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Max Mayfield, Director of the U.S. National Hurricane Center, says Katrina was just a spit and a cough.

A tireless advocate for hurricane preparedness, he suggests that it’s only a matter of time before the big one — the really big one — makes landfall.
The difficulty, of course, lies in the way coastal real estate development has rolled out. There’s simply far too much development in high-risk areas. Many of the mega-homes and condo developments within the path of potential hurricanes will be extremely costly to rebuild. Leaving aside the potential cost in human lives, could the insurance industry and the economy in general sustain a major catastrophe?

The worst-case hurricane scenario? Mayfield has many in mind. A stronger hurricane closer to New Orleans. A direct hit on the vulnerable Galveston-Houston area, the fragile Florida Keys or heavily populated Miami-Fort Lauderdale.Or how about a major hurricane racing up the east coast to the New York-New Jersey area, with its millions of people and billions of dollars of pricey real estate?

“One of the highest storm surges possible anywhere in the country is where Long Island juts out at nearly right angles to the New Jersey coast. They could get 25 to 30 feet of storm surge … even going up the Hudson River,” Mayfield said.

“The subways are going to flood. Some people might think ‘Hey, I’ll go into the subways and I’ll be safe.’ No, they are going to flood.”

A chilling vision of things to come. Now over to Bob with the latest on locusts!

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