Hurricane Irene Looks 'Terrifying' From Space, Astronaut Says

Hurricane Irene is bearing down on the U.S. East Coast and has turned into a frightening storm, according to an astronaut on the International Space Station. NASA astronaut Mike Fossum said that Hurricane Irene, like all hurricanes, looks "terrifying from above," and its evolution into a major storm this week has been unmistakable from orbit. "We saw a big change in the structure of the storm over the several days that we've watched her, especially yesterday," Fossum told SPACE.com today (Aug. 25) during a video interview from space. Hurricane Irene is currently a Category 3 storm with winds of 115 mph (185 kph) that is battering the Bahamas. Space station astronauts and satellites have kept a constant watch on the growing storm.

From: NASA TV
Station Cameras Capture New Views of Major Hurricane Irene

From 230 miles above the Earth, cameras on the International Space Station captured new views of powerful Hurricane Irene as it churned over the Bahamas at 3:10 p.m. EDT on August 24, 2011. Irene is moving to the northwest as a Category 3 hurricane, packing winds of 120 miles an hour. Irene is expected to strengthen to a Category 4 storm as it heads toward the Outer Banks of North Carolina, the Eastern Seaboard and the middle Atlantic and New England states.
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?collection_id=14555&am...

Governor Christie is predicting this to be the worst hurricane to ever hit New Jersey. All residents of Long Beach Island must leave the Island by mid day tomorrow

8/26/11.First an earthquake and now a hurricane. And all in the same week.
New Jersey http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey
Satellite map view of New Jersey http://maps.google.com/maps?q=40,-74.5&ll=40.061257,-74.481812&spn=1.933919,4.768066&t=h&z=8&vpsrc=6

August 25, 2011 – MIAMI – There is potential for the worst hurricane impacts in 50 years along the northern part of the Atlantic Seaboard as Irene plows northward. The impacts on lives, property, commerce and travel will be serious. While Irene is not forecast to track as far west, nor as fast, as Hazel did in 1954, it will ride up along the mid-Atlantic coast in such a way as to inflict major damage in many coastal and some inland communities. In today’s dollars, Hazel was a multi-billion-dollar storm and reached Category 4 at peak intensity. Irene will track farther east than Hazel, and farther west than Bob (1991). Meteorologist Heather Buchman compares Irene to storms in the past. While Irene is expected to weaken Saturday into Sunday after encountering cooler waters in northern latitudes, that will not happen fast enough to prevent serious problems from wind, rain and ocean water. If you live near the projected path of Irene, you are at risk for power outages, flooding problems and property damage with this storm. -Accuweather

Preparations for Irene.

Check your generators and get gas.

Bug out bags, check them for additional needed items and get to the store today.

Need meds? Get them ready to go in the bag, along with any feminine hygine products, diapers, deodorants, toothpaste and brushes, combs, etc.

Buy a bunch of batteries for your flashlights, and get new flashlights if you need them.

Charge your cell phones and lap tops and keep them charged to full.

Put several changes of clothes for each member of your family in a suitcase. If you don't have to use them, put them back in the drawers on Sunday. Grab undies, socks, shoes, etc.

Cash - Small denominations rather than large bills.

Foods which can be easily eaten by your families. Canned goods, and dry goods one can put in a plastic bin for the next couple of days, including dry milk or shelf type milk that doesn't require refrigeration.

Think of foods that can be warmed on a grill if there is no electricity or eaten cold. Beans, tuna, spam, soup, any protein items the kids will eat, too, like spagetti and meatballs, cereals, cookies for snacks, etc., anything dry should be put in a baggie (gallon size) and into a large plastic container. A jar of instant coffee and/or tea bags.
Get coolers ready for ice. Once they know exactly when Irene will visit an area go out several hours in advance and get some ice and pizza! Pizza can be put in plastic baggies and thrown on the ice and kept cold for a quick meal.

Water. Get a couple of cases and set them aside. Forget you have them if this thing blows over. They will last for a long while if kept dry and cool.

Pets. Buy double the food you normally purchase. If supply lines are broken between the warehouses and grocery stores, the pets will need food, too.

Grab some items to keep kids occupied, coloring books, books, games, whatever. Stick them in a zip-lock bag, just in case.

A couple of pair of rubber gloves, paper towels, and trash bags. If the sewers back up you don't know what you'll have to pick up or pick through. The trash bags will also make excellent ponchos for rain gear or put in waste basket or 5 gallon for bathroom duty - set a toilet seat on top (unscrew what is there in the house if toilets can't be used and use on top of bucket).

Take a look around outside. If high winds hit, umbrellas, trash cans, flower pots, etc., can become projectiles. Store everything that's not connected to the ground indoors.

Try to keep your cars away from trees or anything that can fall on it. Get your gas for your cars ASAP. Keep filled up. Get several propane tanks for the grills.

More survival info on this thread: http://www.themistsofavalon.net/t3104-requesting-assistance-to-help-clueless-east-coast-us-residents

http://www.survivalblog.com/

Is it radioactive rain from Fukushima that is in this hurricane?

I don't think so, Irene formed in the Atlantic but the following isn't too comforting for the northern hemisphere.



http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2011/08/25/fukushima-nuclear-disaster-radiation-release-equal-to-168-hiroshima-bombs/

Keep up to date with this link...

http://www.accuweather.com/video.asp

Nice one Micjer.

I'm now in the path of this thing:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at4.shtml?5-daynl?large#contents

Right in the center of 8AM Monday.

We will pray for you metaw3.

Generally when hurricanes reach land the wind diminishes but there is still a lot of rainfall. If not on high ground and near areas that flood it would be best to have plans for evacuation in place (destination confirmed, the car packed, gassed up with extra 5 gallon container and ready to go).

Please keep us in the information loop and let us know how you are doing.


This is where Brook and Andy are.

Irene heading to North Carolina first
Dale Eck, Director of the Global Forecast Center, The Weather Channel
Aug 26, 2011 10:53 am ET
- Hurricane Irene poses an extraordinary threat and is one that no one has yet experienced from North Carolina to the mid_Atlantic to the Northeast to New England.
- Hurricane Irene is a high end category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
- As of 11 a.m. Eastern Time Friday, the center of Hurricane Irene is located about 330 miles south-southwest of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, has winds near 105 miles per hour, and was moving to the north at 14 miles per hour.
- Some of the outer rain bands from Irene will brush FL, GA, and SC coasts Friday into Friday night.
- Rain and wind will increase steadily from northeast SC and the coast of NC Friday afternoon with hurricane conditions likely along the eastern NC coast later Friday night.
- The center of Irene is expected to make landfall as a borderline category 2 or 3 hurricane Saturday morning in eastern North Carolina, most likely between Morehead City and Hatteras, but tropical storm conditions are possible as far inland as I-95 in North Carolina, with hurricane conditions possible as far as 40 miles from the coast.
- Hurricane conditions are expected for much of Saturday along the Outer Banks, with parts of Highway 12 likely to be washed out from storm surge and waves on top of that surge.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT4+shtml/221302.shtml

HAZARDS AFFECTING LAND
----------------------
WIND...TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO FIRST REACH THE
SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE WARNING AREA THIS AFTERNOON. HURRICANE
FORCE WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO FIRST REACH THE HURRICANE WARNING AREA
TONIGHT OR SATURDAY MORNING...AND THEN SPREAD NORTHWARD IN THE
WARNING AREA THROUGH SUNDAY.

STORM SURGE...AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS STORM SURGE WILL RAISE WATER
LEVELS BY AS MUCH AS 6 TO 11 FEET ABOVE GROUND LEVEL IN THE
HURRICANE WARNING AREA IN NORTH CAROLINA...INCLUDING THE ALBEMARLE
AND PAMLICO SOUNDS. STORM SURGE WILL RAISE WATER LEVELS BY AS MUCH
AS 4 TO 8 FEET ABOVE GROUND LEVEL OVER SOUTHERN POTIONS OF THE
CHESAPEAKE BAY...INCLUDING TRIBUTARIES...AND THE EASTERN SHORE OF
THE DELMARVA PENINSULA. STORM SURGE WILL RAISE WATER LEVELS BY AS
MUCH AS 3 TO 6 FEET ABOVE GROUND LEVEL ALONG THE JERSEY SHORE.
NEAR THE COAST...THE SURGE WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY LARGE...
DESTRUCTIVE...AND LIFE-THREATENING WAVES.

RAINFALL...IRENE IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF
6 TO 10 INCHES...WITH ISOLATED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF 15 INCHES...FROM
EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA NORTHWARD THROUGH THE MID-ATLANTIC STATES
INTO NEW ENGLAND THROUGH MONDAY MORNING. THESE RAINS COULD
CAUSE WIDESPREAD FLOODING AND LIFE-THREATENING FLASH FLOODS.

SURF...LARGE SWELLS GENERATED BY IRENE ARE AFFECTING PORTIONS OF THE
COAST OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES. THESE SWELLS WILL CAUSE
LIFE-THREATENING SURF AND RIP CURRENT CONDITIONS.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE DECREASED TO NEAR 105 MPH...165
KM/H...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. IRENE IS A CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE ON THE
SAFFIR-SIMPSON HURRICANE WIND SCALE. LITTLE CHANGE IN STRENGTH IS
FORECAST BEFORE IRENE REACHES THE COAST OF NORTH CAROLINA.

Discussion: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCDAT4+shtml/260900.shtml?

Stats: http://www.stormpulse.com/hurricane-irene-2011

Cone: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at4.shtml?5-daynl?large#contents

Radar: http://radar.weather.gov/radar.php?rid=mhx&product=N0R&overlay=11101111&loop=no

Hurricane Irene is barreling toward North Carolina early Friday with landfall expected Saturday between 10 a.m. and noon. Forecasters said the storm will hit eastern North Carolina as a Category 3 storm with winds estimated at 115 miles per hour. Mandatory evacuations of coastal North Carolina residents will take place throughout the day on Friday. Officials are expected to order evacuations Friday as far north as New Jersey. Forecasters said early Friday the storm is as large as the Southeast, and has the potential to affect as many as 65 million people as it moves north along the East Coast of the U.S.

Even the mayor of New York City is considering mandatory evacuations. Officials there are watching forecasts to determine the storm’s anticipated strength as it moves north. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said officials expect to shut down the city's entire transit system Saturday afternoon ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Irene. He said service likely won't be available again until sometime Monday or perhaps later. A transportation official said the system cannot operate with sustained winds of 39 mph
read more at link...

Carol wrote:
We will pray for you metaw3.

I appreciate it, thank you, but it won't be that bad. Just winds up to 62mph which is unusual here.

Here is a little humour:
http://www.borowitzreport.com/2011/08/26/internet-outages-from-hurricane-could-force-people-to-interact-with-other-people-officials-warn/

Internet Outages from Hurricane Could Force People to Interact with Other People, Officials Warn

FEMA: Prepare for Unwanted Eye Contact, Awkward Silences


WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)
– As Hurricane Irene prepared to batter the East Coast of the United
States, federal disaster officials warned that Internet outages caused
by the storm could force people to interact with other people for the
first time in years.

News of the possible interpersonal interactions created panic up and
down the coast as residents braced themselves for the horror of awkward
silences and unwanted eye contact.

And as officials warned people in the hurricane zone to stay indoors,
residents feared the worst: conversations with members of their
immediate family.

More at link

I've heard it is losing its strength.

TROPICAL STORM IRENE TROPICAL CYCLONE UPDATE
NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL092011
900 AM EDT SUN AUG 28 2011

...CENTER OF IRENE MOVES OVER NEW YORK CITY...

REPORTS FROM AN AIR FORCE HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT AND NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATE THAT THE CENTER OF IRENE
MOVED OVER NEW YORK CITY AROUND 900 AM EDT...1300 UTC. IRENE HAS
WEAKENED TO A TROPICAL STORM AND THE ESTIMATED INTENSITY AT
LANDFALL WAS 65 MPH...100 KM/H.

SUMMARY OF 900 AM EDT...1300 UTC...INFORMATION
--------------------------------------------------
LOCATION...40.7N 74.0W
ABOUT 0 MI...0 KM N OF NEW YORK CITY
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...65 MPH...100 KM/H
PRESENT MOVEMENT...NNE OR 20 DEGREES AT 26 MPH...43 KM/H
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...965 MB...28.50 INCHES
Storm hits a ghost town: New York streets empty as up to 200,000 lose power and city is put on TORNADO watch amid flood fears
Power cuts reported to be affecting 200,000 New Yorkers
Flood waters force storm shelter to be evacuated in Hoboken
Mayor warns New Yorkers will be waking up to possible hurricane and TORNADO damage
The time for evacuation is over, Mayor Bloomberg says as he urges residents to stay indoors
Unprecedented evacuation of five New York hospitals
Hurricane kills ten including two children
Nuclear reactor shuts down in Maryland after it is damaged by flying debris


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2030977/Hurricane-Irene-path-2011-Flooding-fears-Irene-begins-batter-New-York.html#ixzz1WKkHTllN

Just got this first hand report from our Hawaiian friends who moved to New Jersey.

We made it thru the storm! Our house is fine. Neighbors all have water in their basements. Our state is a mess. Trees down everywhere, flooding everywhere, electricity out (we have ours). Just a big ol mess.

Sirens going non stop for fire trucks, ambulances and police. They are working their butts off.

Driving to work tomorrow should be fun! But we all safe and sound. Now the winds have arrived and they are strong! Feels like Waikoloa!

It's started here. I'm gonna have the eye of the storm right over my city at 2AM. Winds are already strong. People didn't take heed at all. They all thought it was just hype. Everyone still have their patio furnitures on their balcony. They had days to prepare.

Sometimes that is just the way it is with some folks metaw3. It's called denial. Then the wake-up call.

Take care metaw . I have never been in one of those . It will be interesting to have your update on Irene. Don't let her swallow your piano .
With you in thoughts and Heart.



Love for You
mudra

It was nothing. It went quiet a couple of hours after I posted yesterday, and there was nothing at 2AM. I don't think the winds went higher than 50mph.

It has been interesting as a test run to see how people would prepare when warned. They wouldn't. At least in Quebec.

metaw3 wrote:It was nothing. It went quiet a couple of hours after I posted yesterday, and there was nothing at 2AM. I don't think the winds went higher than 50mph.

It has been interesting as a test run to see how people would prepare when warned. They wouldn't. At least in Quebec.

Good to see you metaw :)
Maybe they gave up watching TV or listening to the radio

Love from me
mudra

Fox News Irene PSYOP Fail - Look at the size of the SUVs compared to her

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82kAKimV0tw


Love Always
mudra

mudra wrote:
Maybe they gave up watching TV or listening to the radio

They sure still watch it as a entertainment. They rather gave up on assessing danger if it's not immediate.

metaw3 wrote:

mudra wrote:
Maybe they gave up watching TV or listening to the radio

They sure still watch it as a entertainment. They rather gave up on assessing danger if it's not immediate.

Not even immediate as in "we hit an iceberg" but rather as in "we've got water up to our ankles".