Hurricane Rita

[Rose Immortal]

Hard to believe there's another one of this magnitude, isn't it? The last one of this intensity before Katrina was Hurricane Andrew--and now we have two Category 5's in a row.

Right now, the current track shows it headed towards Galveston and Houston. But, it could easily shift back towards Corpus Christi--and the absolute WORST case would be if it shifted to New Orleans. Even a glancing blow to New Orleans could do catastrophic damage again to the fragile levee system.

If you're in Houston, which is 60 miles inland, don't start thinking that's enough to protect you. Remember that areas 1-2 hours inland in Mississippi took severe damage from Katrina. Not like the coast--but enough that you do NOT want to do anything stupid like go driving around in the middle of the storm, or failing to buy supplies beforehand if you're planning on staying. Remember too that parts of Houston will flood severely...while it's not as bad as New Orleans, you REALLY need to pay attention to if you are in a flood plain, or any other area for which the local authorities put out warnings. More deaths usually result from INLAND flooding than from the storm surge right along the coast.

I certainly hope that especially after Katrina, people will take this seriously.

Let's pray that it weakens and also affects a less densely-populated area...but for now we should DEFINITELY act as if it's the worst case, and people need to take all warnings seriously.

 

[proulxski]

Yeh i saw this on the news, theyw here saying in the morning howe it was Category 3... By night time it was category 5... Insane in did, Don't forget there is still Hurricane Ophellia out there as well...Which has yet to make it to shore...

Global Warming people, we all gotta pay more attention to the resources we use, and the damage we do to this planet... If we lucky we can stop it before its too late!

 

[Rose Immortal]

Ophelia's not a threat anymore, thank goodness.

As for global warming, I have something to show you, that you might find interesting, and another little fact to go with it.

Unless this hurricane season beats the record, 1933 will have been the most active season ever. "What,1933," you say? "Surely not--we weren't doing dangerous enough things with our industries!"

That's where this link comes into play.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastint.shtml

THE most intense storm to make landfall, the Labor Day hurricane that hit the Florida Keys, took place in 1935. Thankfully, unless I'm wrong (and I sure could be), Rita is NOT going to make landfall at quite the strength the Labor Day storm did, even though it was pretty close in strength late last night! It'll be nasty enough as it is, and that's not a record I'd care to see broken.

Anyway, f you look at this, you'll notice that a lot of the most intense storms took place in certain clusters of years--and whole decades where there just don't seem to be intense ones, or at least nowhere near the frequency. There's even a "cluster" of nasty storms around the turn of the 20th century, that includes the 1900 storm that flattened Galveston the first time.

I'm not trying to say that global warming may not be a contributing factor--but you do need to look at your history before you decide it's the only (or even the most important) factor. These things come in cycles, and you can see evidence of the cycles going all the way back to the 19th century. Unfortunately, we seem to be in a very bad part of the cycle. If I had more weather data, I could probably give you even more evidence, but it's certain--there are definitely climate cycles that would go on regardless of what we do. And we'd better remember that before we make it ALL into a blame game.

 

[Fossil Records]

As Rose points out, these things are cyclical.

And keep in mind that the planet has been much hotter in the past (dinosaurs in Antarctica anyone? ) and that we're coming out of an ice age.

The amount of CO2 that has come out of pockets in the ocean over the last few decades FAR outweighs the levels of CO2 that mankind has pumped into the atmosphere over the last century. Again, it's all cyclic.

Having said that, can we and should we reduce pollution? ABSOLUTELY.

 

[Thraxz]

The fact that you only count storms that make landfall automatically kills your own point.

 

[Rose Immortal]

The fact that you only count storms that make landfall automatically kills your own point.

The reason I HAVE to only count storms that made landfall when I'm dealing with data that old is that before we had the kind of technology we do now (radar, satellites, etc.), we wouldn't have always been aware of a storm that stayed offshore unless someone steered their ship into it by accident. If that happened, I doubt that in most cases you'd wind up with accurate measurements from the right areas of the storm. If you flew an airplane into it back in the days before radar, you probably wouldn't come back. (Incidentally, the C-130 is pretty much the only plane you can use for hurricane-chasing.)

So, while the ideal best data to use would be all storms, the fact is that we just don't have that data going back as far as we have data on storms that did indeed make landfall.

 

[proulxski]

Indeed, than their is the 1998 Ice Storm in Canada, nothing huge-but when some people are withoyut power for a week in the winter..Streets and trees frozing to the brim, fallen over on peoples houses... The second you step out side you fall into a world of ICE EVERYWHERE! Pretty messed up, I know as a Kid i had fun playing outside during this ice storm, but nights where terrible, when you have so sleep all in one room in sleeping bags with oil almsp to keep yourself slightly warm!...

And yeh you're right-I never meant to state Global Warming as a major factor, i was just pointing out the most easy one! We here in Canada/Quebec especially don't gotta worry much about hurricanes... We never get that stuff-But that doeasn't mean I don't care for those who do get hit by it! Rose, once again It hank you for being so informing and crrying about the others in the world other than ourselves!

 

[Rose Immortal]

Terrible news...the levees have broken again in New Orleans.

They'd just pumped out all of the water--and now this.

It speaks for itself.

 

[Progbass]

So they're still not taking this seriously, US goverment that is

 

[Thraxz]

It's basically re-flooding an already destroyed area. The loss isn't very big.

 

[Rose Immortal]

So they're still not taking this seriously, US goverment that is

What makes you say that? Yes, there are still problems to be worked out, like the traffic jams getting out of Houston, but no crisis plan ever works perfectly. The good news is that people are learning. More people are actually bothering to evacuate, for one thing--which certainly didn't help with traffic. And governments are taking storms more seriously. Remember that in Galveston, they actually learned from New Orleans and had buses available to take people out of there who didn't have cars. Many more National Guard troops were mobilized than last time, to try and make sure that relief is much quicker and more effective.

I'm sure some things will still go wrong, but I do think we're moving in the right direction.

If it's the levee breach that makes you say this, then remember they've only had 3 weeks to even START the repairs. Engineering projects like that do not happen overnight. What was done during these 3 weeks were temporary fixes of the worst spots. I am sure there was more work to be done in the long term to shore up ALL parts of the levees, but it has been THREE WEEKS.

 

[ThornsOfSorrow]

It's basically re-flooding an already destroyed area. The loss isn't very big.

Imagine going through all the work to start fixing your home and pumping out all the water, just to have all of your work destroyed. If you think of it that way, then yes, it is a big loss. These people can't seem to catch a break.

 

[Fossil Records]

So they're still not taking this seriously, US goverment that is

Just because the press (who, mind you, has an agenda regardless of their so-called "unbiased" opinion) says that doesn't mean it's true. I'm no great supporter of this particular President or his cabinet, but it's idiocy to suggest that the "US government" isn't taking this seriously. Like any huge beast, it takes a while to get moving and a while to slow down.

 

[Rose Immortal]

Yup...nothing like bureaucracy to get a job done slowly and by the lowest bidder.

 

[Thraxz]

By the lowest bidder, you mean, the lowest possible price...... times two or twelve.

 

[Fossil Records]

Have you ever actually used a $75 toilet seat? It's a thing of beauty!

 

[Thraxz]

Yes, it's WHITE... and COLD!

 

[rockyracoon]

Imagine going through all the work to start fixing your home and pumping out all the water, just to have all of your work destroyed. If you think of it that way, then yes, it is a big loss. These people can't seem to catch a break.

here's the problem: THIS IS NOT A FUCKING SURPRISE!!!!!. blame the govt, as well they should be blamed for being unprepared! but dont pretend like the residents didnt know the dangers of living where they lived. this was a ticking time bomb. i live in illinois, and about every 2 years i see the same people who live in the mississippi flood basin on tv talking about how they lost their house in the FLOOD, but how they plan to fucking REBUILD. dont get me wrong, i have absolute compassion for the people who have lost their homes, lives, family and friends to distaster. but watch how after all is said and done, people just rebuild in the same places. claiming such ignorant views like, "we"re strong, and we'll rebound against all this..." what a load of shit!!! nature is a much more dominant force than govt, and everything else. and it doesnt matter how you vote, it can affect us all. i guess what im saying is: can we please learn something from this tragedy rather than just feeling sorry for people. i know that's totally against everything the govt stands for, but maybe, just maybe we can start to take a proactive solution!!!

 

[Rose Immortal]

Much as I think it's stupid to build in some locations, I really don't know how the government could ban people from living in places without outright buying the land.

Plus--some people really ARE so strongly attached to their home area that they feel it's worth the risk. I knew a couple who lived not very far from the beach once in a hurricane-prone area, and they felt so strongly that it didn't matter of their home got wiped off the map--they'd be right back to build in the same spot. Their idea was it was theirs and they darned well weren't going to be permanently run off their property.

 

[Thraxz]

Much as I think it's stupid to build in some locations, I really don't know how the government could ban people from living in places without outright buying the land.

Two words, stop pumping.