Forecasters See Hurricane Matthew’s Damage Before It Happens
- New computer models account for tree density near power lines
- National Weather Service developing flood forecasts by street
Matthew Stays Offshore: Did Florida Dodge a Bullet?
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As Hurricane Matthew rolled toward Florida earlier this week, the meteorologists at Verisk Analytics were tracking its every move.
They weren’t just plotting the usual meteorological stuff, though, and making the usual forecasts: wind speed, rainfall, sea-swell. They also were armed with new-fangled intelligence -- like a model that displays the types, and current density level, of the trees surrounding electricity lines -- that allowed them to spit out an estimate of how many households and businesses would lose power. (Days before the storm hit, it was already at least hundreds of thousands. As of Friday afternoon, the actual total was about 826,000.)