Skip to footer

Hurricane Humberto: First hurricane of 2013 season

Hurricane Humberto gathered strength in the Atlantic Ocean near the coast of Africa. Hurricane Humberto winds are expected to hit 85 m.p.h. before the storm starts to weaken.

  • By Josh Ball Associated Press

| Miami and Hamilton, Bermuda

Humberto strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane far out in the Atlantic early Wednesday, becoming the first hurricane of the Atlantic season.

Humberto's maximum sustained winds were near 75 mph (120 kph). The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the hurricane could gain more strength - with winds reaching 85 m.p.h. before a weakening trend likely starts Thursday.

Humberto was centered about 310 miles (500 kilometers) west-northwest of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands and is moving north-northwest near 8 mph (13 kph).

It is unusual for this much time to pass in the Atlantic season without a hurricane forming, though not unheard of. Hurricane Gustav was the first of the 2002 season when it formed on Sept. 11 of that year. The record for the latest first-of-the-season hurricane is Oct. 8, 1905, based on records dating to 1851.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Gabrielle  was weakening as it moved away from Bermuda after hitting the wealthy British territory with wind, rain and rough surf. Gabrielle's maximum sustained winds decreased to near 50 mph (85 kph).

A tropical storm warning issued for Bermuda was discontinued Wednesday morning.

Bermuda government authorities had urged people in the storm-hardened Atlantic territory to finish last-minute preparations, and some residents left work early Tuesday. Customers crowded into supermarkets to buy candles, batteries and other emergency supplies.

The territory suspended ferry service Tuesday afternoon as wind and rain picked up, and officials announced that schools would be closed Wednesday. Airline flights were cancelled Tuesday.

British visitors Tom and Laura Palmer said they were stuck in Bermuda until Thursday because British Airways cancelled inbound and outbound flights to the island until the stormy weather cleared.

"We don't mind staying a few more days despite the weather," said Tom Palmer, a resident of Crawley, England. British Airways "are paying, so we're fine."

Local painter Coolridge Eve said he was mostly unconcerned about the storm but he had earlier checked a shark oil-based barometer that Bermudians traditionally use to gauge rough weather.

"I looked at my shark oil this morning; it told me something was brewing up. How close it is, I don't really know, but I'm ready," Eve said.

Bermuda, an offshore financial haven and tourist destination, has strong building codes and residents are accustomed to storms.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Hurricane Humberto: First hurricane of 2013 season
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2013/0911/Hurricane-Humberto-First-hurricane-of-2013-season
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe