Dammit to hell, Hurricane Irma is a thing.

[Cartmann99]

2 hours ago, candygirl200413 said:

Also just read how there's a hurricane Jose following Irma right now.

Tropical storm Katia has developed as well. 

[GrumpyGran]

11 minutes ago, Cartmann99 said:

Tropical storm Katia has developed as well. 

Well the fucker is now winning awards as a storm. Second most powerful in the Atlantic ever. And it's going to get stronger. Is there a Category 6? I'm about 10 minutes away from saying fuck this diet and heading down to my beautiful inlet to have a few glasses of wine and enjoy it while it's still there. Oh, Florida, I'm so sorry. 

[Carm_88]

I'm keeping a wary eye on Irma because if she comes up the Eastern Seaboard, she may follow the legacy of Igor and fuck up my province. Good thoughts to everyone in her path. Stay safe. <3

[fraurosena]

French meteorologists have superimposed an image of Irma over the image of Europe, to show just how big Irma is. 

 

Dutch news outlets are now reporting that Irma has reached 295 km/h (or 183 mph) and that it's quite possible that the windspeed will go up even more 

It still isn't sure if Irma will pass directly over the islands or 'only' graze them in passing, but no matter what, things are looking pretty hairy.

A curfew is in place, nobody is allowed outside after 8 pm. Everyone has boarded up their houses, taken everything movable inside or battened it down, all boats have been pulled up on land, and even the last coconuts have been harvested so they won't become lethal projectiles when Irma arrives. It almost a certainty that electricity and internet connections will be down not only during but after the hurricane has passed for quite some time. 

It's been predicted that the material damage will be catastrophic, as not all buidings are brick. Luckily many storm bunkers are available to those who don't have access to shelter in brick buildings.

To put things into perspective, this is how Irma sits within the list of the strongest hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean:

Labour Day, 1935 - windspeeds up to 295 km/h (or 183 mph)
Ellen, 1980 - windspeeds up to 305 km/h (or 190 mph)
Gilbert, 1988 - windspeeds up to 295 km/h (or 183 mph)
Wilma, 2005 - windspeeds up to 295 km/h (or 183 mph)
Irma, 2017 - windspeeds up to 295 km/h (or 183 mph) - and possibly rising higher

As you can see, until now Hurricane Ellen holds the record for the highest windspeeds. We'll have to wait and see if Irma is going to surpass that or not.

 

[Cartmann99]

45 minutes ago, GrumpyGran said:

Is there a Category 6?

The Saffir-Simpson scale only goes up to five at this point. I'm guessing it will be revised at some point to account for the more intense storms in our future. 

 

This kitty perfectly expresses my views on Irma:

[Howl]

This is terrifying - all of it.  Floridians, pack up and head inland, far, far inland. 

That said, years ago, I won a trip to a week-long white water kayak school at the Nantahala Outdoor Center in western North Carolina.  Four days in, the remnants of a hurricane that came up through Georgia hit that area with enough oopmph to to cause widespread damage, even after crossing the length of Georgia -- mostly in the form of flooding and downed trees on power lines, causing power outages everywhere. 

[GreyhoundFan]

1 hour ago, Cartmann99 said:

The Saffir-Simpson scale only goes up to five at this point. I'm guessing it will be revised at some point to account for the more intense storms in our future. 

What's the Mandarin word for six? That would be appropriate since the TT (and many Repugs) thing climate change is a "Chinese hoax".

I never wish for destruction, but it would be karma if Mar-a-Loco was flattened by Irma. Can you imagine how hard and how fast he'd push for aid to that area?

[BecauseScience]

Hope everyone in Irma's path stays safe.  Please check in as you can if you are comfortable doing so.  May you all have the luck I had.

I would love recommendations of local charities in PR and FL that will need support--the Red Cross is a bit high on their overhead spending for my taste (plus they will have plenty of support due to being well-known).  I especially favor animal shelters and local food banks.

 

[Penny]

5 hours ago, GrumpyGran said:

Great. 

Oh Powerful Spirit, I know we didn't do enough to keep Donald Trump from becoming president but could You maybe let up now, we get it. We're very, very, very sorry and we won't let it happen again. Please, please, please, please. 

Evacuations in Miami start tomorrow am.

If we send Trump to one of those islands maybe we can be saved! And take his minions and his family. We will keep Barron, he is only a kid.

[fraurosena]

35 minutes ago, Penny said:

We will keep Barron, he is only a kid.

And with that sentiment you are being as magnanimous as the presidunce is being petty and vindictive with his repealing of DACA. 

[fraurosena]

Mind blown.

Irma has now become so strong she's registering on seismometers; apparatus used in measuring earthquake activities!

 

[Cartmann99]

It makes my heart hurt to look at this map and realize how many people are in the path of Irma. 

 

[MarblesMom]

The image of this storm makes me really upset.  The devastation.  If I was in PR, I would have left last Saturday.

I hope Texas is not overlooked by the latest disaster.

[JMarie]

Hoping everyone stays safe and Irma swings out into the Atlantic, where she fizzles out and dies.  

Spoiler

Hey, isn't Mar a Lago in Florida??

 

[Cartmann99]

22 minutes ago, JMarie said:

Hey, isn't Mar a Lago in Florida??

Yup. Grift-a-Lago's in Palm Beach. 

[JMarie]

7 minutes ago, Cartmann99 said:

Yup. Grift-a-Lago's in Palm Beach. 

Spoiler

You know it's killing him that he can't fly down there and make sure everything's as secure as possible.  Instead, he has to stay in D. C. and pretend to fix the country's problems.

 

[VixenToast]

25 minutes ago, Cartmann99 said:

Yup. Grift-a-Lago's in Palm Beach. 

Ooooooh, what about Grift-a-Lardo? 

[AuntK]

I'm in the projected path, the Florida panhandle . . . but I'm a native Floridian, so this isn't anything new. What is new is that there is no gas or bottled water anywhere around me and this storm is 5 days out. I guess Harvey scared the shit out of people, but this is a bit crazy. I'm not "prepared," but tomorrow I am going out for dog food & I'll see what they have at the grocery store. I can fill water bottles and make my own ice. . . Shit, I'm blaming this on the monster. . . hope Irma gets MaraLago!

Hope this doesn't offend anyone, but sometimes, ya gotta just laugh!

[Melissa1977]

First of all, hope there won't be major damages or at least not deaths in this disaster. 

My concern is that I've been reading that the ocean is getting so hot that hurricanes are going to be harder each year. I think a responsible government should plan a long term solution for the most dangerous areas. I know it's a huge area but something must be done.

[Cartmann99]

Quote

The most powerful Atlantic Ocean hurricane in recorded history has made its first landfall in the islands of the north-east Caribbean, following a path predicted to then rake Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba before possibly heading for Florida over the weekend.

The eye of Hurricane Irma passed over Barbuda at about 1.47am local time, the National Weather Service said. Residents said over local radio that phone lines had gone down. Heavy rain and howling winds hit the neighbouring island of Antigua, sending debris flying as people huddled in their homes or government shelters.

Officials warned people to seek protection from Irma’s “onslaught” in a statement that closed with: “May God protect us all.”

In Barbuda, the storm ripped off the roof of the island’s police station, forcing officers to seek refuge in the nearby fire station and at the community centre that served as an official shelter. It also knocked out communication between islands.

The category 5 storm had maximum sustained winds of 185mph (295km/h) by early Tuesday evening, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami.

https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/06/hurricane-irma-most-powerful-atlantic-caribbean-islands

[bashfulpixie]

6 hours ago, MarblesMom said:

I hope Texas is not overlooked by the latest disaster.

My concern is just the opposite. That in the aftermath of Harvey, people have disaster fatigue. They've donated what they can, volunteers are exhausted, supplies are gone, FEMA is already stretched too thin and Florida (along with any other state affected)? We're SOL. 

[fraurosena]

Last night, at about 3.30 pm local time, Irma made landfall on St. Maarten. The force of the hurricane is reaching windspeeds of more than 300 km/h (186 mph). Until further notice, the whole island is under lockdown. Some places have reported flooding, which is expected to worsen in the coming hours. Surprisingly, with the hurricane raging outside, electricity is still up. It's expected that Irma will rage on for a couple more hours yet. Saba and St. Eusatius are also being confronted with the hurricane's destructive forces.

St. Maarten, an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, as well as Saba and St. Eustatius (two so-called independant counties within the kingdom) have all asked for and received support from the Dutch ministry of Defense. Military personnel is on standby to help after Irma has left. Two marine frigates are on their way from Curaçao and Aruba with emergency rations and rebuilding supplies.

This tweet has just been posted with images of the ravages Irma has wreaked on St. Maarten. 

 

[fraurosena]

I did not know this, but...

The Tangerine Toddler has a $28m mansion on St. Maarten.

As you can see from my post above, Irma just devastated the island. I'm vindictive and petty for it, but I hope that his mansion did not escape Mother Nature's wrath, and renders it unsalable and unusable in perpetuity.  

Oh, and Irma, while your in the neighborhood, feel free to ravage his other estates in the Carribean too.

[GrumpyGran]

Not sure why I got out of bed, because watching the TV is just making it bad all over again. At least I got rid of that pesky diet last night! .

@fraurosena, hubs and I were just remarking that the lights are still on in St. Maarten. We could tell because they were actually light poles on a pier! Wow. But the wind is fierce. Unfortunately they will be the test of how strong this storm really is. If it can take down concrete buildings, well, everyone in its way is screwed.

@BecauseScience, thanks for the good wishes, I'm hoping for some of your luck and glad you had it! As for helping, if you want to help with animals locally in places where this hits, you can always donate directly to the Humane Society or SPCA in cities with damage. Any mid-size or large cities have Food Banks.

@bashfulpixie are you east coast or west coast? It's looking now like if you're west, you might not get the worst of it. Hopeful for you. And for you, too @AuntK. The news is saying that now, as people prepare to evacuate, there is a shortage of gas in Florida. WTH.

So maybe the slime in the oval office will have to re-name Mar A Loser.  Bajo el Mar?

I'm open for suggestions, what mid-sized city within an 8-hour drive should I choose for evacuation? Remember, it has to be in a safe place. And not already full of all of the residents of south and central FL.  Last year our neighbors evacuated to a hotel, then had to leave it because it flooded.  

Free Barron.

[GreyhoundFan]

@GrumpyGran -- what about Memphis or Nashville?