Why Was Humberto A Surprise, Or Was He?

The Census Bureau estimates that 4.5 million people were adversely affected by "surprise" Hurricane Humberto.

I issued an apology in my blog yesterday because I didn't anticipate the rapid increase of Hurricane Humberto (with the disclaimer that - fortunately - I'm not an operational forecaster here). But the thousands of readers of AccuWeather.com Professional's Joe Bastardi [BIO] (PRO), including high-profile clients in the Energy industry, were not surprised because Joe saw it coming. If I would have been paying more attention, I could have reported Joe's prediction, although that's really what the Pro site is there to do - allow you to monitor Joe's blog yourself so you don't have to depend on a middle man like me.

Humberto Hammers Gulf Coast - Sept. 13, 2007 - A truck moves through a flooded street in the Uptown section of New Orleans, La., Thursday, Sept. 13, 2007. Tropical Storm Humberto dumped heavy rain on much of Louisiana, flooding streets as it lumbered across the state. (AP Photo/ Bill Haber)

In any case, I'd like to present some of Joe's quotes here, and he also has some interesting ideas on why the storm did strengthen so quickly, but I've printed out more than an hour's worth of reading which I need to distill. I'll bring you that information later this weekend.

Blog reader Michelle from Beamont pointed out that many victims of Hurricane Rita in that area are still suffering (in her case, living like refugees in their former office), and this is something else that I should have recognized ahead of time and didn't. As she points out, the media is so hell-bent on covering Katrina victims in New Orleans, they often forget those harmed by Katrina further westward in Louisiana, and by Rita there and over the border in Texas. I do credit the Associated Press who reported another sad story after the hurricane hit about one of about 170 people in the city limits still living in FEMA trailers after Hurricane Rita.