Alabama geography professor: Hurricane Idalia could be ‘catastrophic’

By WVUA 23 News reporter Kennedy Payne

As Hurricane Idalia strengthens it has the potential to bring in a “catastrophic” storm surge. University of Alabama geography professor Jason Senkbeil said it’s possible the storm will increase in wind speed, which would put it on the lower end of a Category 4 hurricane.

There are new models of the hurricane analysis and forecasting system being used by the National Hurricane Center in hopes of improving the predictability of the forecast.

“I got a feeling it might flirt with the 130 through 135 mph range, which is a borderline Category 3, lower end Category 4 at landfall,” Senkbeil said. “It would be a very significant hurricane, and it would be comparable to many of the really bad storms we’ve seen in the last six years in the Gulf of Mexico.”

In 2018 Hurricane Michael turned north along the Gulf Coast and followed a similar path to Hurricane Idalia before it became a Category 5 at landfall.