US Upgrades Last Year's Storm Cindy to a Hurricane
Date: 30-Jan-06
Country: USA
The center said in an updated analysis of the cyclone, which came ashore on the central Louisiana coast on July 6, that Cindy was a minimal Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (122 kph) when it hit land.
That took the storm just over the 74 mph (119 kph) barrier at which tropical storms are classified as hurricanes.
Cindy flooded streets, shut down oil production and knocked out power to thousands in Louisiana and Mississippi.
It shredded power lines and snapped tree limbs in New Orleans, which two months later was left in ruins when Hurricane Katrina swamped its protective levees and flooded most of the low-lying city.
The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season went into the record book with the most hurricanes -- now at 15 -- and the most tropical storms, at 27, since records began 150 years ago.
It was also the costliest hurricane season after Katrina caused an estimated $80 billion in damages in Louisiana, and killed about 1,300 people.
Weather experts say heightened hurricane activity could continue for another 25 years because of a natural swing in climatic conditions in the Atlantic. Some scientists fear that global warming could also be increasing the intensity of hurricanes.
