As the U.S. waits to see if the storm will make landfall, INSIDE EDITION looks at its potentially devastating effects.
As the East Coast waits to see if it will be battered by Hurricane Joaquin, a storm simulator helps show just how ferocious the storm could be.
Dr. Brian Haus, the director of the lab at the University of Miami in Florida, told INSIDE EDITION that the simulator is capable of producing a category 5 hurricane at the click of a button.
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After switching it on, a giant wind turbine and underwater paddles turn the calm water into a huge hurricane. The water barrels through a model town but houses remain standing.
“We're really getting a close-up view of something that nobody's ever really been able to see before, the surface of the ocean in a category 5 hurricane,” he explained.
Researchers hope the hurricane in a box will help them more accurately predict the strength of potentially catastrophic storms.
On Friday afternoon, the Weather Channel reported that Hurricane Joaquin is predicted to turn east, making a U.S. landfall unlikely. The Category 4 storm has already slammed the central Bahamas with rain, flooding and hurricane-force winds.
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Thousands were left without power and some families were stranded in their flooded homes, the channel reported.
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