Earl no Katrina: Londonderry hurricane expert

On Tuesday, August 31, the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) in Miami, Florida, upgraded Earl to a Category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale approximately one week after it formed off the Cape Verde Islands.

This sparked fears the storm had the potential to devastate the Eastern seaboard of the United States in like manner to Hurricane Katrina, the infamous Category 5 cyclone that made landfall in Louisiana in August 2005 with catastrophic consequences.

But Londonderry native Mr Stone, now Director of the Coastal Studies Institute at Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge, told the Sentinel,Earl wasa storm not to be trifled with but a Katrina it wasn't.

Originally from Top of the Hill, Mr Stone now works at LSU's Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences and was one of those monitoring the devastation of New Orleans from close quarters five years ago.

The Sentinel last week asked Mr Stone how serious the authorities were taking the hurricane.

He replied: "Along the East coast of the US they should be, and I think are, taking this seriously especially since the National Hurricane Center has as of 6pm (Tuesday, August 31) upgraded it to a Cat. 4 storm."

But he advised alarmist reports Earl was to become a Katrina mark 2 were not justified.

Not as destructive as 2005 then? He advised: "No, not as bad as Katrina given the physiography of the mid Atlantic coast and the mere fact that the computer models predict it will parallel the coastline as opposed to a direct landfall.

"Things are already getting very rough in terms of wind speeds, wave heights and storm surge; however, not a Katrina."

NHC spokesman Dennis Feltgen had warned as late as last Thursday: "There is still concern that this track, the core of the storm, could shift a little farther to the west and have a very significant impact on the immediate coastline. Our present track keeps it off shore, but you never know."

By Friday, however, Earl had been downgraded to a Category 2 as it dissipated off the North East coast of the United States and the South East coast of Canada.

The NHC advised: "Hurricane Earl continues toward the North-northeast...weather conditions should improve In the Outer Banks later this morning."