this location and when men are killed at sea they are found at this location.  Today it is now the home of two lighthouses and a coast guard and meteorological stations. In chapter five Sebastian mentions that on October 28 something went terribly wrong aboard the Andrea Gail.  Chapter six starts talking about terms called pitch-poling which means when a wave is taller than the length of your boat, your boat will climb it only to fall back down and that get submerged under water. It also talks about the zero moment point which means the point of no return for a boat to right itself and will eventually capsize.  In this chapter, it is the first time that all crew members aboard the Andrea Gail are dead.  Finally, in the last three chapters, Sebastian talks about the actual “Perfect Storm” itself. The weather conditions and actual storm, as I have said before, were considered a 100 year storm which means it only has a .01percent chance of happening every year.  That right there tells you that this storm was deadly.  It happened because there were three completely independent weather systems that all collided and meshed together to form one powerful storm. 
        When it was all said and done.  The storm ranked as one of the five most intense storms from 1899-1991 and was deemed as a 100 year storm as discussed before.  Sebastian talked a little bite about the storm damage inland and how they were not properly aware or informed about the actual strength and height of water levels.    Altogether though, many ships were lost along with tons of people to the “Perfect Storm” and it was hard to blame anybody because the High Seas Act stated that death at sea is an act of god which basically means nobody is at fault.  As stated previously, Sebastian Junger did an incredible job of luring his readers in by sticking to the truths and facts about what happened out at sea but he also gave detailed information about different types of meteorological terms to better understand what the point was he was making.  This book was an easy read because it had a lot of action in it and it was very easy to pretend as if you were actually there living the events that took place in 1991.  It is to my understanding that Sebastian wants it to be known that we need to have the proper equipment available to make sure people who have a dangerous job, like the sword fisherman can make it home safely and we can record such freak storms a lot more efficiently. 

Damage From Hurricane Sandy

     The damage from hurricane Sandy effected many parts of Bloombergs New York City.  Of the things effected by the hurricane, I do not think one thing was left out.  Damage was taken on subways, buses, tunnels, trains, and airports.  The big factors that caused damage in these areas were done by flooding, fire, and strong winds. 
     During the storm and after, the subways and buses were greatly damaged.  All seven of the tunnels under the east river flooded in the storm; and the biggest problem is going to be picking up all the debris that was left behind; but it is going to be very expensive to inspect and repair all the electrical components of these tunnels that provide safe transportation for the subways. 
     Some airports in New York City are still closed where others are starting to take flights in and out now.  Bloomberg stated that there were probably 23 fires that erupted throughout the city.  One of the biggest; that models the swiss cheese model to a tea would be the fire that happened in Breezy Point Queens.  You had 111 homes that were destroyed by fire because the wind was so severe; and that is what was fueling the fire, but ontop of that you had terrible blooding throughout that area so when fire trucks tried putting them out they were blocked off by the flooding.  It shows that one problem ontop of the other can cause even greater problems and stall emergency releif. 

Bloomberg Endorses Obama

     In regards to hurricane Sandy; Bloomberg, mayor of New York City, stated that the hurricane "reshaped his thinking about the presidential campaign" and the billionare mayor is now endorsing president Obama.  The mayor goes on to describe that president Obama was the best suited to tackle the global climate change that the mayor believes contributed to hurricane Sandy.
     The hurricane, which has now taken 38 lives of New Yorkers and has caused billions of dollars in damage needs to be addressed by elected leaders and Bloomberg beleives Obama has done an outstanding job. 
     The biggest issue that the Hurricane brought to light in regards to the presidential campaign was the Federal Governments role in disaster response and how important it truly is.  The Hurricane has turned into a very big issue with the presidential campaign and is almost haulting it all together.  A person such as mayor Bloomberg who is a billionaire has and can have unbelievable amounts of persuasive power  and if he is publicaly voting for Obama, he may have people follow his lead; altogether this one mans decision can change the entire coarse of the presidential race. 

Hurricane Sandy Landslides

     USGS has issued landslide alerts for hurricane Sandy.  They stated that with Hurricane Sandy moving inland that heavy rainfall will put a good majority o communities at risk for landslide hazards and slope failure.  A landslide hazard is part of a secondary earthquake hazard.
     USGS members think that most of them will be shallow landslides on coastal bluffs in th eChesapeake Bay area.  An interesting fact, and something to look out for in these areas, is that landslides that were produced by Irene and Lee in 2011 could be reactivated which goes hand in hand with the behavioral model in regards to living in locations prone to these disasters; did people learn from the past or no?
     Some of the major factos that play a role in landslides are the slope of the land, geology, saturation of the ground in regards to slope liquification, and the total rainfall/duration.  Some mitigation efforts you can do before the strom would include a) familiarize yourself with the land, have landslides occurred in the past? b) where does the water drain near your home? c) know your communities emergency response and evacuation plans.  Things that you can do after the storm include a)staying alert and awake, most landslide fatalaties occur when people are sleeping b) listen for sounds that hint toard moving debris. c) be alert when driving especially along embankments.

Hurricane Sandy Water Levels

     Hurricane Sandy made landfall on monday around 1830 hours in New Jersey.  Prior to Sandy's arrival USGS crews deployed around 150 storm surge sensors that measure water elevation every 30 seconds; and now that the storm has moved inland the crews will go out and record the data.  So far there has been record water elevations in the Raritan River at 13.88 feet, Rockaway Inlet at 11.75 feet, and Raritan Bay at 11.21 feet. 
     Gathering this type of information is very important for not only monitoring the storm at certain intervals but also helping in future mitigation.  All of the information the USGS cres gathered and have yet to gather will aid in the effort to assess storm damage; make comparisons between wind and flood damage, and also improve computer models to help improve future coastal change.  One of the after effects of this storm will be/already has been massive snow fall; with this snowfall USGS crews will also look at the potential of snow run-off in regards to flooding.

 

Floods in Eastern Cape, South Africa
   As of October 21st there have been a total of eight people found dead with the eighth being a five year old boy.  The flooding is actually pretty bad due to the fact that it continues to rain.  1000 people were evacuated fron Nelson Mandela Bay which shows good forecasting and planning by local agencies to get people into safe areas; but with the constant amount of rain that is falling a dam eventually burst and flooded the local area.  this particular storm also has damaged several roads and houses along the way. 
   In this certain sitation you start with a natural hazard because of all the rainfal but than you have a technological hazard when the dam broke out and put a bunch of other people at risk.  I think when this situation was looked at in a deeper route you can almost apply certain aspects of the swiss cheese model because you first had all the rainfall and storm, but with that yo were followed by damaged roads where you could not even drive on them anymore; than the dam broke out causing other people that needed to be evacuated.  All of these factors could have caused rescue efforts to have been stalled but luckily it was not that bad.

Safety and Preparedness/Winter Safety

     I feel with the winter months right around the corner that it would be appropriate to talk about some safety precautions that you can do or look out for before and after a blizzard strikes.  In the breif article I was reading, the author stated that "winter can paralyze a city where there is insufficeint preparation."
   A few things you can do before a blizzard strikes is to have an adequate weather service where you can look at updated forecasts; one of the things to remember for this is to have new battaries for your radios.  Under emergency supplies you can make sure you have firewood easily available along with non-perishable food items; also under home preparation you should look at your pipes, roof, and indoor comfort items.  Proper insulation and storm windows are necessary along with space heaters in case the power goes out.
    After the storm you need to be extremely careful when driving your vehicle as the roads may be very slippery and dangerous.  All of the things that we are talking about can relate to the big three in terms of mitigation, protection, and adaptation.  Under protection we can upgrade our houses with insulation or storm windows and make sure we have adequate flashlights and batteries.  Also, when we talk about adaptation; that is where forecasts and warning systems come into play to keep up to date about what is happening outside.

http://www.weather.com/life/safety/winter/winter-safety_2011-10-05