Strong Hurricane Season Could Hit Georgia After Coronavirus Peak

GEORGIA — Georgia and the rest of the East Coast could be headed into a brutal hurricane season just after the novel coronavirus outbreak peaks, forecasters say.

The 2020 hurricane season could bring 16 named storms — four more than the average — up the Atlantic Coast this summer, according to Colorado State University meteorologists. An average season has 12 named storms, six hurricanes, and three major hurricanes.

"The team predicts that 2020 hurricane activity will be about 140 percent of the average season," meteorologists wrote on Thursday. "By comparison, 2019's hurricane activity was about 120 percent of the average season."

Half of the 16 storms will become hurricanes and four could reach gusts of 111 miles per hour, the meteorologists said.

There is an almost 70 percent chance a major hurricane land somewhere on the U.S. coastline during the 2020 season which begins in June, the CSU team warned in its first outlook of the hurricane season.

The 2020 COVID-19 projections show the pandemic will peak near the end of April and continue into July, officials said Wednesday.

On Sunday evening, the Georgia Department of Public Health reported 10 more deaths from the coronavirus. The updated numbers bring the total to 6,742 coronavirus cases statewide, and a total of 219 deaths. There are currently 1,296 people hospitalized from coronavirus in Georgia.

As of Sunday, Fulton County's 970 cases are the most of any Georgia locality. The next highest totals are 688 in Dougherty County, DeKalb with 549 cases, Cobb with 474 cases, Gwinnett with 410 cases and Clayton with 238.

Of those counties, Dougherty has the most deaths in the state with 31. Fulton has had 28 deaths and Cobb is next with 24.

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The 2019 hurricane season produced 18 named storms, including six hurricanes of which three were “major” (Category 3, 4 or 5), according to NOAA. The agency's outlook called for 10-17 named storms, 5-9 hurricanes and 2-4 major hurricanes, and accurately predicted the overall activity of the season.

The three major hurricanes last season were Dorian, Humberto and Lorenzo. Hurricane Dorian is tied with three other hurricanes — the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane, 1988’s Hurricane Gilbert and 2005’s Hurricane Wilma — as the second strongest hurricane on record in the Atlantic in terms of wind (185 mph). In all, four storms made landfall in the U.S. during the 2019 season: Barry, Dorian, Imelda and Nestor.

"Coastal residents are reminded that it only takes one hurricane making landfall to make it an active season for them, and they need to prepare the same for every season, regardless of how much activity is predicted," CSU warned.

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