Hurricane!

Another CD has come to Hebdeneye with a request for a review. It’s another electronica creation and it’s creator is Hebden Bridge resident Richard Dalby. It’s for the Grenada Appeal which some of our local musicians are into (Hurricane Ivan, stupid) and includes some live recordings from a recent benefit gig.

This is from the youth pastor of the church I attend. He was part of a missions trip to the Laguna Madre region, and the village of La Posa, more specifically. You might remember that the Laguna Madre took a direct hit from Hurricane Emily.

I have a preliminary report that all the houses in Media Luna have been destroyed along with most of the buildings in La Posa. In addition, Don Victor’s home (all but one wall) has been destroyed.

But back to this shockingly underpublished finding, and a few comments on Hurricaine Charley from our Democratic friends who have found it necessary to warn the rest of us idiots about what’s REALLY going on….

….Such as this witty poster who was able to make his own time machine to tell us how Bush is going to use this disaster to get votes!

We might as well kick off our weekend with a laugh. Below is an AP photo of a shelter in Cancun, Mexico, containing tourists stuck there as hurricane Emily blew threw.

One week from today, Cute Blonde and I will be chilling in the hurricane weather of Orlando, FL. It’s gonna be pretty exciting.

Dev Anand Teelucksingh sent this link to MegaTrack, “an OSS application that tracks Atlantic and eastern Pacific tropical storms on a map. Requires Java to run and installs available for Windows, Linux and MacOS X. Gets the storm locations from NOAA’s NHC website.”

I apparently work in a hurricane-resistant building. I discovered this today as a “supercell” thunderstorm was moving thru our area. Our manager on duty was standing in front of the door…I suggested that maybe he (we) should move. He informed me that we had hurricane glass windows….and a mega-reinforced roof.

Hurricane Emily hits Yucatan Peninsula. “It’s Mayhem” says Miami Herald. “Slams Yucatan” say CNN. “Pounds Mexico” says Bloomberg.

The truth is that Hurricane season is an elaborate conspiracy, put together by various evil south eastern meteorologists and financed by both Home Depot and Publix. These so called Doppler radar towers are actually a giant network of weather manipulating super-needles built by this immoral conglomerate to create the terror we experience every year as a hurricane.

Those of you who live or have friends and/or relatives on the East Coast will be comforted to know that the Federal Aviation Association is managing post-hurricane recovery efforts using MindManager. The agency’s National Incident Management Program uses MM to map out virtually every aspect of the work involved in managing hurricane-related damage to about 1,300 commercial airports up and down the Atlantic coast. They started using it in the middle of Hurricane Jeanne last year, liked how fast it was to learn and the kind of picture it gave them of their recovery work, and so are using it this year as well.

As Hurricane Dennis slowly made its way inland, many evacuees from the Gulf Coast began arriving in Selma searching for a safe place to stay. It wasn't long before the majority of the hotels in the area booked all their available rooms, according to several hotel representatives.

Hurricane Dennis flew through with its cat-4 self, intimidating the people of my home town. Pensacola was spared for the most part due to Dennis’s traveling speed and last minute change of direction. Still the beaches and old historic areas were kinda hit hard.

Locals report last night was very strange. The island normally has the wonderful tradewind breezes constantly blowing off the coast of Africa, but last night the air was reported as being still and humid. Many locals report the lack of noise from birds and the whistling frogs.

I can't imagine a night in Barbados without the musical sound of the whistling frogs. That alone would be enough to make me feel a bit apprehensive.

Yes, hurricane season is an exciting time to be in Florida. If you’re new to the area, you’re probably wondering what you need to do to prepare for the possibility that we’ll get hit by “the big one.” Based on our experiences, we recommend that you follow this simple three-step hurricane preparedness plan:

Grenadian police ordered people off the streets and businesses closed Wednesday as Tropical Storm Emily threatened an island still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Ivan last year.

The fifth storm of the 2005 hurricane season has formed in the Atlantic — (un)welcome Emily.

My hubby's brakes are on strike. They decided to give up the ghost. Now I'd like to point out here that on Friday when he was off I offered to take his car to the shop for these handy dandy little devices that make 2,000 pounds of moving death trap metal stop. He refused and said he'd drop it off next to his work - it would be easier.

Easier - yes. He has now taken my car to work for the second day in a row since the hurricane weather is making driving without breaks a wee bit sketchy. This also leaves me stuck at home with three kids and no vehicle I feel safe putting them in. (He also took the car seats - thanks).

I see a lot of reporting this morning about Hurricane Dennis. Some of the stores have the tone that “this storm wasn’t as bad as it could have been,” comparing the 120 MPH Dennis with last year’s stronger Ivan. Dennis came ashore about 50 miles east of the Ivan trike point near Pensacola, and apparently moved through more rural areas, minimizing the damage.

I know all too well about hurricanes and cruises. Last year, Jim and I boarded the Mariner of the Seas out of Port Canaveral for what was to be a 7-night cruise to the western Caribbean. That was right in between Hurricanes Ivan and Jeanne. The cruise ended up lasting 9 nights - not 7 - because Hurricane Jeanne was bearing down on the path we were to take back to port. That sounds really cool because who wouldn't like to tack on an extra couple days to your vacation ... but the atmosphere was so hectic with people trying to reschedule travel plans and deal with work issues and school problems, that I was so ready to get off that ship when it was finally able to dock in Miami (Port Canaveral sustained some damage and was unable to allow us to dock where we started out).

Watch/Warnings —– Florida

Cyclone Graphic — Caribbean

Advisories — 1

Miss. Evac maps — Full Map (PDF)

Clarion-Ledger Mississippi Weather Page

Casinos in Mississippi closed at 4pm CST.

These are pictures of the evacuation from Florida past Montgomery… they’re not good pictures (as I was driving and Holly was in the passenger seat), but as you can see, more people by FAR are going north than south!

I’ll post when I can, the weather is getting kind of ominous down here, but if anything happens, i’ll let you guys know!

It is a sad day indeed. The Hooters riverblight has apparently sunk. Really, it’s not there anymore.

Well, it started sinking back in September 2003 after hurricane Isabel tore through Philadelphia. And for almost two years, it sat closed, half-submerged and rotting, between Cavanaugh’s River Deck and Dave & Buster’s.

Hurricane Dennis, currently a category 4 hurricane, approaches Florida. C’mon, it’s just July for crying out loud! Not even August yet! And we have Dennis blasting through the Caribbean?

Hurricane Dennis emerged into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico today after pummeling Cuba. A much weaker hurricane, currently a category one, it does not show immediate signs of strengthening yet but is expected to get stronger as it moves over warm waters.

Storm? So, I did a quick Google and found out that Hurricane Dennis Nears Jamaica. Jamaica, Haiti and Cuba are keeping an eye on the first Hurricane of 2005... with Hurricane Ivan's devastation easily remembered in 2004.

The depressions are the third and fourth of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1 and ends Nov. 30. The next tropical storm would be named Cindy, followed by Dennis.

I think I really got into weather when we moved to Virginia, and I discovered hurricane season. Growing up on the West Coast, all I really knew about weather was rain, and lots of it. Okay, well that and earthquakes. So hurricanes, tornadoes, water spouts, and things of this nature were all new to me. I had to learn more. Then, I met my friend Sam who is a meteorologist and he just sort of fed my obsession. And, he’s sent me some great radar shots of storms, and information from the National Weather Service, and explained things to me…he’s great. Check out some Sammie pictures here.

Let me move in to their house, sleep on their couch, and provide safe haven and friendship during Hurricane Frances, when I knew no one and my current host was deviously planning my demise in a parking garage. Plus, we got really drunk.