It’s been a night of unimaginable fury—even terror—on the Gulf Coast as Hurricane Rita has roared ashore. Anyone who’s experienced dark hours in such a storm will tell you that the uninterrupted roar of hurricane force winds is frightening almost beyond words. The added sound of the building which surrounds you coming apart becomes a constant reminder of one’s mortality.
A Category 3 hurricane such as Rita will never happen here in Chicago, given the absence of warm, tropical ocean waters able to sustain it. But, if it could happen, this is what might take place. Lake Michigan would rise 15 to 20 feet, flooding the city—while 20 to 40 foot waves battered anything which hadn’t been submerged. Add a F2 intensity tornado (one bearing 115-157 m.p.h. winds), which swings by its Midwest targets in under 20 seconds—but in this instance for five or more hours straight. With such forces at work, it’s little wonder hurricane damage is catastrophic.
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
