By Steven Alford
Corpus Christi Caller-Times
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Time could be catching up with the Coastal Bend.
It’s been more than 40 years since Celia arrived, the last major hurricane to hit the coast.
Hurricane experts place the average return rate for a damaging hurricane to coastal regions at between 30 and 40 years, said National Weather Service meteorologist John Metz. With the official start to hurricane season today, local authorities advise residents to get everything they need to prepare for a major storm before it’s too late.
“There’s really no science to tell us if this is our year,” Metz said. “We have to be vigilant and prepare as if there will be a hurricane strike.”
The outlook for 2012 is lukewarm. Weather officials from the National Hurricane Center predicted an average season with anywhere between nine and 15 named storms. It comes off two years of substantial hurricane activity with 19 named storms each. Mild years can bring surprises. In 1992, another year predicted to be average, Hurricane Andrew struck, one of the largest hurricanes in U.S. history to make landfall.
Ahead of this season, more than 500 area authorities gathered at the Richard M. Borchard Regional Fairgrounds two weeks ago to examine evacuation plans, practice emergency conference calls and other hurricane exercises.
A few generations have never ridden out a hurricane in Corpus Christi, said Metz, who too has lived here for 17 years without seeing a major one.
“When it happens, it’s a life-changing event,” he said. “We really need to wake up.”
That means getting a plan and provisions together well ahead of time. Authorities recommend stocking on food and supplies to last for at least a week.
Residents should expect a hurricane to knock out utilities throughout the area. Outside help may not arrive for days, officials said. Make plans for relatives who are elderly or disabled, and know evacuation routes. A week ago, transportation officials met along Interstate 37 to practice a contraflow exercise, where in the event of an evacuation of the city, traffic would flow in a single direction up the highway away from the coast.
But practicing and doing aren’t the same.
If a major hurricane is headed this way, the city will activate its Emergency Operations Center on the top floor of the Fire Administration Building on Leopard Street.
Corpus Christi Fire Chief Robert Rocha has had hurricane meetings almost daily since taking office in December, he said.
He and about 50 other members of the “ride out” team will set up shop in the operations center during a major hurricane, running communications with emergency responders and coordinating evacuation and rescue efforts.
“From the feedback we are getting, I feel we are better prepared than ever before,” Rocha said.
Having moved from Kansas City, he has never experienced a hurricane but has seen tornadoes.
In 2004, he coordinated incident response after damaging tornadoes ripped through the area. It taught him a lot about dealing with an environmental catastrophe, he said.
Should a severe hurricane hit Corpus Christi, it’s Rocha’s hope residents will listen when it’s time to evacuate.
While there’s not much to be done when the storm makes landfall, the aftermath will be the biggest challenge: restoring services and getting to people who didn’t evacuate and need help.
“Rest assured, we’re going to do everything we can to get people back in their homes as quickly as possible,” he said.
The Atlantic hurricane season runs through Nov. 30. Weather officials said it peaks in late August and September a time when many are concerned because school starts.
In early May, a severe storm system hit the Coastal Bend, ripping apart homes in rural areas, cutting power to thousands and downing trees, which took crews weeks to collect.
Those storms brought hurricane force winds for about 10 minutes, weather officials said.
It should have been a wake-up call, Metz said.
“That was just a little storm,” he said. “Imagine what a hurricane can do?”
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