Hurricane Irene

[Sprailenes 47]

Historic for New England, in Florida this storm would amount to no evacs and a mass exodus from the inland to the coast to surf the waves

Same thing with the earthquake, 5.8 on the west coast would amount to no news coverage and no one even mentioning it let alone probably even feeling it...

I know people who live on the west coast and who feel a 5.8. It's not huge, but it's felt. A 5.8 in California, wouldn't be felt all the way up in Vancouver... yet a 5.8 in Virginia is felt all the way up in Sudbury - every place is different.

You can't take Florida and compare it to places like NC, NJ, NY and New England.

They're all different places.

[Flames9_RN 358]

My fiance is a little worried but I think he will be ok. He is in Annapolis MD so I think he is just gonna get some high winds and rain. I checked out the google maps crisis map thingy (if you look at google maps there is a link, at least when I searched for Annapolis). Annapolis was right at the far edge. Mind you, I have never been in a hurricane before so who knows?

I am looking forward to my first winter in Annapolis! I mean, I was there during "Snowmaggedon" last January and survived. (The next day I saw maybe 6-8 inches of snow on the ground and thought, really? You call this a snowstorm?)

Everything comes to a stop in the DC area with just the forecast of snow, seriously!! So expect that! With the high population and low amount of snow removal equipment, stuff just comes to a standstill!! And people are not prepared for it either. 1 storm we had last yr in DC cars were stuck in the middle of the road as they had their sport tires on their sports cars,lol Spinning away!! In reality, wasnt much of anything, justr a normal wintery day for a Canuck, but were prepared. Not so much in the DC area.

[Glyn and Kathy 288]

We're about 60 miles inland, but mostly concerned with flooding and power outages around my part of New Hampshire. Hubby and I will be home on Sunday, but are moving out of our place and staying in a hotel all next week starting sunday night....so the only thing I did purchase was a small flash light for my handbag...just in case the power goes out at the hotel, and filled up the gas in the car since I was pretty low.

[thetreble 19]

Update:

Because I work in Facilities at a university we have a special weather cast we pay money for that is VERY accurate. We use it to predict snow storms so we know how to prepare our team.

THIS STORM IS NO JOKE. Please be careful. Charge your cell phones before Sunday if you're in the DC, NJ, NY, etc. area.

I usually would not panic over this as the news usually does blow things WAY out of proportion.

We have contacted our colleagues in other facilities teams in NJ who all agree that most of us in the state will experience 8-10 inches of rain. NJ will flood in 2 inches of rain so this is a serious matter for us. States like Florida have better and NEWER drainage systems than places like NY, NJ, New England in general. Many parts of NY and NJ are also in low lying areas which makes it very difficult for water to drain. Our highways have weak drainage systems as well.

NJ is also already saturated from rain in the past few weeks which, if high winds prevail, will make it easy for things to come out of the ground.

We are scurrying to pump the storm drains at the University as clean as possible so that they can take as much water and ####### on the ground as possible. We are tying down trees. We are pulling all garbage cans inside. We are pulling down lights and stationing them in safe places. So as someone who is right now, this minute, involved in preparations for this storm, please don't listen to any one who is inferring it's being blown out of proportion.

While it's not the apocalypse, it doesn't mean you shouldn't take it seriously. Prepare for the worst. Hope for the best.

Edited August 26, 2011 by thetreble

[Marilyn. 340]

Historic for New England, in Florida this storm would amount to no evacs and a mass exodus from the inland to the coast to surf the waves

Same thing with the earthquake, 5.8 on the west coast would amount to no news coverage and no one even mentioning it let alone probably even feeling it...

this is not true..lol... the biggest quake in the LA area in the last few years was a 5.5 and it got plenty of news coverage, they would take anybody's calls even if they were just reporting that their chandelier was swaying or a dish had fallen on the floor and people where running to the stores to get emergency supplies

[Kimbear 53]

well i live in chicago..well actually i'm with the inlaws...again...up near the wisconsin illinois border..again..(but i digress)

anyway all we see on tv here is news about the storm..and we're no where near it. but i know alot of you are near there and i have family in nova scotia which always always gets bloody nailed by every storm every time.. i just hope everyone stays safe during it.

[Sprailenes 47]

I bought emergency supplies like flashlights wine and water beer.

[Colleens 40]

I bought emergency supplies like flashlights wine and water beer.

I like how you prepare!!

[Utha 10]

Oh Gosh. This weather so scares me. Really do. May all of us always be safe. Ameen.

[Melissa&Ryan 1]

well i talked to my fiance earlier and they arent being evacuated. so it's just going to graze them. Happy for that! But i do hope that everyone that IS in it's path to be careful and get more wine and beer! lol

[JeannieL 44]

A bit rainy and windy here in VA. They are projecting the worst to be around 5pm today. I hope that everyone on the east coast stays safe.

[Gypsyangel 11]

People are panicking but it hasn't really sunk for me. I see people panic over 2 feet of snow and I all: "huh?"

I've seen the grocery store shelves empty over 2 inches of snow. People go crazy for their milk, eggs and bread when there's a storm in NJ. I'm not sure what that's about. Wine and beer I understand. But eggs?

Nothing here yet. The calm before the storm right now so it's hard to get too excited -- there is barely a breeze right now. Stay safe everyone!

[Krikit 1,164]

My man works on a cruise ship that goes from Ny to the Bahamas, they are on their way back to NY now! He is basically floating right alongside the storm

Any new reports from him? I'm thinking you're meaning the Veendam (Holland America) to Bermuda and not the Bahamas? (If not, sorry.) My parents are supposed to be boarding that ship tomorrow. Now it's looking like maybe Monday. I was supposed to be going with them but they were sold out by the time I made up my mind. I bet it's not full anymore! lol. I'm very surprised the ship has been given permission to stay in port. It's usually safer for ships to head out to sea.

Here on the Virginia side of Metropolitan DC we are seeing a bit of rain and wind. I'm guessing gusts up to about 20 mph right now, but we've still got a few hours to go, yet, before it really hits us. I took a small movie at about 7:00am when one of the bands came through. Just a little wind and rain, but getting stronger. I'm thinking it's time to move my patio furniture inside now.

Edited August 27, 2011 by Krikit

[Krikit 1,164]

Whoa. Deluge. Waited too long.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

I've been tracking this system since it was still just an 'invest' - before it became a tropical depression - and watched it grow. For a while it looked like Florida would be the main hit with it tracking right up the center and coming into Georgia (which is why I watch tropical weather now!), but instead of going over Hispaniola, it veered north which set it on a course for the East Coast. The weather systems driving this are complicated but basically a weak trough along the eastern shore 'allowed' the hurricane to move into that area while a high pressure system out to sea didn't allow it to move further east. This storm is not going to go further east - at least not until after it exits over Labrador. (It will then continue across the North Sea and eventually impact Scotland and Scandinavia as a storms).

It will be a Category 1 hurricane up until just before the Mass/NY border - which means sustained winds between 75 to 85 mph - and higher gusts. It is a huge system with lots of water and energy and that means the rain is being blown sideways - literally - and heavy enough to accumulate several inches an hour. The windswath is over 400 miles wide although a good portion of that is out over the ocean. That means that that windswath is pushing water in front of it onto shore - creating waves of 25 to 30 feet on the ocean and storm surges of 8 to 15 feet depending on where the land lies in relationship to the water. Storm surges are topographically unique to each area so low-lying areas with shallow shores are highly at risk.

I have a number of friends who are in the direct path of this monster storm. It is not going to go away; it is not going to be just a rain event; it is going to bring significant damages as the winds and rain - due to the size of the storm and its slow forward motion - will last without a break for between 21 to 24 hours. My friends are taking this seriously and have prepared as best they can. Some of them on the North Carolina and Virginia coasts have experienced prior hurricanes and have no illusions of what to expect. Those in New Hampshire and New York, however, don't know what to expect. Comparing it to a strong Nor'easter begins to give you an idea of what to expect. Even Tropical Storm force winds are not to be taken lightly.

I remember my first experience the summer after I arrived in Georgia. The cat 2 hurricane struck landfall on the Florida panhandle and was expected to become a tropical storm fairly quickly. It did and was a strong tropical storm by the time it reached us several hundred miles inland. It arrived at night. I had left the windows open. The winds started to grow and it started to thunder and lightning. I thought, well, this isn't so bad, I don't know why people are worried. I didn't realize that that was just the forward wind bands of the disintegrating system. The actual storm struck later during the night. It erupted out of the silence of the night. Instantaneously, the rain was so hard it was blowing sideways right in the windows and reaching the middle of the room. I raced to close the windows, fearing that they would be torn out of the frames as I struggled against the wind. I was totally soaked by the time I got one closed. Water poured down like buckets - sideways - white row after white row so heavy that I couldn't even see a foot outside - it was all obscured by teeming water and roaring wind. And the noise - that was something I didn't expect. The wind, the rain, the thunder, the howling, the creaking, the screaming as the wind and rain lashed our house. We are not in a flood plain but the yard flooded from the sheer volume of water - the storm drains couldn't handle the amount as several inches of water fell each hour. It was a rude awakening for me. I have experienced blizzards and ice storms and tornadic winds and violent thunderstorms - just not all at once (that is what this was like with the rain looking like blizzard driven snow). We were fortunate not to suffer any damage but trees were down all over the place and there was a lot of storm damage and a number of people lost their lives.

And that was just a tropical storm and not a hurricane. I have never taken hurricane or tropical storm warnings for granted again. Nor should anyone in the path of this monster.

Stay safe.

Edited August 27, 2011 by Kathryn41