As many as 10 Atlantic hurricanes could form in coming months, and up to four of them could hit the United States, experts said on Monday, urging residents to prepare for potentially devastating storms.
”The outlook calls for a very active 2006 season, with 13-16 named storms, 8-10 hurricanes, and four to six major hurricanes,” the National Weather Service said in a report released on Monday.
”It is statistically within reason to assume that two to four hurricanes could affect the US,” said Vice-Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher, who heads the Administrator of the National Oceanographic Administration.
”The very thought of another hurricane strike on the US, especially the Gulf coast, is a troubling but a very real possibility,” he said, presenting the report at the Miami headquarters of the National Hurricane Centre.
The report said the six-month Atlantic hurricane season, which starts on June 1, is unlikely to reach the records set last year.
But Robert Latham, who heads the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, stressed that did not rule out a hurricane more devastating that Katrina, which killed over 1 500 people in New Orleans and along parts of the US Gulf Coast last year.
”As bad as Katrina was, it could be worse,” he said.
Officials reiterated warnings that residents in threatened areas should take hurricanes seriously, prepare for the season and heed any warnings. — AFP
