Topic: Hurricane Irma and related current severe weather events

[Musketeer Gripweed]

CNN's coverage has been fascinating. I've been glued to it as often as I could have been for the last couple of days. I have learned an awful lot as well.

Scary stuff though. I hope everyone caught up in this remains safe.

[Peabee]

http://www.playlivenewz.com/2010/08/watch-cnn-news-live/

You can watch CNN on their own website.

[WhereAngelsPlay]

Totally stripped the Virgin Islands of vegetation

[Chakan]

Totally stripped the Virgin Islands of vegetation

A strip show and a blow job.

Sorry , too good to pass up.

[Ekul]

I personally think your parents made a mistake going to Tampa - all models have it shifting west. If anything, Tampa is just as likely to be as affected in much the same way as Miami simply because of Irma's sheer size.

I'm seeing predictions now that it'll be a category 3 once it reaches close to Palm Beach County, and from thereon in it will only weaken once it hits land. You also have to remember one thing, don't compare any of the damages and horrific scenes you see in the Carribbean to what may potentially happen in Florida. The vast majority of southern Florida has had very strict building codes since Hurricane Andrew in 1992. I expect there to be lots of trees, powerlines, and other things of that nature to be severely damaged but nothing close to the catastrophic scenes and flooding we saw in Barbuda or the surrounding areas.

They left Tampa because of the shifts. They ended up first going to Gainesville from Tampa, then  back to their house in Ormond Beach on the east coast. Said they didn't lose power (although most around them did). They lost Internet and had some damage to vegetation/minor damage to some stuff outside, but nothing horrible. They also lost their water for about a day. They ended up pretty lucky in the end.

Hope everyone else was as lucky.

In Atlanta we've had strong winds and constant rain all day. I was worried some of the trees around us might come down. Thankfully just some limbs fell. We lost power a few times throughout the day and our internet is out now. Otherwise it hasn't been too bad here.

[Nobby Reserve]

Much as I sympathise with the many non-wealthy residents in the affected British Overseas Territories, many BOT's are facilitators of industrial-scale tax-dodging by corporations & rich individuals and so it does gall a bit to hear people like tax-dodging billionaire Branson and other such 'businessmen' calling for the British taxpayer to send them £millions.

[Caligula?]

They left Tampa because of the shifts. They ended up first going to Gainesville from Tampa, then  back to their house in Ormond Beach on the east coast. Said they didn't lose power (although most around them did). They lost Internet and had some damage to vegetation/minor damage to some stuff outside, but nothing horrible. They also lost their water for about a day. They ended up pretty lucky in the end.

Hope everyone else was as lucky.

In Atlanta we've had strong winds and constant rain all day. I was worried some of the trees around us might come down. Thankfully just some limbs fell. We lost power a few times throughout the day and our internet is out now. Otherwise it hasn't been too bad here.

Glad they lucked out in the end. 

For a while it seemed as if Tampa was bracing for a direct hit, but Naples got the brunt of it and it quickly weakened after that. My parents in Palm Beach County were one of the lucky ones - they never lost power and even their tv service and internet were only interrupted for a few hours. They did say it was relentless though, with winds of 70-80 mph pretty much all day on Sunday. Lots of treess down everywhere but other than that, not a lot of damage to homes. Housing in Florida is just built to withstand this sort of thing.

[CraigDS]

so it does gall a bit to hear people like tax-dodging billionaire Branson and other such 'businessmen' calling for the British taxpayer to send them £millions.

I presume you've read a headline and not the actual story?

Branson is after nothing for his own island off any Government, he has called for the UK and US Governments to up their relief efforts to help the many people who have lost their homes and livelihoods. He also used to media coverage to point out the effects of man made climate change in causing these storms.

That's before mentioning he has been using his own boats and cash to transport supplies to much needed areas from Barbados.

[Nobby Reserve]

I presume you've read a headline and not the actual story?

Branson is after nothing for his own island off any Government, he has called for the UK and US Governments to up their relief efforts to help the many people who have lost their homes and livelihoods. He also used to media coverage to point out the effects of man made climate change in causing these storms.

That's before mentioning he has been using his own boats and cash to transport supplies to much needed areas from Barbados.

I mentioned tax-dodger Branson because he's the highest-profile person there, but my point was about BOT's facilitating the dodging of UK tax, then expecting UK taxpayers to cough up to help them put their tax-havens back together again.

[Nobby Reserve]

Oh, and...

He also used to media coverage to point out the effects of man made climate change in causing these storms.

...you do realise he makes a big chunk of his tax-dodged fortune from running a mega-polluting airline business, yes?

[AndyInVA]

I have friends in Naples, Florida who stayed put. They have posted they are safe but have not yet posted the full story of their experiences. They did say the eye passed right over them.

They are predicted to not get power back until Sep 22.

Two weeks without power is pretty hard going for anyone and I think they will leave afterwards because they do not have power than beforehand because of the storm.

[WhereAngelsPlay]

Texas Rep Joe Barton voted against Harvey aid: Now he’s heading a relief task force

[Trada]

Hurricane Maria is just about ro hit the same islands and has just been upgraded to cat 5.

They think this one will turn North early and miss the USA but it all  depends what a high pressure does.

[Trada]

 teleSUR English‏ @telesurenglish

Dominica Prime Minister @SkerritR has sent a message to @teleSURtv to let the world know that Dominica has been devastated.

 ITV News‏Verified account @itvnews 1m1 minute ago

Prime Minister of Dominica says he has been 'rescued' after #HurrricaneMaria flooded his house and tore off its roof

[Trada]

Its going to do a direct hit on Puerto Rico next.

That will be very bad news they just missed the last one.

[Zeb]

Hurricane Maria is just about ro hit the same islands and has just been upgraded to cat 5.

They think this one will turn North early and miss the USA but it all  depends what a high pressure does.

24 hours from a category 1 to a category 5 hurricane. Poor people.

[Lone Star Red]

24 hours from a category 1 to a category 5 hurricane. Poor people.

Mind-boggling intensification.

[Giono]

24 hours from a category 1 to a category 5 hurricane. Poor people.

That is insane.

[JackBauer]

my point was about BOT's facilitating the dodging of UK tax, then expecting UK taxpayers to cough up to help them put their tax-havens back together again.

How do you think they do this?     

The UK is obliged to "cough up" to help with disaster reconstruction, because the territories are not independent and the UK is responsible for their security.

[Trada]

BREAKING: Maria’s outer bands reach Puerto Rico. Landfall as Cat 5 expected by morning

I hope they moved all those people that live in the tin shacks they were saying earlier most people didnt seem worried, thought it would miss them again.

[Trada]

Puerto Rico has been hit really hard power is down for 100% of people amd the country is so poor they think it will be months before its back.

But the flooding is shocking in this video

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/zxNuJ3zDcqU" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/zxNuJ3zDcqU</a>

[Zeb]

Harvey dropped catastrophic levels of rain on Houston (32") over three days. This bastard has dumped over 36" in 24 hours on parts of Puerto Rico. I click on the list of climate scientists I follow on twitter, some of them specialists in cyclones, and it's just disbelief at how much 'normal' is being redefined in one month.

[Lone Star Red]

Harvey dropped catastrophic levels of rain on Houston (32") over three days. This bastard has dumped over 36" in 24 hours on parts of Puerto Rico. I click on the list of climate scientists I follow on twitter, some of them specialists in cyclones, and it's just disbelief at how much 'normal' is being redefined in one month.

Your point still stands as 36 inches is an unreal amount of rain, but parts of the Houston area saw over 50 inches of rain from Harvey and the area that picked up 40+ inches of rain was larger than the state of Delaware.

https://twitter.com/NWSBrownsville/status/903428053870800897/photo/1

[Zeb]

Your point still stands as 36 inches is an unreal amount of rain, but parts of the Houston area saw over 50 inches of rain from Harvey and the area that picked up 40+ inches of rain was larger than the state of Delaware.

https://twitter.com/NWSBrownsville/status/903428053870800897/photo/1

Oh, yeah, that's over a week though. It's utterly insane in its own way with the hurricane stalling on top of the levels of precipitation breaking the short term forecast model shading.

[Buggy Eyes Alfredo]

Your point still stands as 36 inches is an unreal amount of rain, but parts of the Houston area saw over 50 inches of rain from Harvey and the area that picked up 40+ inches of rain was larger than the state of Delaware.

"These experimental flood maps, developed by scientists at George Mason University with NOAA support,  use data from the NOAA-NASA Suomi NPP satellite’s VIIRS instrument and NOAA GOES-16 Advanced Baseline Imager. The maps allow officials to quickly determine where to employ limited resources during a flood. They also allow for insight into where water is receding. This highly valuable information is given to community officials to help them determine, in combination with other critical resources, when it is safe for people to return to their homes. The maps were provided to FEMA during the catastrophic flooding of Hurricane Harvey & Irma."



https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/content/noaa-satellites-and-aircraft-monitor-catastrophic-floods-hurricane-harvey-irma

[Trada]

70,000 people being moved from two towns in Puerto Rico as a crack appears in a dam and it may give way.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/uhwUwNKAjvw" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/uhwUwNKAjvw</a>