JUST BECAUSE this year’s hurricane season is projected to be mild is no reason for area residents to not be on guard was the main topic of discussion when Channel 2 weatherman Frank Billingsley spoke at the Texas City/La Marque Chamber of Commerce Hurricane Preparedness luncheon on Wednesday.
A packed Nessler Center had the opportunity to hear from Billingsley, who has been chief meteorologist for KPRC-2 since 1995. The veteran has had a front row seat to the unpredictable weather in the area ranging from surprise snowstorms to the heartbreaking devastation of Hurricane Harvey last August.
“Hurricane season for us usually ends around October 15,” said Billingsley. “It doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods for the rest of the season (which officially ends November 30), but the chances of one hitting our area is greatly reduced.”
The Texas Gulf Coast has a 38 percent chance of a hurricane this season, a welcomed relief for those who are still rebuilding from the historic rainfall from Harvey that hammered the greater Houston area. Santa Fe received 52.7 inches of rain, while Friendswood endured 47.5 inches. Neither could top the 54 inches of rain that came down in the League City area, while Galveston was hit with 14.20 inches, most of which came after most of the area was drenched on Saturday and Sunday.
“Harvey was a Category 3 hurricane, the power of which is the equivalent of 600,000 atomic bombs that hit Hiroshima,” said Billingsley. “That power was enough to light up the entire United States for six months. The total number of gallons of rain (9,000,000,000,000) that hit our area would have covered the entire state of New Jersey and much of Arizona. If the Grand Canyon wasn’t there, it would have covered all of Arizona.
“The emotional toll will never be understood,” added Billingsley of the storm that took 87 lives in the greater Houston area while costing between $90-$160 billion in damage.
Billingsley also took time to discuss his book, “Swabbed and Found: An Adopted Man’s DNA Journey to Discover His Family Tree,” which came out late last year. The Alabama native writes about how he took a DNA test that put him on the path toward being connected to the family of his birth. The book has received strong positive reviews on Amazon.com
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