Hurricane Irene

[slimjim]

Here's wishing all our east-coast USA members a safe weekend. I hear that Irene has weakened a little as regards wind speed, but she can still be a naughty girl with some high storm surges. X_X

Take cover and take care!

 

[buttlvr]

Lots of rain on already saturated ground here but at least the winds will be lessened then originally predicted

 

[gb2000ie]

I'm worried that the lower wind speeds, and hence the rating, will give people a false sense of security, and that they won't get out of the way or take the needed precautions.

This thing may not blow down many buildings, but with all that rain, and with that big storm surge, it's still likely to cause a lot of flooding, both inland from the rainfall, and along the coast from the surge.

Please please please look after yourself if you're in Irene's path, and I hope you, your friends, your family, and your stuff make it through un-scathed.

B.

 

[Tjerk12]

It must be terrible to wait and see what fate will bring. I will cross my fingers for you, American friends. Let us hope that the name Irene promises what it means: goddess of peace.

 

[JonnyFantastico]

I'm taking this as seriously as possible, but I also feel like it's been way too over sensationalized to really quell any fears... but from someone in the middle of it here in NYC, I just wanted to let you all know that I am and will continue to be safe. There are three zoning areas; A, B, and C that they are considering for evacuations. I'm in Zone C, which is the most inland and furthest away from any watery area (not including the current rainfall, of course), so most of this doesn't really matter to people like me...

But either way, I do wish the best for those who are in the direct path and in the way on the East Coast. Stay safe, my friends! :heart:

 

[gb2000ie]

I'm taking this as seriously as possible, but I also feel like it's been way too over sensationalized to really quell any fears... but from someone in the middle of it here in NYC, I just wanted to let you all know that I am and will continue to be safe. There are three zoning areas; A, B, and C that they are considering for evacuations. I'm in Zone C, which is the most inland and furthest away from any watery area (not including the current rainfall, of course), so most of this doesn't really matter to people like me...

But either way, I do wish the best for those who are in the direct path and in the way on the East Coast. Stay safe, my friends! :heart:

It's so hard to know how to pitch this kind of news. On the one hand you have the scientists who are trying very hard not to be catastrophically wrong. It's OK to say you think there might be something dangerous, it's not OK to give the all clear and then have thousands of people killed, so the meteorologists have to be sure to err on the side of caution. This effect then gets magnified by the media who want to sell as many papers as they can, or attract as many eyeballs as they can. All this means that things get hyped a lot. Then, on the other hand you have the government agencies trying to moderate the media back to reality, while at the same time not giving people a false sense of safety. They want to avoid panic while still encouraging people to take the storm seriously.

I wouldn't want to be a mayor/governor/president or a FEMA agent at a time like this!

B.

 

[redbones111]

I'm in Zone C, which is the most inland and furthest away from any watery area (not including the current rainfall, of course), so most of this doesn't really matter to people like me...

I'm not in a "no zone" as they call it. I have family members in Zone A and in southern Long Island and they have all heeded evacuation orders. It's pretty eerie without hearing a bus or train pass by since that's only happened after 9/11. There is some chatter that it when it gets here, it will get us as (or turn into) a tropical storm, which we dealt with in '96.

 

[Behrluvr]

They've been evacuating people living about 1 mile from here. Their houses are close to sea level. I'm about 32 feet above sea level, so I'll be fine here. Its rainy right now but no wind. Irene is going to blast through here a little to the west. Should be windy by 8AM.
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I plan on getting down to the shoreline early to take some pictures. I went to the market earlier today and there was no panic as I thought. The tide is going to be high just as Irene passes through so the surge is going to be a doozie. The big river a mile down the street is going to have no place to go. It will be a mess.
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Looks like the storm has lost some of its energy too since yesterday. I just hope the power doesn't go out . Last big hurricane knocked out power for over a week. That sucked. It was kinda fun for awhile then it really sucked.

 

[XMan101]

Switching between a couple of stations over the net, 630WMAL from Washington & 77WABC from New York.

Sounds like a lot of water damage is coming but not perhaps as much from the wind.

Be careful if you go out! If you do, hope you'll post a couple of the shots you take.

 

[Behrluvr]

Went out to the cafe at midnight. It was dead calm, no rain yet . Party central there, bring it on Irene seemed to be the theme. Its a little breezy now. Definitely Florida air, it has the Key West feel to it. 100% humidity, warm and heavy, even smells like the tropics. I'll be up early tomorrow to experience this craziness.

I noticed all the wild birds disappeared a couple of days ago, also no squirrels, no raccoons, no skunks, no deer. Even the feral cats are hiding somewhere. How do they know this? Wonder where they go?

 

[redbones111]

Didn't sleep much last night. I took naps through the night keeping fire watch. Luckily, my area in Brooklyn seems to have avoided most of the brunt of the storm so far. As far as I could see from my window, there's no damage to property. Power is still on. Cable and other utilities still working. As expected, it's raining (heavy at times) and windy (strong at times).

Other areas don't look as if they were as lucky.

 

[gb2000ie]

Went out to the cafe at midnight. It was dead calm, no rain yet . Party central there, bring it on Irene seemed to be the theme. Its a little breezy now. Definitely Florida air, it has the Key West feel to it. 100% humidity, warm and heavy, even smells like the tropics. I'll be up early tomorrow to experience this craziness.

I noticed all the wild birds disappeared a couple of days ago, also no squirrels, no raccoons, no skunks, no deer. Even the feral cats are hiding somewhere. How do they know this? Wonder where they go?

An interesting observation!

Since you can smell the air being different, I guess the animals can too - I also bet they haven't gone anywhere, they're just hiding to stay safe.

Take care of yourself, and as XMan says, if you do take some pics, please share!

B.

 

[yoyo888]

Someone sent me this earlier so I can keep track of where it is



http://anonym.to/?http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26295161/ns/weather/?gt1=43001

 

[Behrluvr]

Great storm! Been buzzing all around. People all over sightseeing. You never get to see the ocean doing this stuff. Not much flooding, but trees down everwhere. No power anywhere, (I'm on the phone now). Don't you love it when nature puts on a display?

 

[gb2000ie]

Great storm! Been buzzing all around. People all over sightseeing. You never get to see the ocean doing this stuff. Not much flooding, but trees down everwhere. No power anywhere, (I'm on the phone now). Don't you love it when nature puts on a display?

Events like this sure to put humans back in their place - we get to dominate nature most of the time, but when she wants to flex her muscles, we are as powerless as a flea!

B.

 

[dummaque]

Growing up in Florida, I'm both indifferent to hurricanes and cautious. Where I live has been VERY lucky with these storms- no direct hits in about a century, and my house has only sustained hurricane-related damage once, back from Andrew in '91. But the devastation that Hurricane Andrew wreaked upon Miami years ago still carries a great deal of weight amongst those who remember it.

It also doesn't surprise me to hear that some places were partying as Irene drew closer- there were hurricane parties going on in '69 when Camille made a sharp turn away from Florida into Mississippi. One party being held at an apartment building near the system's landfall had ONE survivor- the entire complex was destroyed. Most of the deaths from that storm were the result of flash flooding in Virginia- VA wasn't prepared for the catastrophic rainfall the storm (now a much weaker Tropical Depression) would drop, hundreds of miles from where it made landfall as a monstrous Category 5 storm.

 

[Behrluvr]

Well, still no power here, a pain, it will be out 'till Friday was the estmate. Glad I've got city water and gas hot water which don't need power, at least I can take a shower and cook. Cellular internet works but a pain typing on a phone. I rigged up an inverter to get a little power off my car battery. 100 watts , enough for some lights and to charge the cellphone, laptop.

 

[mrpiz]

During Irene, this weather reporter on the Weather Channel was oblivious to what was behind him.

 

[martins2]

funny cats

 

[martins2]

haha what are they doing there in their underwear?