Boaters and marina owners are all bracing for impact following predictions for an above-normal hurricane season that began June 1. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is expecting 17 to 25 named storms this season—including four to seven that are category 3 or stronger.
Within that nail-biting forecast is an element that boaters should be keenly aware of: a likely increase in the number of short-fuse storms.
A short-fuse storm is the kind that gets predicted more like a tornado than a traditional hurricane. Short-fuse hurricanes intensify a lot faster than traditional hurricanes, sometimes just two or three days prior to landfall. These types of storms can increase in windspeed by at least 35 miles per hour inside of a single day.
For boaters and marinas, the shortened warning window can mean that certain plans—such as for evacuations—become impractical or impossible. That’s what happened in 2021 with Hurricane Ida. It was a disorganized tropical formation about three days before it spun up into a category 4 hurricane, smashing into Louisiana with wind speeds of 150 mph, killing more than 80 people and causing $75 billion in damage.
Weather experts call the formation process for short-fuse storms “rapid intensification.” It’s not something that the National Hurricane Center tried to predict even a decade ago. In the past five years, the center has been making progress on that front, but it’s still considered a home run if such a prediction can be made even 36 hours out.
Even as a rarity, short-fuse storms have always been bad—four of the most destructive, category 5 hurricanes that made landfall in the past 100 years underwent rapid intensification—but researchers say these types of storms are likely to become more frequent now, as the planet continues to warm.
“These short-fuse storms are hurricane emergencies that require the ability to put action plans into place on constrained or reduced timelines—not even five days out,” National Hurricane Center Director Mike Brennan said during the annual Governor’s Hurricane Conference in May.
That’s true for boaters as well as for marina operators whose facilities are likely to be in the path this season.
At Suntex, which operates just shy of 100 marinas in 15 states including on both coasts in Florida, Sam Chavers,
senior vice president operations for coastal marinas, says teams are trained to speed up preparations if a hurricane shows signs of rapid intensification.
“If we have enough time, we’ll go through our normal procedures,” Chavers says “If the time period is condensed, then we’ll get it done faster.”
Generally speaking, 72 hours before any type of storm makes landfall, Suntex initiates an all-hands meeting and notifies boaters about the incoming danger. The general guidelines that Suntex gives all boaters state outright that “marinas are not safe locations for vessels during a hurricane or tropical storm.” The company recommends that boats be relocated if a storm is approaching.
Typical preparations at marinas during the next three days include doing test runs of pumps, backing up computer records, securing loose items such as trashcans and dock boxes, getting a backup fuel station in place, tying all gates open, turning off power and water at the docks, and shutting down the main fuel supply.
Given the severity of some storms in recent years, Chavers says, most boaters nowadays are eager to do whatever they can to help, even if they choose to leave their boats in place at the marina.
“For the most part, we see tremendous cooperation with people coming down and putting extra lines on or securing things that could blow away,” he says. “They’re trying to protect their asset the same way that we’re trying to protect their asset and the marina as an asset.”
With boats 35 feet and smaller, Suntex recommends tying up with at least six half-inch lines, or more if cleats allow for it.
For boats 36 to 50 feet long, the company recommends at least eight three-quarter-inch lines.
On boats larger than 50 feet, Suntex recommends at least eight lines of seven-eighths of an inch.
These recommendations remain the same no matter how strong the hurricane becomes above 30 knots, Chavers adds.
“Any kind of storm with winds over 30 knots can impact boats and marinas,” he says. “We’re prepping the same way. Even with a category 4 or a 5, we prep the same way.”
A key point to remember, Chavers says, is that amid all the concern about a challenging hurricane season, there are things that still remain possible to control. Yes, the preparations may have to be made faster if a short-fuse storm develops, but not everything is a matter of chance.
“What we can control is whether the marina is fully prepared and customers are fully prepared,” he says. “Those are the things we can manage and direct, so those are the things we do control.”
This article was originally published in the August 2024 issue.
