Sep 5, 2007 8:58 pm US/Eastern
Hurricane Minute: The First Hurricane Warning
dl
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
At this time of year, we're so used to hurricane watches and warnings, it's hard to image a time when they didn't exist.
Few know, however, that the first man to issue a hurricane warning lived in Cuba – more than 130 years ago.
In 1870, a Jesuit priest took over as the Director of the Royal College of Belen in Havana. That year, two deadly and damaging hurricanes struck the western portion of the island; one was believed to have been a category 3 hurricane, the other a category 2 storm. Father Benito Vines became fascinated with the power of the hurricanes and began studying records of previous storms and watching the clouds.
In 1875, Vine's understanding of the signs of hurricanes had progressed enough that he issued the western hemisphere's first hurricane warning. Two days later, a monster hurricane devastated Cuba's southern coast.
The following year, miraculously, he did it again.
In September, 1877 Vines contacted Barbados about an approaching hurricane still out in the Atlantic Ocean. He also warned Santiago de Cuba to be on their guard because it would reach them on the 24th. Everything happened just as Vines predicted it would.
His reputation grew with each success and publication. In July 1893, Vines completed his triumphant "Investigation of the Cyclonic Circulation of the Translatory Movement of West Indian Hurricanes." Three days after he mailed off the manuscript, Father Vines died. But his rules for predicting hurricanes were to be used by the U.S. Navy for decades to come.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
