"Dean" made a violent landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula -- sparsely populated -- north of Belize City & well south of Cancun & Cozumel as an intensifying Cat. 5 hurricane. The first Cat. 5 in the Atlantic Basin since "Wilma" in Oct., 2005 & notable because:
1. With a minimum central pressure of 906 millibars/26.75", Dean was the ninth most intense hurricane ever observed in the Atlantic basin (for comparison Hurricane Katrina's minimum pressure was 902 millibars).
2. The 906 millibar pressure reading was at landfall, making Dean the third most intense landfalling hurricane known in the Atlantic region and the first Category 5 storm at landfall since 1992's Hurricane Andrew.
3. When measured by minimum pressure, six of the ten most intense Atlantic hurricanes--Wilma, Rita, Katrina, Mitch, Dean, and Ivan--have occurred in the past ten years.
From today's Times Union & Jacksonville.com....word that homes on & near the Florida intracoastal will be required to be retrofitted for stronger roof-to-wall connections when & if new roofs are put in place. Could add as much as 15% per new roof. For all the info. & who might be impacted, click here.
A local author, Mark Goldwich/Mandarin, has written a handy book for home owners that fall victim to a disaster: "Uncovered: What Really Happens After the Storm, Flood, Earthquake or Fire". Goldwich points out that a public adjuster can often times be of some great help & "can even reopen and renegotiate old claims"...seems to be getting excellent reviews.
So let me get this straight: gas prices will go up the next few days because of "Dean" even though it missed some of the most important oil rigs & drilling areas in the Gulf + oil future prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell today to under $70, down $1.65. Huh?!?
