Evacuations begin in NC as Irene strengthens

[William]

Top winds grow to 120 mph near Bahamas; Cat 4 possible along East Coast

HATTERAS, N.C.  — Evacuations began on a tiny barrier island off North Carolina as Hurricane Irene kept strengthening near the Bahamas Wednesday, with the U.S. East Coast in its sights.

Still a Category 3 hurricane, Irene could grow to a Category 4 on Thursday, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

Irene's maximum sustained winds increased to near 120 mph at 2 p.m. ET, up 5 mph from three hours earlier, and additional strengthening was expected, the hurricane center said. By Thursday the winds could top 131 mph.

"It's in the warmest water in the most favorable environment for hurricanes so it could get stronger," said Bill Reid, director of the National Hurricane Center.

Forecasters see Irene striking North Carolina's Outer Banks region on Saturday evening and then taking a coast-hugging track up the mid-Atlantic and New England coastline.

Hurricane-force winds extend 60 miles from Irene's center so even a track off the coast could do damage on land. Hurricane-force winds extend 230 miles out.

"The exact center of the storm may stay close to the coastline Saturday and then become a threat to Long Island on Sunday," Reid said. "Be advised it will be a large circulation as it moves north of the Carolinas so the hurricane force winds, beach erosion, tidal surges will be in play as the storm progresses."

The evacuation in North Carolina was a test of whether people in the crosshairs of the first major hurricane along the East Coast in years would heed orders to get out of the way.

The first ferry to leave Ocracoke Island arrived just before 5:30 a.m. in nearby Hatteras with around a dozen cars on board.

The 16-mile-long barrier island is home to about 800 year-round residents and a tourist population that swells into the thousands when vacationers rent rooms and cottages. Tourists were told to evacuate Wednesday. Island residents were told to get out on Thursday.

It wasn't clear how many people on the first arriving ferry Wednesday morning were tourists, but the first two cars to drive off it had New York and New Jersey plates.

Getting off the next ferry about an hour later was a family that included newlywed Jennifer Zaharek, 23, of Torrington, Conn. She and her husband, Andrew, were married Monday and planned to spend their honeymoon on the island.

"We just got to spend one day on the beach and then we went to bed early to get up for the evacuation," she said.

State workers questioned people who tried taking the ferry to the island and turned a few cars around. In addition to the ferry line to Hatteras, there were two other ferry lines that went to and from the island.

Federal officials have warned that Irene could cause flooding, power outages or worse all along the East Coast as far north as Maine, even if it stays offshore. The projected path has gradually shifted to the east and Irene could make landfall anywhere from South Carolina to Massachusetts over the weekend.

Speaking Wednesday on ABC's "Good Morning America," Craig Fugate, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said people as far north as New England should be ready for the storm.

When asked about concerns preparing the Northeast for a hurricane, which is uncommon in that part of the country, Fugate cited Tuesday's earthquake that rattled the East Coast.
"It's a reminder that we don't always get to pick the next disaster," Fugate said.

In North Carolina, the state-run ferry service off Ocracoke Island would be free during the evacuation, but no reservations were allowed. Boats can carry no more than 50 vehicles at a time.

The island is part of North Carolina's Outer Banks, a roughly 200-mile stretch of fragile barrier islands off the state's coast. Pristine beaches and wild mustangs attract thousands of tourists each year. Aside from Ocracoke, the other islands are accessible by bridges to the mainland and ferries. The limited access can make the evacuation particularly tense.

All the barrier islands have the geographic weakness of jutting out into the Atlantic like the side-view mirror of a car, a location that's frequently been in the path of destructive storms over the decades.

Many remember 1999's Hurricane Floyd, which made landfall as a Category 2 and caused a storm surge that wiped out scores of houses and other properties on the Outer Banks.

Residents stock up
It's been more seven years since a major hurricane, considered a Category 3 with winds of at least 111 mph, hit the East Coast. Hurricane Jeanne came ashore on Florida's east coast in 2004.

More at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44254106/ns/weather/?GT1=43001/?GT1=43001#.TlVoUqjAXk8

[Mark]

maybe it will knock down that satanic egyptian obelisk.

[William]

maybe it will knock down that satanic egyptian obelisk.

Which one? Do you mean the one in Washinton D.C. ?

Is there another one in North Carolina I don't know about? The only one I know of is the on that got cracked yesterday 

[Psalm 51:17]

Wow...looks like these recent natural disasters are hitting places where everyone leasts expect them to(yes, hurricanes hit the east coast, however, they are much more common in the Gulf).

BTW, the Bay Area had a small 3.6 mag earthquake late last night, however, it still made big news it seemed(ie-they were among the top tracker items on yahoo and bing-for a small mag eq, I'm surprised it got this much attention).

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/irene-strengthens-category-2-hurricane-060819042.html

Irene could be "big threat" to Northeast

NASSAU (Reuters) - Powerful Hurricane Irene battered the Bahamas on Wednesday on a track to the North Carolina coast that forecasters say could threaten the densely populated U.S. Northeast, including New York, starting on Sunday.

Irene, a major Category 3 storm with winds of 120 miles per hour, was pounding southeast Bahamian islands with winds, rain and dangerous storm surge. Tourists fled the storm and major cruise lines canceled Bahamas stops for coming days.

The first hurricane of the storm-filled 2011 Atlantic season is expected to gather power after it leaves the Bahamas on Thursday and race across open warm waters to clip North Carolina's jutting Outer Banks region on Saturday afternoon.

After that, forecasters see it hugging the U.S. eastern seaboard, swirling rains and winds across several hundred miles (km) as it churns northward toward New England. The forecast track indicates Florida and Georgia will be spared.

"The exact center of the storm may actually stay pretty close to the coastline during the day on Saturday and then become a big threat for New England and perhaps Long Island toward 96 to 100 hours out on Sunday," National Hurricane Center Director Bill Read said.

"Be advised, it's going to be a very large circulation as it moves north of the Carolinas," he told a conference call.

Read said North Carolina could experience tropical storm force winds as early as Saturday morning.

DANGEROUSLY WIDE HURRICANE

At 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT), Irene's center was about 215 miles southeast of Nassau, capital of the Bahamas.

If Irene makes a direct landfall in the continental United States, it will be the first hurricane to hit there since Ike pounded Texas in 2008. But forecasts showed it posing no threat to U.S. oil and gas installations in the Gulf of Mexico.

Irene's torrential rains were blamed for two deaths in the northeast Caribbean islands. A woman in Puerto Rico and a Haitian man in the Dominican Republic were swept away by floodwaters from overflowing rivers.

States from the Carolinas northward were on alert and evacuations were already under way in Ocracoke, the most exposed of North Carolina's Outer Banks barrier islands.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered the state's Office of Emergency Management to prepare for possible impact from Irene. Cuomo said coastal zones were most at risk, although inland areas could get hit by heavy rainfall and strong winds.

Insurers kept a nervous watch in case Irene threatened wealthy enclaves such as the Hamptons, an eastern Long Island playground for New York's rich.

Forecasters have warned that even if the center of the hurricane stays offshore as it tracks up the mid-Atlantic coast from the weekend, its wide, swirling bands could lash cities including Washington and New York with winds and rain, knock out power, trigger coastal storm surges and cause flooding.

"We're not paying attention just to the eye of the storm. We're looking at how wide it is, how large it is," Virginia Emergency Management Department spokesperson Laura Southard said, advising residents to prepare.

"STOCKING UP LIKE CRAZY"

Earlier on Wednesday, Irene strengthened over the Bahamas to a major Category 3 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson intensity scale, posing a high risk of injury and death. The NHC said it could become a Category 4 by Thursday.

"Someone's roof is in my front yard," Harvey Roberts, an assistant administrator on the sparsely populated southeast Bahamas island of Mayaguana told reporters on Wednesday, saying "tremendous winds" were lashing homes and buildings there.

Farther north on the scattered low-lying Bahamas, including Nassau, residents were frantically preparing.

"Everyone is either pulling up boats or putting up shutters. We are very well prepared," said Chuck Pinder, a 28-year-old fisherman in the community of Spanish Wells.

NHC chief Read predicted a "really tough time" for the Bahamas as Irene swept through over the next 24-36 hours.

Royal Caribbean and Carnival were among major international cruise lines that rearranged itineraries for more than a dozen ships in the area.

Energy firms planned to shut more than 28 million barrels of oil storage capacity in the Bahamas and refineries on the U.S. East Coast were preparing for the storm.

On the U.S. mainland, across the Carolinas coastline and in neighboring Virginia, residents stocked up with food, water and other supplies, including plywood to board up windows.

Sam's Club at Chesapeake Square, a members-only discount warehouse, reported a run on batteries, water and generators. "There are people stocking up like crazy -- we're out of generators," said Tracy Hatfield at the warehouse.

(Additional reporting by Tom Brown, Jane Sutton and Manuel Rueda in Miami, Manuel Jimenez in Santo Domingo, Matthew Ward in Chesapeake, Virginia; Joan Gralla in New York, Lisa Lambert in Washington; Ned Barnett in Raleigh, N.C.; Writing by Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Sandra Maler

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/hurricane-irene-looks-terrifying-space-astronaut-says-174601334.html

8/25/11

[size=18]Hurricane Irene Looks 'Terrifying' From Space, Astronaut Says[/size]

Hurricane Irene is bearing down on the U.S. East Coast and has turned into a frightening storm, according to an astronaut on the International Space Station.

NASA astronaut Mike Fossum said that Hurricane Irene, like all hurricanes, looks "terrifying from above," and its evolution into a major storm this week has been unmistakable from orbit.

"We saw a big change in the structure of the storm over the several days that we've watched her, especially yesterday," Fossum told SPACE.com today (Aug. 25) during a video interview from space.

Hurricane Irene is currently a Category 3 storm with winds of 115 mph (185 kph) that is battering the Bahamas. Space station astronauts and satellites have kept a constant watch on the growing storm.

The storm is expected to hit the North Carolina coast on Saturday (Aug. 27) and follow the coastline north, where it may make landfall on Long Island, posing a threat to New York City, according to OurAmazingPlanet, a sister site of SPACE.com.


Fossum, a native of Texas who has seen many hurricanes from the ground and space, said that two days ago the eye of Hurricane Irene wasn't as stable as it appears now. The storm has grown more organized and uniform as this week wore on, he added.

"There's kind of a dome shape to the whole thing, with the eye fully formed," Fossum said. "Yesterday you could see the eye wall and down into the eye itself. You know that is a powerful storm, and those are never good news when they're headed your way. So our prayers and thoughts are with the people in its path."

Fossum is one of six astronauts living aboard the International Space Station and is in the middle of a six-month spaceflight. His crewmate Ron Garan, also of NASA, has been posting photos of Irene from orbit each day as the space station has been flying over the huge storm.

NASA is also broadcasting live views of Hurricane Irene from the space station when the orbiting lab sails over the storm.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/east-coast-braces-hurricane-irene-193837304.html

East Coast braces for Hurricane Irene

8/25/11

Note: This post has been updated to reflect ongoing developments.

New York City--along with much of the East Coast--is bracing for Hurricane Irene.

The city is ready to evacuate low-lying areas and will use police boats to rescue stranded residents if necessary, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Thursday. Neighboring New Jersey has declared a state of emergency.

UPDATE: Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York has now declared a state of emergency as well.

The Category 3 hurricane slammed into the Bahamas today. Forecasters expect it to move up the east coast, where it could hit New York City by late Saturday or Sunday. It will likely have weakened to a Category 2 storm by then.

This map, put together by WNYC, shows New Yorkers which areas of the city are most at risk.

Because this month has already been rainy in the northeast, there's a higher risk of Irene causing flooding and fallen trees in the region. New Jersey has received twice as much rain as in a normal August.

On the North Carolina coast, where Irene is expected to make landfall Saturday, thousands fled their homes. Governor Bev Perdue has declared a state of emergency, and local authorities have told about 180,000 people to leave the area.

In Virginia, dozens of Navy ships have left their ports, planning to ride out the storm at sea.

Federal officials are urging people in low-lying areas up and down the east coast to take precautions. Those include putting together an emergency kit with food and water for 3 days, developing a family communications plan, and listening to TV or radio to hear about evacuations.

Already, on Acklins Island in the Bahamas, 90 percent of the homes on the Lovely Bay settlement were destroyed Wednesday after Irene swept through. And two people in Haiti were killed when they were swept away by raging waters caused by heavy rain connected with the hurricane.

Even air travelers may be affected. "You're going to start seeing (flight) cancellations," Anne Banas of SmarterTravel.com told CNN. "People should just be prepared."

[William]

Hurricane Irene rages toward U.S. east coast



By Joe Rauch

WILMINGTON, North Carolina | Sat Aug 27, 2011 3:57am EDT

(Reuters) - Hurricane Irene lashed North Carolina with driving wind and rain on Saturday as it neared land on a path threatening the densely populated U.S. east coast with flooding and power outages.

New York City ordered unprecedented evacuations and transit shutdowns as states from the Carolinas through to Maine declared emergencies due to Irene, whose nearly 600 mile width guaranteed a stormy weekend for tens of millions of people.

With winds of 90 miles per hour, Irene weakened slightly to a Category 1 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale by early on Saturday but it remained a dangerous storm.

"Tonight's the hard night. We're just waiting for it to hit," North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue told CNN.

At 3 a.m. EDT, the center of Irene was about 60 miles south of Cape Lookout, North Carolina, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

"Irene is expected to remain near the threshold of Category One and Category Two strength," the center said. "Some weakening is expected after Irene reaches the coast of North Carolina but Irene is forecast to remain a hurricane as it moves along the mid-Atlantic coast on Sunday."

Hundreds of thousands of residents and vacationers had evacuated from Irene's path. Supermarkets and hardware stores were inundated with people stocking up on food, water, flashlights, batteries, generators and other supplies.

"Our number of customers has tripled in the last day or two as people actually said 'Wow, this thing is going to happen'," said Jack Gurnon, owner of a hardware store in Boston's affluent Beacon Hill neighborhood.

Airlines canceled nearly 7,000 flights over the weekend and all three major New York area airports were due to close to incoming flights at noon (1600 GMT) on Saturday.

President Barack Obama said the unusually large storm could be "extremely dangerous and costly" for a nation that still recalls the destruction in 2005 from Hurricane Katrina, which swamped New Orleans, killed up to 1,800 people and caused $80 billion in damage.

Irene, the first hurricane of the 2011 Atlantic season, caused as much as $1.1 billion in insured losses in the Caribbean this week, catastrophe modeling company AIR Worldwide said, with more losses expected to come.

SOLDIERS AT THE READY

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the military stood ready to help in the response to Irene, with more than 100,000 National Guard forces available if needed in eastern states.

A quarter of a million New Yorkers were ordered to leave homes in low-lying areas, including the financial district surrounding Wall Street in Manhattan, as authorities prepared for flooding on Sunday.

A mandatory evacuation was ordered for residents in large areas of nearby Long Island, which juts into the Atlantic.

New York's mass transit system, which carries 8.5 million people on weekdays, was due to start shutting down around midday on Saturday.

"We've never done a mandatory evacuation before and we wouldn't be doing it now if we didn't think this storm had the potential to be very serious," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

Irene will be the first hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland since Ike pounded Texas in 2008.

In Washington, Irene forced the postponement of Sunday's dedication ceremony for the new memorial honoring civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Tens of thousands of people, including Obama, had been expected to attend.

Flooding from Irene killed at least one person in Puerto Rico and two in Dominican Republic. The storm knocked out power in the Bahamian capital, Nassau, and blocked roads with trees.

(Reporting by Tom Brown in Miami, Daniel Trotta, Basil Katz, Richard Leong, Joan Gralla, Lynn Adler and Ben Berkowitz in New York, Jeremy Pelofsky and Vicki Allen in Washington, Laura MacInnis and Alister Bull on Martha's Vineyard, Ed Barnett in Morehead City, North Carolina; Writing by John O'Callaghan; Editing by Sophie Hares)

From: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/27/us-storm-irene-idUSTRE77K01820110827?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FtopNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Top+News%29#_tab#_tab

[Christian40]

Theologian Paul Begley of Indiana is concerned that Hurricane Irene is headed for New York UN Building! Has God become angry at many nations for planing to come against Israel? Will comet Elenin cause disturbance also? Has China doomed the people?

[Psalm 51:17]

So if I understand this correctly, even though NYC didn't get hit with a Katrina-like storm, the northeast nonetheless got lots of flooding with more on the way and lots of flights cancellations?