In the hours after Hurricane Ian ripped through Florida, leaving dozens dead and communities reeling, Sumter and Beverly Moore watched as weather forecasts predicted the storm would sweep out into the Atlantic Ocean before turning back and coming straight for their home on Pawleys Island, a narrow strip of earth and sand 112 kilometres north of Charleston in South Carolina.
Mr Moore, 82, is a lifelong resident of the barrier island and is no stranger to hurricanes. In 1989, Hurricane Hugo punished the South Carolina coast, destroying homes and infrastructure and causing nearly $7 billion in damages.
He will never forget arriving on Pawleys after Hugo hit.
“The island was cut in half,” he said. The storm was so powerful it swept houses off the island and on to the mainland.
Hurricanes are a part of life on this strip of the Atlantic and the Moores are veterans.
“As old as we are and as many of them as we've seen, when we go through a year like last year and we don't have one, we say: 'The Lord is looking out for us’ and this year, we just kind of say, ‘Thank you it wasn’t worse than it was',” Mr Moore said.
According to Nasa, hurricanes in the North Atlantic have been increasing in number and ferocity since the 1980s, and those who work in local government along South Carolina’s coast have seen that first hand.
“Storms are obviously becoming more frequent and they're becoming more damaging,” said Brandon Ellis, director of emergency services for Georgetown County, which is home to Pawleys Island.
Hans Paerl, a professor at the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the University of North Carolina, said the reason is clear: climate change.
“This is not rocket science,” explained Dr Paerl.
“Even myself, as an ecologist, can understand why these storms are wetter, the oceans are warming up, there's more evaporation of water going on from these warmer waters and with the intensification of low pressure systems, they just get sucked up and basically dumped on our coastal watersheds.”
The number and intensity of storms is increasing, but that won't convince the Moores to leave their beloved home. Still, they know a bad storm could have a devastating impact.
“It could wipe this island out,” Mr Moore acknowledged.
After seeing forecasts that predicted Ian would only hit South Carolina as a Category 1 hurricane, the Moores chose to stay and hunker down in their newly built house, which sits 4.4 metres in the air on stilts.
They purposely went beyond local building requirements when they rebuilt their home six years ago, knowing full well the potentially devastating effects of a hurricane.
Even with the stormproof house, the Moores felt Ian's power.
“The house shook a little bit when the wind gusts hit,” Mr Moore told The National.
Ian caused a significant storm surge that submerged most of Pawleys Island, knocking out power and wreaking havoc, but not causing total devastation.
“It was almost like a Noah's Ark experience,” Ms Moore explained. “We saw boats floating by and parts of docks floating by.”
The Moores know they are lucky. Residents of Florida, where Ian struck as a Category 4, were not as fortunate.
The storm slammed into Florida's western coast, then cleaved a diagonal path of mayhem across the state.
The death toll has surpassed 100, making it one of the deadliest storms in Florida’s history.
Communities have been forever altered by the powerful hurricane, which levelled buildings, destroyed bridges and in some cases cut off islands from the mainland.
The full extent of the storm is still being assessed, but one projection suggests the financial damages could be in excess of $70bn.
Dr Paerl fears the financial burden caused by storms will only increase in the future.
“The storms are delivering more contaminants to our coastal system, which is leading to short- and long-term environmental and ultimately economic damage,” he said.
The storms, which are trending wetter and wetter, wreak havoc not only on infrastructure but on agriculture and aquaculture, Dr Paerl added.
In coastal South Carolina, residents described relief that Ian spared them its full wrath, but many know their luck could one day run out.
“It's not a not a matter of if but when that happens again,” said Mr Ellis, referring to the devastation caused by Hurricane Hugo back in 1989.
“It becomes harder and harder after every storm; our coastline gets weakened.”
As hurricanes increase in number and intensity, Dr Paerl fears there may be a time when life on some barrier islands becomes untenable.
“There are places where we probably need to seriously consider turning them back over to Mother Nature,” he said.
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
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RESULT
Al Hilal 4 Persepolis 0
Khribin (31', 54', 89'), Al Shahrani 40'
Red card: Otayf (Al Hilal, 49')
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Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history
- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon
- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.
- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
MATCH INFO
Juventus 1 (Dybala 45')
Lazio 3 (Alberto 16', Lulic 73', Cataldi 90 4')
Red card: Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus)
((Disclaimer))
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SRI LANKA SQUAD
Upul Tharanga (captain), Dinesh Chandimal, Niroshan Dickwella
Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Milinda Siriwardana
Chamara Kapugedara, Thisara Perera, Seekuge Prasanna
Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal, Dushmantha Chameera
Vishwa Fernando, Akila Dananjaya, Jeffrey Vandersay
What it means to be a conservationist
Who is Enric Sala?
Enric Sala is an expert on marine conservation and is currently the National Geographic Society's Explorer-in-Residence. His love of the sea started with his childhood in Spain, inspired by the example of the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau. He has been a university professor of Oceanography in the US, as well as working at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biodiversity and the Bio-Economy. He has dedicated his life to protecting life in the oceans. Enric describes himself as a flexitarian who only eats meat occasionally.
What is biodiversity?
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, all life on earth – including in its forests and oceans – forms a “rich tapestry of interconnecting and interdependent forces”. Biodiversity on earth today is the product of four billion years of evolution and consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The term ‘biodiversity’ is relatively new, popularised since the 1980s and coinciding with an understanding of the growing threats to the natural world including habitat loss, pollution and climate change. The loss of biodiversity itself is dangerous because it contributes to clean, consistent water flows, food security, protection from floods and storms and a stable climate. The natural world can be an ally in combating global climate change but to do so it must be protected. Nations are working to achieve this, including setting targets to be reached by 2020 for the protection of the natural state of 17 per cent of the land and 10 per cent of the oceans. However, these are well short of what is needed, according to experts, with half the land needed to be in a natural state to help avert disaster.
U19 WORLD CUP, WEST INDIES
UAE group fixtures (all in St Kitts)
Saturday 15 January: v Canada
Thursday 20 January: v England
Saturday 22 January: v Bangladesh
UAE squad
Alishan Sharafu (captain), Shival Bawa, Jash Giyanani, Sailles Jaishankar, Nilansh Keswani, Aayan Khan, Punya Mehra, Ali Naseer, Ronak Panoly, Dhruv Parashar, Vinayak Raghavan, Soorya Sathish, Aryansh Sharma, Adithya Shetty, Kai Smith
The Good Liar
Starring: Helen Mirren, Ian McKellen
Directed by: Bill Condon
Three out of five stars
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 0
Wolves 2 (Traore 80', 90 4')
At a glance
Fixtures All matches start at 9.30am, at ICC Academy, Dubai. Admission is free
Thursday UAE v Ireland; Saturday UAE v Ireland; Jan 21 UAE v Scotland; Jan 23 UAE v Scotland
UAE squad Rohan Mustafa (c), Ashfaq Ahmed, Ghulam Shabber, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Shaiman Anwar, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Naveed, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan
The specs
Engine: 2-litre 4-cylinder and 3.6-litre 6-cylinder
Power: 220 and 280 horsepower
Torque: 350 and 360Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh136,521 VAT and Dh166,464 VAT
On sale: now
Cultural fiesta
What: The Al Burda Festival
When: November 14 (from 10am)
Where: Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi
The Al Burda Festival is a celebration of Islamic art and culture, featuring talks, performances and exhibitions. Organised by the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development, this one-day event opens with a session on the future of Islamic art. With this in mind, it is followed by a number of workshops and “masterclass” sessions in everything from calligraphy and typography to geometry and the origins of Islamic design. There will also be discussions on subjects including ‘Who is the Audience for Islamic Art?’ and ‘New Markets for Islamic Design.’ A live performance from Kuwaiti guitarist Yousif Yaseen should be one of the highlights of the day.
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