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Dammit to hell, Hurricane Irma is a thing.


Cartmann99

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23 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

@GrumpyGran -- what about Memphis or Nashville?

Thanks for the suggestion, but Nashville is at least 10 hours. I do feel like we need to get up into the mountains, or close to them to get away from flat land. Also worried about getting into a place and then getting kicked out on Friday because of football. Home games the weekend of the 16th at both NC State and Duke so Raleigh is out of the picture. Also a home game in Columbia that weekend but last year with Matthew, they canceled the game there to empty out the hotels for evacuees. But both Columbia and Raleigh could be directly in the path. Hard to know yet whether we are safer here or west of here. Hoping it moves back out to sea before it gets up there to you.

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1 hour ago, GrumpyGran said:

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. :angry-banghead: 

Free Barron.

Can you make it to Macon, Athens, or Atlanta?  There are plenty of hotels and Airbnbs in all of those places.

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I used to live in the Middle Georgia area, and I would call hotels/motels in Warner Robins, and Milledgeville, as well as @Buzzard's suggestion of Macon.

When I lived in that area, and the hotels and motels filled up with people fleeing hurricanes, the local media and religious organizations would ask people to please shelter hurricane refugees in their homes. If you are a member of a faith-based community, or a community organization in your area, I would call the leader and ask if they have any contacts of people in safe areas who you could possibly stay with during the storm. 

edited to add: I don't know exactly where you are in Florida, but Macon is 586 miles from Miami, Miami to Milledgeville is 615 miles, and Miami to Warner Robins is 574 miles.

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Fuck you Limbaugh: "Rush Limbaugh’s dangerous suggestion that Hurricane Irma is fake news"

Spoiler

Rush Limbaugh didn't say the magic words, but on Tuesday he basically accused the media of creating fake news about Hurricane Irma, which is threatening Florida after hitting Barbuda and Antigua. The storm's 185-mile-per-hour winds tied the record high for any Atlantic hurricane making landfall.

“These storms, once they actually hit, are never as strong as they're reported,” Limbaugh claimed on his syndicated radio show. He added that “the graphics have been created to make it look like the ocean's having an exorcism, just getting rid of the devil here in the form of this hurricane, this bright red stuff.”

Why would the media exaggerate the threat of a hurricane? Here's Limbaugh's theory:

There is symbiotic relationship between retailers and local media, and it’s related to money. It revolves around money. You have major, major industries and businesses which prosper during times of crisis and panic, such as a hurricane, which could destroy or greatly damage people’s homes, and it could interrupt the flow of water and electricity. So what happens?

Well, the TV stations begin reporting this and the panic begins to increase. And then people end up going to various stores to stock up on water and whatever they might need for home repairs and batteries and all this that they’re advised to get, and a vicious circle is created. You have these various retail outlets who spend a lot of advertising dollars with the local media.

The local media, in turn, reports in such a way as to create the panic way far out, which sends people into these stores to fill up with water and to fill up with batteries, and it becomes a never-ending repeated cycle. And the two coexist. So the media benefits with the panic with increased eyeballs, and the retailers benefit from the panic with increased sales, and the TV companies benefit because they’re getting advertising dollars from the businesses that are seeing all this attention from customers.

To state the obvious, these are potentially dangerous comments from Limbaugh, who is based in Palm Beach, Fla. He is encouraging listeners who might be in Irma's path not to take seriously the official guidance disseminated through the media.

“I wish that not everything that involved news had become corrupted and politicized, but it just has,” he said.

More broadly, Limbaugh's bad advice reveals the metastasizing nature of “fake news” attacks on the press, which have been led by President Trump. How did we get from Trump's claim that he has “never seen more dishonest media than, frankly, the political media” to the idea that weather reports are phony, too?

Alex Jones might have something to do with it. The Infowars founder — who has an “amazing” reputation, according to Trump — has for years promoted the notion that the U.S. government possesses the power to conjure and control weather events. Just last week, as Hurricane Harvey battered Texas, Jones devoted part of his show to questioning why the government didn't “use the technologies to kill [the storm] out in the gulf.”

“It is weird how these storms go,” he said, suggesting Harvey might have been manufactured or manipulated. “They just sit over a city.”

Jones's contention is that the government — or, more precisely, the “deep state,” now that Trump is president — uses its “weather weapon” to stoke fear of climate change and promote a liberal agenda.

Jones might be a fringe figure, but he increasingly bleeds into the mainstream, thanks in part to Trump's validation. Witness Limbaugh's monologue about Irma, which echoed some of Jones's conspiracy theory.

Limbaugh, a fellow Trump booster, didn't say the deep state causes storms, but he did say “you have people in all of these government areas who believe man is causing climate change, and they’re hellbent on proving it, they’re hellbent on demonstrating it, they’re hellbent on persuading people of it.”

Limbaugh didn't say the deep state directs storms toward major cities, but he did say “hurricanes are always forecast to hit major population centers because, after all, major population centers is where the major damage will take place and where we can demonstrate that these things are getting bigger and they’re getting more frequent and they’re getting worse — all because of climate change.”

Thus we have two of the president's biggest promoters in the media telling people that news about a storm — or perhaps even the storm itself — is fake. There could be serious consequences to Trump's ceaseless effort to lower trust in institutions such as the government and the press — consequences that the president and his team might not have fully considered.

On the morning before Harvey hit Texas, CNN's Jim Acosta tweeted that a moment when “millions will be relying on national and local news outlets to stay safe during hurricane” is “not a good time to take shots at 'fake news.'”

Brad Parscale, the digital media director of Trump's campaign, scoffed at Acosta's warning, tweeting that “nobody said the weather is fake.”

... < tweets >

Actually, whether Parscale and Trump realize it or not, somebody does say the weather is fake.

 

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12 hours ago, Melissa1977 said:

 

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.

Yes, this would seem reasonable,  but you have to remember we have an administration that does not believe in science,  in ANY field.  No such thing as climate change, global warming, sea level rise, despite what EXPERTS have said based upon years of research! I used to work at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.  Once Rick Scott became governor, we were no longer ALLOWED to use the terms, "global warming," or "climate change." And when you allow development to run amuck with no restrictions or conditions, you get situations like Harvey. And Harvey is just the beginning,  it will get worse. The City of Miami is losing ground to the Atlantic;  there will be buildings and streets submerged during our lifetimes. Unrestricted development, urban sprawl, poorly built structures = disaster.

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Just a quick update to say that according to the Macon Telegraph, very few hotel/motel rooms are left in the Middle Georgia area. Sorry everyone. :pb_sad:

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12 minutes ago, Cartmann99 said:

Just a quick update to say that according to the Macon Telegraph, very few hotel/motel rooms are left in the Middle Georgia area. Sorry everyone. :pb_sad:

Yeah, we're desperately trying to find something. Expedia just told me that Atlanta is 85% booked and 3000+ people are trying to find something there. Looked at about 8 places so far and evrything is filling up fast. And of course we have 3 pets so... SHIT!

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Florida State has its first home football game scheduled for Saturday which generally means that there aren't any hotel rooms in Tallahassee and surrounding areas, including south Georgia.  But with the gas shortage in Florida, who knows if those rooms will be filled.

I tried the grocery store this morning, no bread, no water,  no canned tuna (thank you, JESUS), so I just bought my normal stuff.  OH, and good cheese, crackers and pinot grigio, so I'm set. I'm really not worried about this storm EXCEPT for trees falling -- I have a LOT of trees on my property and some are pines and pine trees SNAP OFF.  Good luck and Godspeed to the others in Irma's path! May she slam into Mara-Lago and head out to sea!

Oh, I read somewhere there's some law that hotels HAVE to accept pets when emergencies have been declared! 

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I am glued to the weather channel! Feeling anguish for all those who are having to evacuate. But, what is has done is light a fire under my lazy butt. I live on the West coast, land of earthquakes and now wildfires. I have decided that I will be putting all those items vital to us (passports, insurance info, hard drives, etc...) in plastic containers and leave them by the front door. I will also sticky note other items. Another container for spare dog leashes, bowls and food. I am also going to make sure that I have a ready supply of cash, especially small bills).

All this so that in the case of a wildfire evacuation and my husband and I aren't home my teenagers will know what to load in the car! Probably also be helpful for us adults who may need some direction in a time of high stress!

Earthquakes...well...there isn't a whole lot of planning you can do for those (we have water, food, etc... to last for days but if your house is toast it doesn't help a whole lot!).

Sending good vibes to all our FJ east coasters and those in Texas and LA. If I lived closer I'd offer up our guest room, and we're dog friendly!

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57 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Fuck you Limbaugh: "Rush Limbaugh’s dangerous suggestion that Hurricane Irma is fake news"

  Reveal hidden contents

Rush Limbaugh didn't say the magic words, but on Tuesday he basically accused the media of creating fake news about Hurricane Irma, which is threatening Florida after hitting Barbuda and Antigua. The storm's 185-mile-per-hour winds tied the record high for any Atlantic hurricane making landfall.

“These storms, once they actually hit, are never as strong as they're reported,” Limbaugh claimed on his syndicated radio show. He added that “the graphics have been created to make it look like the ocean's having an exorcism, just getting rid of the devil here in the form of this hurricane, this bright red stuff.”

Why would the media exaggerate the threat of a hurricane? Here's Limbaugh's theory:

There is symbiotic relationship between retailers and local media, and it’s related to money. It revolves around money. You have major, major industries and businesses which prosper during times of crisis and panic, such as a hurricane, which could destroy or greatly damage people’s homes, and it could interrupt the flow of water and electricity. So what happens?

Well, the TV stations begin reporting this and the panic begins to increase. And then people end up going to various stores to stock up on water and whatever they might need for home repairs and batteries and all this that they’re advised to get, and a vicious circle is created. You have these various retail outlets who spend a lot of advertising dollars with the local media.

The local media, in turn, reports in such a way as to create the panic way far out, which sends people into these stores to fill up with water and to fill up with batteries, and it becomes a never-ending repeated cycle. And the two coexist. So the media benefits with the panic with increased eyeballs, and the retailers benefit from the panic with increased sales, and the TV companies benefit because they’re getting advertising dollars from the businesses that are seeing all this attention from customers.

To state the obvious, these are potentially dangerous comments from Limbaugh, who is based in Palm Beach, Fla. He is encouraging listeners who might be in Irma's path not to take seriously the official guidance disseminated through the media.

“I wish that not everything that involved news had become corrupted and politicized, but it just has,” he said.

More broadly, Limbaugh's bad advice reveals the metastasizing nature of “fake news” attacks on the press, which have been led by President Trump. How did we get from Trump's claim that he has “never seen more dishonest media than, frankly, the political media” to the idea that weather reports are phony, too?

Alex Jones might have something to do with it. The Infowars founder — who has an “amazing” reputation, according to Trump — has for years promoted the notion that the U.S. government possesses the power to conjure and control weather events. Just last week, as Hurricane Harvey battered Texas, Jones devoted part of his show to questioning why the government didn't “use the technologies to kill [the storm] out in the gulf.”

“It is weird how these storms go,” he said, suggesting Harvey might have been manufactured or manipulated. “They just sit over a city.”

Jones's contention is that the government — or, more precisely, the “deep state,” now that Trump is president — uses its “weather weapon” to stoke fear of climate change and promote a liberal agenda.

Jones might be a fringe figure, but he increasingly bleeds into the mainstream, thanks in part to Trump's validation. Witness Limbaugh's monologue about Irma, which echoed some of Jones's conspiracy theory.

Limbaugh, a fellow Trump booster, didn't say the deep state causes storms, but he did say “you have people in all of these government areas who believe man is causing climate change, and they’re hellbent on proving it, they’re hellbent on demonstrating it, they’re hellbent on persuading people of it.”

Limbaugh didn't say the deep state directs storms toward major cities, but he did say “hurricanes are always forecast to hit major population centers because, after all, major population centers is where the major damage will take place and where we can demonstrate that these things are getting bigger and they’re getting more frequent and they’re getting worse — all because of climate change.”

Thus we have two of the president's biggest promoters in the media telling people that news about a storm — or perhaps even the storm itself — is fake. There could be serious consequences to Trump's ceaseless effort to lower trust in institutions such as the government and the press — consequences that the president and his team might not have fully considered.

On the morning before Harvey hit Texas, CNN's Jim Acosta tweeted that a moment when “millions will be relying on national and local news outlets to stay safe during hurricane” is “not a good time to take shots at 'fake news.'”

Brad Parscale, the digital media director of Trump's campaign, scoffed at Acosta's warning, tweeting that “nobody said the weather is fake.”

... < tweets >

Actually, whether Parscale and Trump realize it or not, somebody does say the weather is fake.

 

That's fine, Rushie. You tell your followers that. Maybe the government rescuers should also follow your advice and stay out of your business. Let your listeners be the judge if it's fake news, as the water starts to rise in their houses. I'm not talking about those in the path who aren't Rush supporters. My heart goes out to you.

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The fighting over money for hurricane victims is going to get nasty:

Quote

Florida's senators are calling on Congress to include relief money for Hurricane Irma in the disaster aid package the House passed earlier Wednesday for Hurricane Harvey. That package includes $7.85 billion to help Texas and Louisiana recover.

Senators Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson say with Irma could cause catastrophic destruction throughout the state, and they're concerned that the Federal Emergency Management Agency won't have the resources it needs to respond if Congress doesn't act soon.

Their joint, bipartisan letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell notes that FEMA is currently scheduled to run out of money by Friday.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/latest-gas-lines-shortages-floridians-prepare-49647971

I feel so sorry for everyone affected by these damn storms. You will suffer while congress bickers. :pb_sad:

52 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

To state the obvious, these are potentially dangerous comments from Limbaugh, who is based in Palm Beach, Fla. He is encouraging listeners who might be in Irma's path not to take seriously the official guidance disseminated through the media.

So, Limbaugh is in the same town as Hurricane Orange's beloved Grift-a-Lago? Is there something in the water in Palm Beach that inclines some people to behave like jackasses?

4 minutes ago, LeftCoastLurker said:

All this so that in the case of a wildfire evacuation and my husband and I aren't home my teenagers will know what to load in the car! Probably also be helpful for us adults who may need some direction in a time of high stress!

Those are some great ideas! I get really scatterbrained in a crisis, so I'm thinking about doing a notebook with checklists inside for me to follow in case of an emergency. 

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Whew, got a room. In Hillsville, VA. Had to go small and unknown to find anything left, the only way I know it's there is because it's on the way to Pittsburgh. Hope none of the rest of you here on the east coast were planning on going out of town for the next week because it's going to be a madhouse out there.

@LeftCoastLurker, we have everything in a fireproof lockbox. It's small enough that it can go with us, a little heavy for me but hubs can handle it. You might consider it especially since fires are such an issue out there.

Crossing my fingers that I get to cancel that reservation.

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I truly can't get my head around the fact that refusing scientific evidence seems to go along with a fundie mentality. I know they are undereducated, but surely they should believe that their god will warn them of oncoming disaster? That he will look out for the'chosen'? 

Or do they believe that all these weather events are the 'End of Days'?

I'm not American, and my exposure in real life to fundies is nil. In the UK, where I spent most of my life, they are peripheral, and certainly have no influence on policy, at any level. I am gobsmacked at how much influence they seem to wield in the US, even to the point of refusing to accept scientifically proven fact.

If I weren't already an unbeliever, they would convince me to be so.

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Hope you do get to cancel that reservation, Grumpy Gran.  The news in North Florida is that the bitch is trending east, not so good for South Florida, but better for us.  But everyone here is still going fucking crazy and it's only Wednesday.  They better get some gas supplies in here as well as some groceries and water or who knows.  Too many crazies with guns running around!  I'm just gonna sit tight, drink my pinot and cuddle with my pups. 

I'm gonna wait a couple of days, I have some big plastic bins, if she turns or it looks worse, I plan to put my photos and papers in the bins and hoist them up on top of my china cabinet or put them in the trunk of my car.  My dogs and my photos are my most valuable stuff, everything else can be replaced. 

I HATE the waiting!

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Saw this and thought of Limbaugh:

Quote

4:40pm

Here's a scientific fact for anyone thinking Hurricane Irma is being hyped: This is only the second time on Earth, since satellites began tracking them about 40 years ago, that a storm has maintained 185 mph winds for more than 24 hours.

The other one, according to Colorado State University meteorology professor Phil Klotzbach, hit the Phillippines in 2013. It was the massive typhoon Haiyan, which killed more than 6,000 people.

Klotzbach says "this thing is a buzzsaw," and he's "glad Floridians are taking it very seriously.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/latest-gas-lines-shortages-floridians-prepare-49647971

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I live in a land-lock state but my sister mentioned we should invest in a fireproof box as well, everything can be replaced for the most part but we would get one for our photos because those can't be replaced.

Also I was reading on twitter about Antigua and Barbuda, for 12 hours they had no type of connection with the outside world, it's be heavily destroyed but still no official word on how many injured/killed or what they are looking like. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers please.

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11 minutes ago, candygirl200413 said:

I live in a land-lock state but my sister mentioned we should invest in a fireproof box as well, everything can be replaced for the most part but we would get one for our photos because those can't be replaced.

Also I was reading on twitter about Antigua and Barbuda, for 12 hours they had no type of connection with the outside world, it's be heavily destroyed but still no official word on how many injured/killed or what they are looking like. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers please.

What I saw of Antigua looked very bad. I, too wish so so so much that this thing would just bounce off of Mar A Lago and go spinning out to sea. You know if it hurts his precious Mar A Lago, he'll be down there in a heartbeat and will stay for a week. He'll kick people who are homeless out of their hotels so his entourage can have rooms.

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@LeftCoastLurker, According to a video on the Oregonian website, some had five minutes to evacuate from the Eagle Creek Fire (the fire currently destroying the Columbia Gorge) and others were told 15 minutes. The people who were interviewed said this happened between 1 and 3 in the morning. Your idea for a bug out kit is a great one.

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And Irma has friends now. Not good.

As one that lives in Superstorm Sandy region my heart goes out to you. Get water, batteries, make solid blocks of ice to put in the freezer(milk bottles are good). Lots of non-perishable foods.  Cash, gas, fireproof case with all important papers, photos, include copies of credit cards.....

 I now have a hurricane/big storm bin with basic emergency supplies,10 hour campfire logs, etc. A week without electricity will do that to you.

Be safe!

Here is information on Irma's friends. https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/hurricane-irma/tropical-storm-jose-brewing-atlantic-could-chase-after-irma-n799186

 

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15 minutes ago, sawasdee said:

I truly can't get my head around the fact that refusing scientific evidence seems to go along with a fundie mentality. I know they are undereducated, but surely they should believe that their god will warn them of oncoming disaster? That he will look out for the'chosen'? 

Or do they believe that all these weather events are the 'End of Days'?

Where I live, a belief that we are living in the End Times, and the premillennial Rapture go hand in hand. Who cares what nonsense the evil scientists are spewing, Jesus is coming any minute now with a diamond-encrusted escalator to heaven! :pb_rollseyes:

Also, a belief in a flat earth is growing among certain segments of the fundie population in the United States. :angry-banghead:

 

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Another emergency/evacuation tip: they recommend putting a coin on top of a block of ice in your freezer. If you loose power long enough for the ice to melt, your frozen food isn't safe anymore.

Prayers for everyone to stay safe!

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7 hours ago, GrumpyGran said:

 

@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.

 

I am east coast unfortunately.  There is a huge shortage of both supplies and gas.  I went to four places yesterday without finding water.  Went at 8:30 to Publix this morning and all they had left from their truck the night before was a few gallons (which I snapped up).  The canned goods aisle was obliterated, the chip aisle had a few sad bags left, milk was gone, bread was picked over, so was peanut butter.  No ice.  I went to three gas stations today to get ice and none of them had any.  Or gas.  I filled up a couple of days ago, but my commute is 20+ miles each way, which means that won't last forever.

I just wish they'd finally get a clear picture so we know whether to leave town or not.

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17 minutes ago, bashfulpixie said:

I am east coast unfortunately.  There is a huge shortage of both supplies and gas.  I went to four places yesterday without finding water.  Went at 8:30 to Publix this morning and all they had left from their truck the night before was a few gallons (which I snapped up).  The canned goods aisle was obliterated, the chip aisle had a few sad bags left, milk was gone, bread was picked over, so was peanut butter.  No ice.  I went to three gas stations today to get ice and none of them had any.  Or gas.  I filled up a couple of days ago, but my commute is 20+ miles each way, which means that won't last forever.

I just wish they'd finally get a clear picture so we know whether to leave town or not.

Ugh. So sorry. And I'd advise making reservations now that you can cancel if it isn't too bad for you. There is very little left out there if you have to go with a hotel.

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