Who you gonna call?
80-year-old Hurricane Doctor comes out of retirement to take on Isaac: KHOUturns to Neil Frank
Dr. Neil Frank returns to KHOU studios to report on Issac.
Dr. Neil Frank during the days at KHOU before his retirement in May 2008JConti.net
Dr. Neil Frank, standing, as director of the National Hurricane Center (withJulio Ripoll WD4R) in August 1980Photo by Andy Clark/W4IYT
Let's just say that at 80 years of age, Houston meteorologist Neil Frank knows his extreme weather . . . which is why KHOU News pulls its legendary weatherman out of retirement when things start brewing in the Gulf.
With Isaac reaching an official Category 1 hurricane status, the former director of the National Hurricane Center is working around the clock to predict the storm's path. While Houston is preparing to see some rain from the weather event, Frank is still placing Texas inside what he's been calling, "The cone of uncertainly."
And Frank would know — he has a doctorate in meteorology from Florida State and is sometimes dubbed, The Hurricane Doctor.
"Right now, I'm thinking the storm's going to slow down," Frank says. "When that happens, though, the direction of it becomes very uncertain."
"Right now, I'm thinking the storm's going to slow down," he tells CultureMap.
"When that happens, though, the direction of it becomes very uncertain. One option we're considering is that it will stall out on the coastline and spread to the west towards Houston. There's a low probability, but you can't rule it out."
Isaac is slamming Louisiana and Mississippi nearly seven years to the day after Hurricane Katrina rolled through the Gulf region, taking more than 1,800 lives with it. While Issac's winds are expected to be about 30 miles an hour less that those reported during Katrina's touchdown in 2005, the slow speed of this week's storm should unleash a considerable amount of rain on coastal areas, including New Orleans, which currently sits at the center of the hurricane's path.
Frank is fairly positive Gulf Coast residents will see a good amount of flooding.
"I'm a little concerned that after the storm pounds the coastline, someone's going to get flood waters between 15 to 20 feet," Frank says. "We're not going to have that in Houston, but other places along the coast certainly might."
