Mass. coast under storm warning
Pastor Dale Morgan
Mass. coast under storm warning *
By LING LIU Associated Press Writer
Thursday, July 20, 2006 3:01 p.m. ET
BOSTON (AP) -- The Massachusetts coast was under a storm warning
Thursday as Tropical Storm Beryl swirled northward in the Atlantic
Ocean, and parts of Long Island and Connecticut were told to prepare for
foul weather.
The tropical storm warning extended from Plymouth south to Woods Hole,
including Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, according to the
National Hurricane Center in Miami. The warning means tropical storm
conditions are expected in the next 24 hours. The storm may bring in
tides of 1 to 3 feet above normal.
A tropical storm watch, meaning tropical storm conditions are possible
within 36 hours, was issued for eastern Long Island and parts of the
Connecticut and Massachusetts coasts.
"It's going to be in many ways much like you get in some of the
wintertime storms," said Daniel Brown, a hurricane specialist in Miami.
"It's going to be some wind and rain, but it's not going to be anything
tremendous like a hurricane."
Harbormaster Tom Leech said that the storm flag was raised at Harwich on
Cape Cod and that he had been advising boat owners to double up on their
mooring lines.
At Nantucket Moorings, workers were busy Thursday making sure their
customers' boats were tied down securely, but they weren't panicking.
Kristine Larsen, an assistant manager at Larsen's Fish Market on
Martha's Vineyard, said the shop is prepared with a generator if it
loses power.
"What are you gonna do? We can't physically pick the building up and
move, so you just have to hope for the best," she said.
At 2 p.m. EDT, Beryl's maximum sustained winds were near 60 mph with
higher gusts, well above the 39 mph threshold for a named storm but
below hurricane strength of 74 mph.
Beryl was centered 125 miles south-southeast of New York City and 195
miles southwest of Nantucket. It was moving north-northeast at about 11
mph, a motion that would bring the center of the storm near the
southeastern Massachusetts coast Thursday night or Friday morning.
A record 28 named storms and 15 hurricanes, including destructive
Katrina, occurred during last year's June-November Atlantic hurricane
season.
The first named storm of the 2006 season, Tropical Storm Alberto, swept
over Florida in mid-June, then plowed northward along the coast past the
Outer Banks. It was blamed for one drowning.
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On the Net:
National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov