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beyond the ability to control it with the existing eradication plan. <br />Estimates placed the spread of the disease at 183,000 acres. <br />The existing eradication plan would have required the <br />destruction of one-fourth of the commercial acreage in Florida, <br />an amount that would have devastated the citrus industry <br />(Conner, 2006). <br />Historic Events. From 1930 through 1959, a total of <br />58 hurricanes struck the U.S. mainland; 25 of which were <br />Category 3 or higher (major storms). Between 1960 and <br />1989, 43 hurricanes struck the U.S.; 16 of which were <br />Category 3 or stronger. Most hurricane experts feel we are <br />entering a period of increased hurricane formation similar to <br />the levels seen in the 1930's and 1940's. Current hurricane <br />risk calculations are complicated by climatic factors <br />suggesting the potential for even greater hurricane <br />frequency and severity in all of the world's hurricane <br />spawning grounds. According to Stormfax Weather <br />Almanac(http://www.stormfax.com/huryear.htm, <br />since 1995, there have been 173 Atlantic hurricanes, and <br />there were 10 in 1998 alone. Global warming may cause <br />changes in storm frequency and the precipitation rates <br />associated with storms. A modest 0.9°F (0.5°C) increase in <br />the mean global temperature will add 20 days to the annual <br />hurricane season and increase the chances of a storm <br />making landfall on the U.S. mainland by 33%. The warmer <br />ocean surface also will allow storms to increase in intensity, <br />survive in higher latitudes, and develop storm tracts that <br />could shift farther north, producing more U.S. landfalls. <br />On the average (https://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/E19.html), <br />close to seven hurricanes every four years (--1.75 per year) <br />strike the United States, while about three major hurricanes <br />cross the U.S. coast every five years (0.60 per year). Other <br />noteworthy facts, updated from Jarrell et al. (2001), are: <br />Forty percent of all U.S. hurricanes hit Florida <br />Eighty-eight percent of Major hurricanes strikes have hit <br />either Florida or Texas <br />Annually, hurricanes are estimated to cause approximately <br />$1.2 billion in damages. The proximity of dense population to <br />Indian River County Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan Basic Page 19 <br />