Hurricanes hit home

Lawn furniture fills the pools to keep it from blowing away. The bathtub is filled with water so there will be something to flush the toilet with. The windows are boarded, and chances are a week's worth of bottled water is stored in the house. Now the hardest part -- you wait.\nIU students from hurricane-stricken parts of the country have to wait for phone calls, e-mails or other forms of communication from their families to see how they are coping during a difficult time. \nHurricane Ivan headed for the gulf states Wednesday and was expected to make landfall near the Alabama-Louisiana state-line, the third in a series of hurricanes that have rocked the U.S. during this year's particularly violent hurricane season. Residents were instructed to evacuate much of Louisiana, especially New Orleans, because of hurricane winds reaching 135 mph, according to The Associated Press. \nBenJarvus Green-Ellis, a sophomore running back for the IU football team is a New Orleans native. \n"All my family is in New Orleans, except my mom. They evacuated to Mississippi," he said. "They're staying with family ... I talked to them right before practice (Wednesday)." \nFlorida has sustained the most damage from hurricanes this year, however. For residents of the state, preparing for a hurricane is second nature. What isn't easy, said junior Jodi Feifer, is waiting for life to get back to normal. She spent last weekend in Florida with her family, as the state recovered from hurricanes Charley and Frances and anxiously waited to see if Hurricane Ivan would hit them. She commented via telephone from Florida on the students' sentiment. \n"It doesn't even feel like school has started yet, [Students] get evacuated so often," she said. "People are leaving from school to go home because they don't want to be here." \nThese students will have another month and a half to worry about these intrusions, said Sara Pryor, associate professor in the IU atmospheric science program. Pryor said 97 percent of all hurricanes occur from June 1 to Nov. 30, and this season is predicted to be an especially active one, with a forecast of eight hurricanes and almost twice the average number of tropical cyclones.\nHurricane Charley produced 145 mph winds, causing about $6.8 billion in damage, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in what they called a "swath of destruction." Fifteen people were killed as a result of the storm. \nFrances was a similar disaster, but Floridians had an even tougher time recuperating because it followed so closely after Charley. Waters rose to over four feet on the central east coast, and caused $2 to $4 billion in damages, according to the AP. To help offset the financial burden, President George W. Bush requested $3.1 billion from Congress in emergency relief funds. Sen. John Edwards, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, also toured the state promising he would work to get financial aid. \nThe Florida Marlins baseball team also wanted to help the hurricane relief effort. After Frances rained out three Florida Marlins games, the team gave up their home-team advantage and instead held one game at Wrigley Field and the other at US Cellular Field. The team donated $5 from each ticket sold at the US Cellular game to recovery efforts.\nAn unexpected side effect of the weather trouble was a donation low for the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon for muscular dystrophy. According to organizers, the power outages from Frances led them to only raise $59.4 million compared to $60.5 million last year. Only once before has the telethon failed to raise more than the last year's total.\nMeanwhile, tourism in Florida is delayed, and some places, like the Keyes, are cut off to everyone but residents, said Corey Bowers, a graduate student whose family lives in Florida. He said people have difficulty getting homeowner's insurance, and that mobile homes rarely have any.\nBut most years, he said, hurricanes do not actually come to Florida. Instead, they veer off doing little damage.\nPryor explained why Florida is getting battered this year. \n"Hurricane tracks are determined by many factors, some of which we don't fully understand," she said. "To some degree the hurricane is like a cork in a stream being pushed along by the atmospheric flow. However, a strong hurricane can also help to steer itself." \nBowers maintains a positive outlook about hurricane season; he said that normally no one gets hurt and the surfing season is at its best. \n"It's not a big deal; mud slides in third world countries and tidal waves kill a lot more people. The media blows it out of proportion," he said. "It's like when a tourist comes to Florida and sees an alligator, they think it's going to kill them. Here, we see it all the time."\n-- Contact staff writer Janice Neaveill at jneaveil@indiana.edu .