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Hurricane Irene pounds islands, aims at US coast
Hurricane Irene gathered steam Wednesday as it lashed the Bahamas with winds of 120 miles (195 kilometers) an hour and barreled along a path that threatens the populous US east coast.
http://news.yahoo.com/hurricane-irene-pounds-islands-aims-us-coast-194548873.html
The storm became a major category three hurricane, fueled by warm waters in the Atlantic, and spread over a wide area as it pushed over the islands of the Bahamas as it picked up intensity.
US satellite images showed Irene swirling past the Dominican Republic and meteorologists said its tropical force winds extended out some 205 miles (335 kilometers).
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Irene, the first hurricane of the Atlantic storm season, was expected to become a category four storm with winds of 135 miles (217 kilometers) per hour.
At 1800 GMT, the eye of the storm was over Crooked Island in the Bahamas, with wind speeds increasing during the day, the NHC said, sending Bahamians scurrying for shelter.
"My husband already started getting the shutters together, and we're also packing to get out," said Edna Smith, whose house in Holmes Rock, Grand Bahama, was flooded in the last hurricanes in 2004 and 2005. "We're not staying there. We're probably going to a shelter."
Deborah Rolle loaded groceries in the back of her car in Freeport after making last-minute purchases.
"I'm trying to get a jump-start on things, getting everything prepared before the actual storm hits," she said.
The path of the storm raised concerns along the US east coast, and US officials were closely watching for shifts in direction. US forecasters said they expected a turn from a western motion to northwest later Wednesday and then north on Thursday.
Bill Read, director of NHC, said the track remains uncertain but that "the exact center of the storm may stay close to the coast on Saturday and perhaps become a big threat to New England and Long Island."
He said the storm had become "very well organized overnight" and was growing in size.
"It is in the warmest water and a favorable environment so it could actually get stronger," he told reporters in a conference call.
The NHC said that "interests in eastern North Carolina and the mid-Atlantic states should monitor the progress of Irene."
Authorities began evacuating tourists from the North Carolinas popular Outer Banks beach resort early Wednesday and have ordered a mandatory evacuation of the Ocracoke and Hatteras barrier islands.
Craig Fugate, the head of the US Federal Emergency Management Agency, said emergency personnel were preparing from impact from the Carolinas to New England.
"This is going to be a big storm. Just because it hits one area doesn't mean its not going to cause damage further up the coast," he said.
Irene is likely to move across the southeastern and central Bahamas on Wednesday, and over the northwestern Bahamas on Thursday. Up to 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rainfall were expected in parts of Bahamas.
The hurricane center warned of "an extremely dangerous storm surge (that) will raise water levels by as much as seven to 11 feet (2.1 to 3.4 meters) above normal tide levels over the central and northwestern Bahamas."
In the southeastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos, water levels were expected to rise by as much as five to eight feet (1.5 to 2.4 meters) over normal tide levels, it said.
Airports and businesses closed Wednesday in the Turks and Caicos, where officials said high winds felled power lines and spread debris in city streets.
In the Dominican Republic, authorities reported one woman missing as more than 11,000 people were evacuated to shelters before the storm winds brushed the island's north coast late Monday.
Quake-ravaged Haiti, which shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, was largely spared by the storm, although some mudslides were reported near the northern coast.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that President Barack Obama had been briefed on Wednesday on the hurricane during his vacation in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, which coincidentally could be on the storm path in a few days.
He said officials "are looking at the very detailed logistical effort to ensure that we're going to have the proper resources predeployed."
Irene ravaged the US territory of Puerto Rico on Monday, with one woman killed after her car was swept away by flooding as she tried to cross a bridge, authorities said.
http://news.yahoo.com/hurricane-irene-pounds-islands-aims-us-coast-194548873.html
The storm became a major category three hurricane, fueled by warm waters in the Atlantic, and spread over a wide area as it pushed over the islands of the Bahamas as it picked up intensity.
US satellite images showed Irene swirling past the Dominican Republic and meteorologists said its tropical force winds extended out some 205 miles (335 kilometers).
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Irene, the first hurricane of the Atlantic storm season, was expected to become a category four storm with winds of 135 miles (217 kilometers) per hour.
At 1800 GMT, the eye of the storm was over Crooked Island in the Bahamas, with wind speeds increasing during the day, the NHC said, sending Bahamians scurrying for shelter.
"My husband already started getting the shutters together, and we're also packing to get out," said Edna Smith, whose house in Holmes Rock, Grand Bahama, was flooded in the last hurricanes in 2004 and 2005. "We're not staying there. We're probably going to a shelter."
Deborah Rolle loaded groceries in the back of her car in Freeport after making last-minute purchases.
"I'm trying to get a jump-start on things, getting everything prepared before the actual storm hits," she said.
The path of the storm raised concerns along the US east coast, and US officials were closely watching for shifts in direction. US forecasters said they expected a turn from a western motion to northwest later Wednesday and then north on Thursday.
Bill Read, director of NHC, said the track remains uncertain but that "the exact center of the storm may stay close to the coast on Saturday and perhaps become a big threat to New England and Long Island."
He said the storm had become "very well organized overnight" and was growing in size.
"It is in the warmest water and a favorable environment so it could actually get stronger," he told reporters in a conference call.
The NHC said that "interests in eastern North Carolina and the mid-Atlantic states should monitor the progress of Irene."
Authorities began evacuating tourists from the North Carolinas popular Outer Banks beach resort early Wednesday and have ordered a mandatory evacuation of the Ocracoke and Hatteras barrier islands.
Craig Fugate, the head of the US Federal Emergency Management Agency, said emergency personnel were preparing from impact from the Carolinas to New England.
"This is going to be a big storm. Just because it hits one area doesn't mean its not going to cause damage further up the coast," he said.
Irene is likely to move across the southeastern and central Bahamas on Wednesday, and over the northwestern Bahamas on Thursday. Up to 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rainfall were expected in parts of Bahamas.
The hurricane center warned of "an extremely dangerous storm surge (that) will raise water levels by as much as seven to 11 feet (2.1 to 3.4 meters) above normal tide levels over the central and northwestern Bahamas."
In the southeastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos, water levels were expected to rise by as much as five to eight feet (1.5 to 2.4 meters) over normal tide levels, it said.
Airports and businesses closed Wednesday in the Turks and Caicos, where officials said high winds felled power lines and spread debris in city streets.
In the Dominican Republic, authorities reported one woman missing as more than 11,000 people were evacuated to shelters before the storm winds brushed the island's north coast late Monday.
Quake-ravaged Haiti, which shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, was largely spared by the storm, although some mudslides were reported near the northern coast.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that President Barack Obama had been briefed on Wednesday on the hurricane during his vacation in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, which coincidentally could be on the storm path in a few days.
He said officials "are looking at the very detailed logistical effort to ensure that we're going to have the proper resources predeployed."
Irene ravaged the US territory of Puerto Rico on Monday, with one woman killed after her car was swept away by flooding as she tried to cross a bridge, authorities said.
For any of you any where near it's path. Please stay safe. Thinking of you.
Me here! We are getting some good wind and a stray shower here and there from some of the feeder bands. I think its supposed to be parallel to us tomorrow? I am not sorry sheis movin on! Those on the coast please please evacuate if she is coming your way. If in doubt research Charlie of 04. You might just get the urge to move out and come back when she is gone! Not a good time to be going to MD is it? I heard it moved more to the left so even tho S Carolina is out, N Carolina is still in the target....Seriously people, if asked to leave, leave...
where is the storm right now?
We went through it on '04 - nope, not fun...... we're ready too, but looks like the good ole gal (Irene) is going to steam right on past us.
bbxx - you're concentrating on Katrina and that was not a good thing; don't think of the horrid things, concentrate on the good things that come from things like this... when we got hit hard in '04 (3 times, with 2 direct hits), people pulled together and helped each other when it was over; that's what we all hope for.
teko -- are you there?? I think Irene has passed you now; is everything okay? Hopefully she will be past us tomorrow and headed on up the coast...... too bad hubby will be going to MD on Mon.
bbxx - you're concentrating on Katrina and that was not a good thing; don't think of the horrid things, concentrate on the good things that come from things like this... when we got hit hard in '04 (3 times, with 2 direct hits), people pulled together and helped each other when it was over; that's what we all hope for.
teko -- are you there?? I think Irene has passed you now; is everything okay? Hopefully she will be past us tomorrow and headed on up the coast...... too bad hubby will be going to MD on Mon.
Well El, you sound ready...
The problem is when you they force you to evacuate.
I remember the horrid news stories of those people all in a stadium with criminals raping and robbing. What a mess it was.
The problem is when you they force you to evacuate.
I remember the horrid news stories of those people all in a stadium with criminals raping and robbing. What a mess it was.
Fingers crossed they don't take a direct hit... been through it 3 times, and it's not fun.
Weathering the storm itself is the easy part... it's the AFTER part that's tough.
If you can afford to go out and get a generator, do it now. A generator is one of those things that you never think you'll need, until you actually need one (if that makes any sense).
And trust me, if you wait, they'll all be gone, and the ones that are available will have their price-point set so high as to make them unaffordable.
Good luck East Coast...
Weathering the storm itself is the easy part... it's the AFTER part that's tough.
If you can afford to go out and get a generator, do it now. A generator is one of those things that you never think you'll need, until you actually need one (if that makes any sense).
And trust me, if you wait, they'll all be gone, and the ones that are available will have their price-point set so high as to make them unaffordable.
Good luck East Coast...
"They" are saying/predicting that she'll strengthen into a Cat-4, shortly.
I hope the East Coast is ready. I have a feeling they're in for a wild ride! Living in Houston, we're always prepared for hurricane's, and although you never WANT a direct hit, most people that I know have their little hurricane-kit ready to go.
Heck, a couple of weeks ago, I double-checked that my stuff was ready to go:
All my water containers are filled - (10) 5gal plastic containers
I re-stocked my supply of batteries,
I made sure all my bbq propane tanks were topped up,
my radio & portable tv is functioning,
I have 6 extra 35lb bags of dog-food on stand-by,
I have 4 weeks worth of canned food at the ready,
my generator is functioning and extension cords are good to go,
the (10)- 5gal gas cans are topped up and have fuel-stabilizer added,
and my small window A/C unit is at the ready!
Yup... I'm prepared all right! Bring on the hurricane's!!!
I hope the East Coast is ready. I have a feeling they're in for a wild ride! Living in Houston, we're always prepared for hurricane's, and although you never WANT a direct hit, most people that I know have their little hurricane-kit ready to go.
Heck, a couple of weeks ago, I double-checked that my stuff was ready to go:
All my water containers are filled - (10) 5gal plastic containers
I re-stocked my supply of batteries,
I made sure all my bbq propane tanks were topped up,
my radio & portable tv is functioning,
I have 6 extra 35lb bags of dog-food on stand-by,
I have 4 weeks worth of canned food at the ready,
my generator is functioning and extension cords are good to go,
the (10)- 5gal gas cans are topped up and have fuel-stabilizer added,
and my small window A/C unit is at the ready!
Yup... I'm prepared all right! Bring on the hurricane's!!!
Yes, I wonder if New England will be hit or if it will be a fizzle. Hoping for the fizzle.
I'm so scared....I REALLY hope she calms down to a category 1 SOON..In the mean time we are preparing for the worst!
Saw this posted this morning. A good reminder of how much we need these weather satalites.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/innovation/08/24/noaa.weather.prediction/index.html?hpt=hp_c2
http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/innovation/08/24/noaa.weather.prediction/index.html?hpt=hp_c2
She is huge! I hope people pay attention and heed the warnings. Always better safe than sorry and when this one is gone there is another in the works. Tis the season!
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