2018: Hurricanes and Tropical Storms

[melon]

Thanks Carm! And thank you,all for thinking of me!

 

[nvmbr02]

8 hours ago, PennySycamore said:

@nvmbr02,  you went through Typhoon Mangkhut?  I saw the news and was grateful that my granddaughter was no longer in southeast China.  I think a tropical storm hit Hong Kong on the day my daughter and son-in-law arrived to come home with one of the girls.  Now, that I think about it, it was their daughter from SE China.  I think they took a bus from where they were in SE China to Hong Kong.  

I woke up this morning around 6:45 and the rain had stopped!  There were clouds early on, but now the sun is out.  There's no standing water in the yard, but the bird bath is full! YAY!

Yes, but the storm wasn't nearly the super typhoon that hit the Philippines or as bad as it was when it hit SE China or Hong Kong. We got it earlier on, when it was still a Category 2 storm and before the eye wall had fully developed. The closest point of approach here was about 22 miles off the island's north coast, so about 25-26 miles from where we live. A moderate amount of damage to our island and a significant amount of damage to the island closest to us, but still nothing compared to what it would have been had it hit us as the category 5 storm they predicted it would be when it hit us. Thankful the storm picked up speed and didn't have time to organize before reaching us. 

Hong Kong gets a fair amount of typhoons and tropical storms this time of year. We were there when a fairly significant Tropical Storm hit and it was amazing how quickly everything was up and running again. 

Glad to hear that you may be drying out! I love the rain but flooding is so destructive and dangerous. 

[Cartmann99]

[Nikedagain?]

So I was premature. 

We woke to tornado warnings blaring. It rained the hardest that I have EVER seen for hours this morning. Power went out. Everything flooded. Like huge, swift RIVERS on our roads. They were once just little tiny creeks! Now they're currents! Our mall, our schools, just flooding like our area has never experienced. Around 4, the sun came out. It was a miraculous thing! The power came back on. A lot of flooding still exists, and schools are on a delay tomorrow while they assess the bus routes, but I don't see how they can have it. Too many roads are impassible. It just began to rain really hard again, but this is supposed to be it. Florence is a nasty old broad, but she knows how to make an exit. Our entire state is a mess. If you're traveling, GO AROUND NORTH CAROLINA. You'll thank me. 

[VelociRapture]

Glad to see more of our posters are doing ok! Some more entertainment for you all. Tonight we’ll start with the lovely folks of, “THREAT LEVEL MIDNIGHT!”:

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Moving on to, “THEY’RE TAKING THE HOBBITS TO ISENGARD!”:

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And finally we end with, “WHERE ARE MY DRAGONS?!”:

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To all our posters worldwide affected by these storms, stay safe!

[formergothardite]

The hog farms, of course, flooded. The coal ash pits also flooded. This is terrible for the environment. 

http://time.com/5398560/florence-floods-hog-farms-coal-ash-dumps/

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 Flooded rivers from Florence’s drenching rains have swamped coal ash dumps and low-lying hog farms, raising pollution concerns as the swollen waterways approach their crests Monday.

North Carolina environmental regulators say several open-air manure pits at hog farms have failed, spilling pollution. State officials also were monitoring the ongoing threat from the breach of a Duke Energy coal ash landfill near Wilmington.

Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Michael Regan said Monday that the earthen dam at one hog lagoon in Duplin County had been breached. There were also seven reports of lagoon levels going over their tops or being inundated in Jones and Pender counties.

 

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An AP analysis of location data from hog waste disposal permits shows at least 45 active North Carolina farms are located in 100-year and 500-year floodplains.

 

[nvmbr02]

@Nikedagain? stay safe! I really feel that often times the aftermath of a hurricane/typhoon/tropical storm is worse than the storm itself. Flooding, landslides, sinkholes, long term power outages, water shortages, etc... are just so incredibly dangerous. 

I do hope that the rain stops and everyone remains safe. 

[Howl]

11 hours ago, nvmbr02 said:

@Nikedagain? stay safe! I really feel that often times the aftermath of a hurricane/typhoon/tropical storm is worse than the storm itself. Flooding, landslides, sinkholes, long term power outages, water shortages, etc... are just so incredibly dangerous. 

I do hope that the rain stops and everyone remains safe. 

This is becoming more apparent with each passing day and I'm thinking now that the flooding in its entirety may be as bad or worse than Harvey on the Texas gulf coast. 

I read this morning that over 1.7 million chickens have died when the buildings in which they are raised for market (Sanderson Farms, in this instance)  flooded. Independent  contractors raise these chickens and (IIRC) take on all of the financial risk.  Many will be destroyed financially, unless they have some type of hefty insurance.  I had read about this 7-ish years ago when we visited a part of Arkansas that has many (relatively small) farms that raise chicken and turkeys. Last year The Guardian covered the whole thing here: Fowl play: the chicken farmers being bullied by big poultry

Many chemical plants flooded during Harvey, but we haven't heard much about the aftermath of that.  With Florence, hog farm lagoons and toxic ash pits are being flooded and the waste is pouring into large flooding rivers.  Many sewage plants are flooding as well. 

And here's something else.  Powerful hurricanes have been forming and destroying the east coast and gulf coast forever.  Climate scientists admit that it's difficult to tease out the threads of the effect of climate change on large-scale events like hurricanes.  

However, there's one business interest that has a greater investment in sorting this out than any other: insurance companies. It's in the best interests of large insurance companies to get on board with slowing a warming climate. I'm always curious about how they go about lobbying a US Congress and even state houses, when there are so many pig-ignorant, shit-for-brains climate change deniers.

Y'all suffering the after effects of Florence, stay safe, be careful.  We're thinking about you. 

[Howl]

Sorry if this has already been posted.

NPR: How To Help Those Affected By Hurricane Florence

[Nikedagain?]

Hey, all is not lost! Trump is arriving right now. We are all hoping he'll throw us some paper towels and tell us that this Hurricane was very wet. So, we're fine. 

[Cartmann99]

4 hours ago, Nikedagain? said:

Hey, all is not lost! Trump is arriving right now. We are all hoping he'll throw us some paper towels and tell us that this Hurricane was very wet. So, we're fine. 

Did he raise his arms and make the floodwaters recede?

[VelociRapture]

To help distract anyone who needs it tonight... Scooby Doo:

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The Simpsons:

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And this one reminded me of the Duggars and Bateses:

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[Cartmann99]

Here comes Michael:

 

[Howl]

I was looking at National Hurricane Center.  There is a pacific hurricane with a projected track across Baja, northern Mexico and all of southern New Mexico by the end of this week. @Cartmann99, maybe y'all will get some spin off from that. 

I read this week that an Indian charity (from India) did an amazing amount of relief work with Hurricane Harvey last year, including providing many meals.  I shouldn't be surprised, though.  Both Austin and Houston have large Indian populations. 

[Cartmann99]

4 hours ago, Howl said:

I was looking at National Hurricane Center.  There is a pacific hurricane with a projected track across Baja, northern Mexico and all of southern New Mexico by the end of this week. @Cartmann99, maybe y'all will get some spin off from that. 

Dang, I hope not!  It's been raining off and on here since Friday night. It only takes someone dropping a popsicle in the street in some parts of town for flooding to start, so we're already under a flood advisory and a flash flood watch.

[PennySycamore]

I see the projected track goes right over the Carolinas.  We don't need that.  Not no way. Not no how.  We've had our deluges for the year, thankyouverymuch!

[Briefly]

My boss and his wife are going to Florida on Saturday.  They will be there for about a week and a half.  He's going to Naples and they are not expecting much, if any, bad weather from Michael.  I was looking at the projected path online this morning, obviously it's early and who knows what will happen yet.  But it does look like they are expecting Michael to go inland near Pensacola.

[Cartmann99]

[Howl]

18 hours ago, PennySycamore said:

I see the projected track goes right over the Carolinas.  We don't need that.  Not no way. Not no how.  We've had our deluges for the year, thankyouverymuch!

I saw that.  I can't anything more discouraging for those just drying out from Florence. 

[Cartmann99]

Yuck, yuck, yuck!

 

[TheOneAndOnly]

NHC officially upgraded it to a category 4.

[PumaLover]

Oh man, my dad is right in the center of this. We visited this summer and he told us this was why he bought a house a little inland and not out on one of the islands. The houses along Southern Alabama are built on stilts for the storm surge. I'll call him tomorrow just to make sure he's OK.

All you FJers in the path, please stay safe and we are thinking of you!

[Italiangirl]

I just saw the news, when ithe should do the Landfall? Are the projected track still the same? Hope you all are safe and ground as better as you can.

Sending good luck and hugs to all of you 

[WiseGirl]

Michael strengthening as the barometric pressure is dropping. My local meteorologist said the news/weather people should get out too. 

Stay safe everyone. The sock thief is thinking of you, only she upped her game recently. 

[Howl]

Hurricane Michael looks terrifying.  Wishing safety for all in the path of this horrible storm. 

Just came across info on how to do your own graphics for storm surge using Google Earth: 

HOW TO: Hurricane Surge and Flood Projection With Google Earth

ETA: I don't know where FEMA head Brock Long is with his ethics violations issues, but I'm glad he didn't resign or get fired, because the FEMA deputy position is currently vacant (and has been for quite some time) and the person Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen wants to replace him has no emergency response experience.  Long seems to be doing a competent job (AFAIK). Hurricane Michael is looking to shape up as a  major disaster and is scary as shit.  It doesn't seem to be losing strength and it's getting very close to landfall.