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Storms
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Written by Mike Marks
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Sunday, 14 September 2008 |
Sunday, September 14th -
The storm itself was bad but the aftermath is worse.
- Life on Galveston Island after the storm is so miserable
that it's impossible to stay. Gooey sludge covers the roads,
basements are filled with water, toilets can't be flushed and the air
is thick with mosquitoes. Without power refrigerators don't work and
food has spoiled. There's no fuel either. 2,000 residents who refused
to evacuate before the storm have since been taken off the island. Lyda
Ann Thomas, Galveston's Mayor summarizes the situation: "Galveston has been hit hard. We
have no power. We have no gas. We have
no communications. We’re not sure when any of that will be up
and
running.” More from Ian Urbina, NY Times.
- "For the purposes of public safety" a week long curfew has been
imposed in Houston. Residents must stay indoors between
9pm and 6am. 2 million Centerpoint Energy customers remained without
power. CNN story
- Texas mounted its biggest ever rescue effort as
search teams searched through debris and flooded homes on Sunday... Reuters
- At Fort
Morgan Alabama Ike's powerful waves exhumed from the sand
a 150 year old Union ship that was burned down to the water line by Confederates during the Civil War. See the photos here.
September 13th 7:00 am - Ike made a direct hit on
Galveston, TX, coming ashore as a category 2 at 2:10 am this morning
(Central Time) with 110 mph winds. The storm is 900 miles wide
and has caused widespread power outages and damage in the Houston area
- 4 million people are currently without power. Authorities are saying
it could be 2-3 weeks to get power back to everyone. The storm surge
flooded Galveston Island and to the east at least 1,800 homes and
businesses were flooded by storm surge in Cameron Parish, Louisiana.
More info at Houston
Chronicle
September 12th 10:30 am - On track to strike just
east of Galveston, Hurricane Ike is now 200 miles
from shore with winds of 105 mph gusting to 125. CNN reports that flood
waters may surge 15-20' higher than normal. "All neighborhoods ... and
possibly entire coastal communities ... will be inundated during the
peak storm tide," the weather service warned. "Persons not
heeding evacuation orders in single-family one- or two-story homes will
face certain death." Here's a graphic of the projected Water level rise
September 11 - Back up to Category 2 and forecast
to increase to Category 3, Ike is now a major hurricane that could
inflict costly damage to oil and gas infrastructure along
the Gulf Coast. The hurricane is likely to make landfall between the
Mississippi delta area and Galveston. The Navy FNMOC forecast shows the
region of Lake Charles, LA and Port Arthur, TX most threatened.
Weather.com is forecasting landfall around Galveston. The skyscrapers
of Houston may suffer damage.
View Larger
Map
September 10 - Ike is now gaining strength in the
Gulf of Mexico and on track to strike Corpus Christi, TX.
September 9 - Sparing the Floriday Keys, Hurricane
Ike is
banging along the coast of Cuba pushing high surf and 80 mph winds
while making his way into the Gulf
of Mexico. Current forecasts for Ike's track show him
crossing the Gulf and making landfall
in Texas. New Orleans may be spared another hit but the
residents of Galveston are concerned - the Storm of 1900 is
part of their DNA. Ike will regain power in the coming days and there
is good cause to be worried. More at CNN.com.
September 8- Responsible for the deaths of at least 73
people from rains and
flooding, Hurricane Ike
is now tearing up eastern Cuba as a Category 2 with top winds of 105
mph. Ike is poised to regain strength, wreck havoc through
the Florida Keys and then move into the Gulf of Mexico.
Mandatory evacuation of the Keys is now taking place. The FNMOC US Navy forecast shows a
powerful Ike assaulting an area between Pensacola and New Orleans on
September 12th through 13th. Ike
is potentially much more damaging than Gustav.
If this forecast holds then orders to evacuate New Orleans
could be issued again for the second time in two weeks. More at LA Times
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Last Updated ( Monday, 15 September 2008 )
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Storms
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Written by Mike Marks
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Tuesday, 02 September 2008 |
New Orleans, September 2nd - Gustav has been downgraded to a tropical depression. Although some water splashed over them, the levees held. The main problems come from wind damge. According to Mayor Ray Nagin, "Power lines are down all over the city; there's a significant number of homes and businesses that are without power." The Mayor asked evacuees to stay out of the city for another day.
Oil rigs and shore side facilities weathered the storm with minimal damage. Oil prices are down.
New Orleans, September 1st - New Orleans has been evacuated, the National Guard is in place and supplies have been staged. Hurricane Gustav is coming ashore as a category 3 with 115 mph winds. The good news is that Gustav's storm surge is forecast to be between 8-12'. Katrina pushed up a surge of 25'. That's one good reason to be hopeful that New Orleans' rebuilt levies will withstand the coming surge. In addition to wind and surge Gustav will be delivering heavy rain. |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 02 September 2008 )
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Storms
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Written by Mike Marks
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Monday, 28 July 2008 |
Coast Guard Beach, Eastham, Massachusetts, Cape Cod - January 28, 2008
Coast Guard Beach, Eastham, Massachusetts, Cape Cod - July 28, 2008
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Last Updated ( Monday, 28 July 2008 )
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Storms
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Written by Mike Marks
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Tuesday, 08 July 2008 |
This chart shows the US Navy forecast for Hurricane Bertha's location, wave height and wave direction for this coming Sunday. How you view the chart is a matter of perspective. Sailors
think, "Glad this didn't happen during the Bermuda Race." Fishermen
think, "Don't wanna be on Georges Bank next weekend." Surfers just look at
that nice emerald green color lapping beaches from North Carolina to Nova Scotia with 5-7' waves and smile. |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 09 July 2008 )
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Storms
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Written by Mike Marks
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Saturday, 10 May 2008 |
On May 2 Cyclone Nargis swept out of the Bay of Bengal and
made landfall
on the low lying Irawaddy delta region of Burma with peak
winds of 135 mph. The storm devastated life and property. As
with Hurricane Katrina the worst destruction was wrought by the storm
surge. The images to the right (courtesy of Wikimedia and NASA) show
the delta region before and after the cyclone. Note how much
of the land is covered by water in the bottom image. Here's a sense of what the storm was like on the
ground:
"Kwagyi is a village on a river island which is so low and exposed that
during
the twelve hours of Cyclone Nargis’s spate, it ceased to be
an island at
all. The waters were six and a half feet high; they covered everything
except
the
buildings, and many of those had been blown away...
Myint Swa the boatman climbed a palm tree and hung on for dear life.
His wife
and eight children cowered in the boat and rode out the boiling
waters."
Kenneth Denby in Pyapon, Burma for Timesonline UK.
Over 1.5 million people are reported to have been severely affected by
the storm. The death toll may reach 100,000+. Help has been offered by world agencies. Unfortunately the prideful, corrupt and worthless dictators of Burma have only recently begun to accept it.
Here's the Wikipedia entry on Nargis
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