Ernesto sets stage for season
Tropical depression leaves state with $90 million in damages
By Maggie Park, contributing writer
Posted on September 11, 2006

Tropical depression Ernesto assaulted JMU’s campus last weekend with three inches of rain, cooler temperatures and gusty winds after a month of nearly no precipitation.

Many students stayed in for the weekend, and some were injured due to the weather but the JMU Health Center has refused to comment.

Ernesto was downgraded from hurricane status to a tropical depression at 11 a.m. on Sept. 1 by the National Hurricane Center. According to an Accuweather press release, Ernesto’s sustained winds were measured by Chesapeake Bay buoys and reporting stations at 52 to 56 mph, with gusts of up to 68 mph at noon on Friday. 

“This is noticeably higher than the 39 mph sustained winds that define a tropical storm,” said Accuweather.com expert senior meteorologist Joe Lundberg.

“The buoys and reporting stations in question are located at the mouths of the Rappahannock and York Rivers, which were quite a distance away from the center of Ernesto.”

Ernesto caused nearly $90 million in damages throughout Virginia, according to the Associated Press, and also led to the closing to shell-fishing of the Virginia portion of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries and streams Sept. 4 through 9.  Shellfish from the restricted area could have caused illness if eaten.

According to Accuweather meteorologists, “The initial landfall forecast is for three major (Category 3 or greater) hurricane hits this year on the United States coast, two hurricanes of Category 2 or less and one tropical storm — a total of six storms making landfall.”

The Carolinas are believed to be at the greatest risk.