Hurricane Forecast for 2007: 17 Major Storms, 9 Hurricanes, 5 of Them Intense
FoxNews.com
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — With the official start of the 2007 hurricane season only hours away, the bad news is that researchers backed up their prediction Thursday that nine hurricanes will form in Atlantic this season, and that five of them could be major.
The good news?
There’s only a 50-50 chance that one will hit the east or gulf coasts.
Read more.
But the bad news is…
Poll: Most along U.S. coast not prepared for hurricanes
CNN
MIAMI, Florida (AP) — Most people along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts still lack a hurricane survival plan and don’t feel vulnerable to storms, despite Katrina’s dramatic damage and pleas from emergency officials for residents to prepare before the season starts, according to a poll released Thursday.
Read more.
Are you prepared?Â
Living in Richmond, we don’t always get the worst of it. Isabel in 2003 certainly did a number on Virginia, but it was nothing like we saw with the destruction of Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast in 2005. Katrina was one of the costliest and deadliest hurricanes in our nation’s history.
For me, Isabel was bad enough. She was just beginning to die down when she passed over our house. And a tornado tore a path through our neighborhood downing dozens of trees into the neighbor’s houses. We went 8 days without power. And ice. I missed ice most of all.
After about 3 or 4 days I remember going to work and this especially cheery co-worker asking “did you get your power back yet?” I’d just look at her and ask “Do I SMELL like I’ve had a shower?”
But c’mon, 8 days was pretty reasonable comparatively speaking. And we were fortunate to have no damage.
In 2004, my family managed to hit the jackpot the next summer and schedule our week 
in Nags Head for the arrival of Hurricane Alex. We weren’t evacuated and basically just spent the day indoors. But I still have the t-shirt.
Nags Head, NC
8/3/2004, 7:00 p.m. after Hurricane Alex blew thru.
I’m always fascinated with the names for hurricanes. They’re picked years in advance. The names are recycled, except for the worst ones. You can see the names for both Altantic and Pacific Storms through 2012 here.
Are you prepared for a hurricane? I mean, it’s not like a snow alert. It’s a little more than rushing off to Ukrops for bread, milk and toilet paper.
The American Red Cross offers information for hurricane preparedness.
VDOT offers a Hurricane Evacuation Guide and recently completed the Interstate 64 lane reversal exercise on May 20, 2007.
Of course, you can do what some folks do and laugh it off. In that case, you’ll need this recipe:
1.5 ounces light rum
1.5 ounces dark rum
1 ounce orange juice
1 ounce fresh lime juice (NOT Rose’s or RealLime)
1/4 cup passion fruit juice, or 1 tablespoon passion fruit syrup
1 teaspoon superfine sugar
1 teaspoon grenadine
Cherries with stems, and orange slice to garnish
Ice cubes
In a cocktail shaker, mix the rum, passion fruit juice or syrup, the other juices and the sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add the grenadine, and stir to combine, then add ice and shake. Half-fill a hurricane glass with ice, then strain drink into glass; add ice to fill. Garnish with orange slice and cherries.
Get the latest storm updates from the National Hurricane Center.