Hurricane Irene

[MuffyBee]

Hurricane Irene Emergency Information and Useful Links

National Hurricane Center

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/links.shtml (Helpful links including preparedness & real time Hurricane Imagery)

Ready.Gov Hurricane Preparedness
http://www.ready.gov/america/beinformed/hurricanes.html

Maps and Resources Related to Hurricane Irene
http://crisislanding.appspot.com/

Live Blog Updated as Needed by CNN (Hat tip Brandi)
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/26/live-blog-irene-weakens-slightly/?hpt=hp_t1

FEMA'S Mobile Website
http://m.fema.gov/
https://market.android.com/details?id=gov.fema.mobile.android (Official FEMA App for Android)
https://twitter.com/#!/fema/irene

Hurricane HD: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch. $3.99
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hurricane/id291430598?mt=8

The Weather Channel App for Android- free
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.weather.Weather&hl=en

The latest updates on the tropics from The Weather Channel.
http://www.weather.com/tv/tvshows/Livestream (The Weather Channel Live Streaming)
http://www.weather.com/hurricanecentral
http://twitter.com/#!/twc_hurricane

[Blonde]

Were getting a direct hit on Sunday 

[MuffyBee]

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1901
Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog
August 26, 2011

Category 3 Irene Approaches The Carolina Coastline
Posted by: JeffMasters, 6:19 AM GMT on August 26, 2011    +11    
As of 200AM EDT, Hurricane Irene was located at 28.7N, 77.3W, 460 miles south-southwest of Cape Hatteras. It was moving north at 14 mph with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph, making it a Category 3 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Irene has a minimum central pressure of 942 mb. Outside of the US, hurricane warnings are still in effect for Grand Bahama and the Abaco islands. In the US, hurricane warnings are in effect for the coast of North Carolina from the Little River inlet north to the Virginia border. Hurricane watches are in effect from the NC/Virginia border north to Sandy Hook, New Jersey. Figure 1 shows the hurricane and tropical storm watches and warnings for Irene. Remember, a hurricane warning means hurricane conditions are expected, and tropical storm force winds will occur within 36 hours. A hurricane watch means that hurricane conditions are possible and tropical storm force winds are expected within 48 hours.

To find out if you need to evacuate, please contact your local emergency management office. They will have the latest information. FEMA has information on preparing for hurricanes. FEMA also has a blog describing their response to Irene.
(Much more at link, including graphs, maps and etc.)

[MuffyBee]

Were getting a direct hit on Sunday 

   What are your plans, Blonde? 

[Blonde]

Move into the RV if we loose our power

[MuffyBee]

That's a nice alternative if you lose power, Blonde.      Are you getting prepared in other ways, in case of the high winds and such? 

[MuffyBee]

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/hurricane-irene-bulldozes-weekend-plans-businesses/story?id=14382846
Hurricane Irene Hampers Weekend Plans, Weddings
August 26, 2011

tates of emergency in advance of Hurricane Irene's expected assault on the East Coast this weekend have led to busted plans likely to affect businesses and travelers' wallets.

Travelers are scrambling to revise airplane and train tickets while hotels deal with cancelled reservations.

Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and counties in South Carolina have declared states of emergency.
 ::snipping2::

[MuffyBee]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904875404576531923761019908.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Irene Weakens as It Nears East Coast
August 26, 2011

Some 65 million people along the densely populated Eastern seaboard waited warily Friday for a dangerous hurricane that could inflict billions in damages in an arc from Washington to Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Boston.

The main thrust of Hurricane Irene wasn't expected in North Carolina until sometime Saturday, but surging storm waves were already hitting the state's Outer Banks, where thousands of tourists and locals have fled, Associated Press reported.

Irene, which would be the strongest to strike the East Coast in seven years, weakened slightly Friday, dropping down to a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds near 110 miles an hour, AP said. But some re-strengthening was possible and the storm was expected to be between a Category 2 and 3 storm as it reached North Carolina's coast, the National Hurricane Center, it said.

A hurricane warning has been extended to New Jersey; the new hurricane warning area now extends from North Carolina's coast, northward to Sandy Hook, N.J., just south of New York, AP reported. A hurricane warning means hurricane conditions are expected within 36 hours.
 ::snipping2::
Video at Link

[MuffyBee]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-25/northeast-u-s-prepares-for-biggest-hurricane-threat-since-gloria-in-1985.html
U.S. Northeast Braces for Worst Hurricane Threat Since 1985 as Irene Nears
August 26, 2011

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New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered hospital patients and people in nursing homes and senior housing in coastal areas moved to higher ground. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the busiest U.S. transit system, said bus and subway service may be suspended tomorrow as the storm nears.

“This is the day that people ought to be buying food, water and batteries,” Delaware Governor Jack Markell said yesterday on Bloomberg Television’s “InBusiness With Margaret Brennan.”

Markell declared a state of emergency, as did Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue and Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell. The declarations free up state resources to be spent on storm-related expenses.

President Barack Obama signed a federal emergency declaration for North Carolina, authorizing the Homeland Security Department and Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster response and mobilize resources.
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Irene, the strongest Atlantic storm to threaten the U.S. since 2005, battered the Bahamas yesterday with winds of 115 miles (185 kilometers) an hour on a course expected to take it near North Carolina tomorrow, according to the National Hurricane Center.

More than 25 million workers at 1.7 million businesses in 310 counties are in the storm’s path into New England, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
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New York Hurricane

City officials are planning for a storm with winds of at least 60 miles an hour accompanied by heavy rain, the mayor said. They expect the storm to cross mid-Long Island, on the border of Nassau and Suffolk counties, east of the city, he said.

Only five hurricanes since 1851 have tracked within 75 miles of New York City, the most recent being Gloria, according to the National Weather Service.

Christie urged people at the Jersey Shore to leave voluntarily as he considered a mandatory evacuation.

Jim Rosenbluth, managing director for crisis management at Cushman & Wakefield, which manages more than 1,100 commercial properties on the East Coast, said New York may suffer historic levels of damage and significant flooding from a storm surge if winds approach 100 miles an hour.
 ::snipping2::

[klaasend]

SAN is also in jeopardy and I can't get her to evacuate.  She's trying to get supplies today if she can.  D batteries are already hard to find.

[MuffyBee]

SAN is also in jeopardy and I can't get her to evacuate.  She's trying to get supplies today if she can.  D batteries are already hard to find.

I was wondering about our SAN.  I hope she's able to get the supplies she needs and stays inside.  San, if you're reading here later, please know you're in our thoughts and prayers. 

[klaasend]

A hospital that is very near to where she lives started evacuating the pediatric patients yesterday.  They will evacuate the rest today.  SAN has not been ordered to evacuate YET and Irene is not supposed to hit in the NY area until Sunday but you don't want to wait until the last minute.

[klaasend]

BLONDE - if they ask you to evacuate you better do it!

[4 Donks]

Another site with lots of info.

http://spaghettimodels.com/

Prayers for everyone affected. 

[Puzzler]

Prayers for everyone affected.

Please, please evacuate if you're told to do so.

Electricity is going to be out for DAYS!

Muffy Bee - thank you for starting this thread for us.

[MuffyBee]

Prayers for everyone affected.

Please, please evacuate if you're told to do so.

Electricity is going to be out for DAYS!

Muffy Bee - thank you for starting this thread for us.

You're welcome, Puzzler. 

[MuffyBee]

http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/weather/weather_news/obama-to-address-nation-on-hurricane-irene
Obama to address nation on Hurricane Irene
August 26, 2011

(WXYZ) - President Barack Obama is set to address the nation on Hurricane Irene today at 11:30 a.m.

The address will come from Martha’s Vineyard where the president is currently on vacation with his family.
 ::snipping2::
The announcement comes after President Obama declared a federal emergency for the state of North Carolina Thursday.
 ::snipping2::

[MuffyBee]

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/26/live-blog-irene-weakens-slightly/
Live blog: Obama warns residents to prepare for storm now

[MuffyBee]

http://www.boston.com/Boston/metrodesk/2011/08/hurricane-tropical-storm-watches-issued-for-mass/3qEkCFu1Io124aYzPbSWLL/index.html
Gov. Patrick activates National Guard as powerful Hurricane Irene approaches
August 26, 2011

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has activated 500 National Guard soldiers as the state braces for the torrential rain, pounding waves, and howling winds from a dangerous and powerful Hurricane Irene, the governor’s office said today.

Patrick is expected to hold a news conference at 1:15 p.m. today discussing the activation and the state’s other preparations for the storm that is expected to lash the state on Sunday.

With the hurricane still hundreds of miles away but computer projections showing it crashing through Massachusetts on Sunday, the National Weather Service has issued hurricane watches for coastal areas and tropical storm watches for the interior.

“This could come close to rivaling Bob,” said Bill Simpson, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Taunton, referring to the hurricane 20 years ago that caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage and six fatalities in Southern New England.

The exact impact of the hurricane remains uncertain but forecasters say to expect a “very significant and potentially damaging event” across Southern New England.
 ::snipping2::

[MuffyBee]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/27/nyregion/new-york-city-begins-evacuations-before-hurricane.html
N.Y.C. to Shut Mass Transit for Storm
August 26, 2011

With Hurricane Irene pushing relentlessly toward the East Coast, officials made plans to shut down New York City’s sprawling subway and bus system beginning at noon on Saturday, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said.
 ::snipping2::
The commuter rail lines that serve Long Island, Westchester County and Connecticut will also be shut down.

Officials decided to go ahead with the transit shutdown, which they had first mentioned on Thursday as a possibility at a City Hall briefing on Thursday, as the city was evacuating hospitals and nursing homes in low-lying areas. State officials continued arrangements for coordinating emergency services and restoring electricity if the storm does the kind of damage many fear.
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The mayor said Thursday that the city was ordering nursing homes and hospitals in those areas to evacuate residents and patients beginning at 8 a.m. Friday unless they receive special permission from state and city health officials, among them the city’s health commissioner, Dr. Thomas A. Farley, who, the mayor noted, was chairman of the community health sciences department at Tulane University when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005.

The evacuation order covered 22 hospitals, nursing homes and other facilities for older people.

The city also ordered construction work halted until 7 a.m. Monday.
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Mr. Bloomberg said he would decide by Saturday morning whether to order a general evacuation of the low-lying areas.
 ::snipping2::
Back in the city, Mr. Bloomberg, along with Joseph F. Bruno, the commissioner of the city’s Office of Emergency Management, instructed residents to take preliminary steps: stock up on basic supplies, identify an alternative place to sleep in the event of an evacuation and prepare a “go bag” of essentials to allow for a rapid departure, if necessary.

As for a transit shutdown, Jay H. Walder, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said his agency could not guarantee the safety of passengers if winds remained above 39 miles per hour for a sustained period. He said it could take up to eight hours to shut down the system, meaning that transit planners may have to make a judgment call on Saturday, well before the full force of the storm is felt.

And because it takes the agency several hours to restart trains and buses, a shutdown could last through early Monday, if not longer. “It’s hard to predict when it will come back,” Mr. Walder said, “because I can’t really predict for you exactly what will happen in the storm.”

In the event of a shutdown, Mr. Walder said, the transportation authority will aid in evacuation efforts.

Mr. Bloomberg warned New Yorkers to heed any evacuation call as quickly as possible, in case mass-transit options were unavailable.
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