Some people are making too big a deal of the fact that Rita has dropped from a Cat 5 to a Cat 4. It's still going to be very bad, even assuming it doesn't restrengthen.

I'd almost rather see relief that it's dropped from a Cat 5 to a Cat 4 than have to continue to watch the local scaremongering news reports up here in IOWA.

Yes, it's still going to hurt, either way. But the way they lead in and write the news stories up here, you'd think that the eyewall was headed right for the heart of the MidWest...

The amazing part of this is that dropping from 165 MPH, the highest speed Rita attained, to 154 MPH, a top end CAT 4, is SO minimal when you think of it.

11 miles per hour is a big deal if you are walking. 11 MPH to 22 MPH for the wind is noticable. But when it's the wind ALREADY blowing well above 100 MPH, thats not so big a deal. So it rips your house apart in 20 minutes instead of 17. The house is still GONE.

It's become much more about having something to say 50 times a day, as opposed to reporting something significant.

Is the wind force proportional to the velocity, or to the square of the velocity, or something else?

Both wind "force" (which is the wind pressure times the area that it's pushing against) and the energy are proportional to the square of the velocity.

Sounds like when the newsies used to rhapsodize over us and the USSR cutting nuke arsenals in half. Only difference it makes is how far the rubble flies.

The power per unit area of the wind is proportional to the cube of velocity.

You know you've been in Hurricane Country too long when:

- The monster storm bearing down on you drops down to "only" 145 mph max winds, and you feel relieved.

- The neighbors who left their plywood up from the hurricane two months ago don't seem like weirdos, just smart labor-savers.

The labor saving technology is motorized metal storm shutters. Costs more, though.