# Debby's getting frisky! (Tropical Storm Debby) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 4, 2024, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debbys-getting-frisky-tropical-storm-debby/1005224 "2024-08-04T05:01:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2024, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debbys-getting-frisky-tropical-storm-debby/1005224/41 "2024-08-09T18:16:24Z")
Quoting myself for context … > [@LSLGuy](#): > > NHC is coming around to the idea that wind speed, and hence the famous 5 Categories, is a terrible way to describe the hazards hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, etc., represent. Wind is the least of the major factors that drive deaths and property damage. This blog post from today 8/9/24 > **[Lesser Antilles-bound disturbance likely to develop on heels of Debby » Yale...](https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2024/08/lesser-antilles-bound-disturbance-likely-to-develop-on-heels-of-debby/)** > > Tropical Storm Ernesto could form near the Lesser Antilles by Monday or Tuesday. contains this money quote: > According to Gallagher Re, insured damages for Debby are likely to be $1-$2 billion, with wind-related damages contributing just a few hundreds of millions to that total. Most of Debby’s damage was from flooding, and only about 10-50% of the properties in the most heavily affected areas had flood insurance, so Debby’s total damages (both insured and uninsured) will be much higher than $1-$2 billion. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2024, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debbys-getting-frisky-tropical-storm-debby/1005224/42 "2024-08-09T19:19:43Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > If Debby had been in the western Gulf instead of the eastern end it would have made landfall in TX; mebbe even have gone thru Dallas. Aw shucks. I’d like to have heard a weatherman say the phrase. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2024, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debbys-getting-frisky-tropical-storm-debby/1005224/43 "2024-08-09T20:15:31Z")
We missed it by _that_ much. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2024, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debbys-getting-frisky-tropical-storm-debby/1005224/44 "2024-08-09T20:15:51Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > NHC is coming around to the idea that wind speed, and hence the famous 5 Categories, is a terrible way to describe the hazards hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, etc., represent. Wind is the least of the major factors that drive deaths and property damage. I don’t disagree but it is an easy & objective way to measure a storm. Rainfall amounts also have to do with how fast/slow a storm moves, the topography of where it’s hitting (which you mentioned), which side of the storm you’re on, whether you’re in a bay or the storm surge can get out, & other factors. Most coastal areas are pretty flat but once you get 50-60 miles inland by me you’re getting into elevation instead of pancake terrain. Despite being near a river I’m close to the top of the valley; if my car floods at home it’s end of days, bring back the ark type of scenario yet in the last hurricane there was debris on the _roof_ of the parking garage / first floor of the apartments along the river. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2024, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debbys-getting-frisky-tropical-storm-debby/1005224/45 "2024-08-11T03:19:17Z")
The remnants of Debby knocked my power out. Frankly, I expected to come home from work on Thursday night to find out that I didn’t have power, so the fact that it waited until I had had a chance to heat up a TV dinner and unwind a little before cutting me off was actually rather generous, I think. The following afternoon, my power came back for, like, a minute or two, as though it were pranking me on purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2024, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debbys-getting-frisky-tropical-storm-debby/1005224/46 "2024-08-11T03:54:07Z")
Debby is, as was noted above, the perfect example of the fact that the Saffir-Simpson scale is not particularly effective in measuring the destructive effects of anything other than direct wind impacts. And now, her probable future brother Ernesto seems to be puttin’ on his dancing shoes and getting ready to party. Maybe we’ll get lucky and he’ll recurve into a fish storm as far as the US is concerned, but I damn sure feel for the folks in the Lesser Antilles - they just can’t seem to catch a break. > ZCZC MIATWOAT ALL > TTAA00 KNHC DDHHMM > > Tropical Weather Outlook > NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL > 800 PM EDT Sat Aug 10 2024 > > For the North Atlantic…Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico: > > 1. Near the Lesser and Greater Antilles (AL98): > Shower and thunderstorm activity is showing some signs of > organization in association with a tropical wave located roughly > midway between the Cabo Verde Islands and the Lesser Antilles. > Environmental conditions appear conducive for gradual development of > this system during the next few days while it moves westward to > west-northwestward at 15 to 20 mph across the central tropical > Atlantic. A tropical depression is likely to form by the early to > middle part of next week while the system approaches and then moves > near or over the Lesser Antilles, and interests there should monitor > the progress of this system. Then, the system is forecast to move > generally west-northwestward and could approach portions of the > Greater Antilles by the middle to latter part of next week. > > - Formation chance through 48 hours…medium…50 percent. > - Formation chance through 7 days…high…90 percent. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debbys-getting-frisky-tropical-storm-debby/1005224.md?page=2)