Scientific Opinion is always changing, so i take what they say with a pinch of salt!
Im waiting for the bombshell that 20 smokes a day is actually GOOD for you!
i heard today that coffee is good for you......
The earth has been around for a damn sight longer than we have and will out last us all, Mother Nature always finds a way, as Dr. Ian Malcolm mused in Jurassic Park :)
Is Katrina just a precursor of things to come?
by zagor 34 Replies latest jw friends
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skinnyboy
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zagor
Apparently it was ...
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Hurricane center: Deadly Wilma eyeing Florida
Category 5 storm prompts Keys evacuation
Wednesday, October 19, 2005; Posted: 5:37 p.m. EDT (21:37 GMT)
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- If Hurricane Wilma hits Florida this weekend as predicted, it could result in many deaths and a tremendous storm surge, the nation's chief hurricane forecaster said Wednesday.
Officials ordered nonresidents in the Florida Keys to evacuate in advance of the storm -- which as of 5 p.m. ET was a dangerous Category 5 hurricane off Mexico.
"We had well over a thousand lives lost in Katrina," said Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
"If Wilma comes into the Florida coast as a Category 3 or 4 hurricane, that potential for large loss of life is with us here with this hurricane."
Forecasters said the storm -- with 160 mph (260 kph) sustained winds -- registered the lowest-recorded barometric pressure of any Atlantic basin hurricane -- an indication of its intensity. ( Watch Mayfield's warning about Hurricane Wilma -- 3:19 )
The hurricane center reported Wilma's barometric pressure Wednesday at 882 millibars -- below the 1988 record of 888 millibars set by Hurricane Gilbert. Storms with low barometric pressure are typically more intense.
A hurricane warning was in effect from San Felipe to Tulum on the Yucatan Peninsula, including Cozumel, the hurricane center said.
The head of Haiti's civil protection agency, Maria Alta Jean-Baptiste, told The Associated Press the storm's outer bands caused flooding and landslides that killed at least 11 people since Monday and forced at least 2,000 families from their homes.
"The situation is not catastrophic, but if the rains pick up, it could become very difficult for some people," Jean-Baptiste told AP.
As a tropical depression, Wilma already had been blamed for one death in Jamaica on Sunday, AP reported.
Forecasters said southwest Florida could start feeling the effects of Wilma on Saturday.
"I will assure you that if this one makes landfall on the Gulf Coast of Florida, there will be a tremendous storm surge," Mayfield said.
"And if it's a Category 4, we could easily have 15 to 20 feet near and south of where the center crosses the coast with up to even 25 feet up into the bays and the rivers."
Floridians stock up
Projections for Wilma's path suggest the storm may skirt the western tip of Cuba on Friday, possibly as a Category 4 storm with winds of greater than 130 mph, before curving eastward and heading toward the southwestern Florida coast.
In his 5 p.m. update, Mayfield emphasized the uncertainty in Wilma's long-term forecast, saying computer models had become more divergent over the course of the day.
In southwest Florida, residents stocked up on supplies. "I think since Katrina, everyone is more apprehensive about the situation as far as hurricanes go," Pat Schmidt, 74, told the AP while shopping at a Port Charlotte store.
Andrea Yerger, 48, of Port Charlotte, was buying material to protect her house in advance of Wilma. "People have learned their lesson and know better how to prepare," she told AP. "We're not waiting till the last minute anymore." (Full story)
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Wednesday the state will order evacuations in the coming days and has already begun to pre-stage relief supplies, such as ice and water.
Monroe County officials Wednesday ordered tourists to leave the Florida Keys beginning at noon, closed state parks and lifted the toll on the bridge that connects the Keys with mainland Florida.
Wilma strengthened on Wednesday within a matter of a few hours -- at 1 a.m. ET, the hurricane center reported the storm had 150 mph winds, taking it from a Category 2 to a Category 4. Just 90 minutes later, the center reported Wilma had maximum sustained winds of 175 mph and higher gusts.
As of 5 p.m. ET, the center of the storm was about 285 miles southeast of Cozumel, Mexico. It was wobbling generally toward the west-northwest at nearly 7 mph and is expected to turn to the northwest during the next 24 hours, the hurricane center said.
Hurricane-force winds extended outward about 60 miles from the eye, and tropical-storm-force winds stretched up to 230 miles from the center.
Wilma is the third Category 5 storm this year, preceded by Hurricane Katrina, which killed a confirmed 1,250 people when it slammed into Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama as a Category 4 storm on August 29, and Hurricane Rita, which hit Louisiana and Texas on September 24 as a Category 3. Nine deaths have been blamed on Rita.
Cuban hurricane watch
Cuba has issued a hurricane watch for the provinces of Matanzas westward through Pinar del Rio and for the Isle of Youth, according to the hurricane center.
A hurricane watch means hurricane conditions, including winds of at least 74 mph, are possible within 36 hours. (Caribbean braces)
Cuban authorities have already evacuated residents in the eastern part of the country after the outer bands of Wilma dumped heavy rain as it passed south of the island.
The hurricane center said Cuba could get anywhere from 10 to 15 inches of rain from Wilma, with some areas getting socked with as much as 25 inches.
A stretch of the Honduran coast is under a tropical storm warning from the Nicaraguan border to Cabo Camaron -- as is Belize from the Mexican border to Belize City.
Additional rainfall accumulations of up to 10 inches, with up to 15 inches possible in some areas, are possible across the Cayman Islands and Jamaica through Thursday.
Pentagon prepares
Pentagon officials said Wednesday the Navy has placed three ships on standby to be called to duty if Wilma makes landfall in the United States.
In addition, officials said, Homestead Air Reserve Base, south of Miami, has been designated as a mobilization center for aid and equipment to be collected and distributed to the affected areas.
A defense coordination officer has been dispatched by the Pentagon to Tallahassee, the state capital, to work with state officials on coordination with the military if Wilma hits Florida.
The officials said the storm was still too far out to make any immediate plans or to evacuate bases. The closest military base to the storm, as of Wednesday, is Naval Air Station Key West, which has not yet been ordered to evacuate.
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I didn't know that very small changes in surface temperature of ocean waters could have such a tremendous impact on strength of hurricane; I've just been talking to an expert in weather forecasting and was stunned by what he had to say. I think we might be in for a really long haul here.
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Cygnus
This kind of stuff is way over my head. I am merely concerned with how to keep my walkway free of snow this winter.
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Elsewhere
Is Katrina just a precursor of things to come?
Yes.
Hurricanes follow a 50-year cycle of intensity. The last time there were strong hurricanes was back around 1940.
In about 20 years things will calm down again.
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zagor
Hurricanes follow a 50-year cycle of intensity. The last time there were strong hurricanes was back around 1940.
In about 20 years things will calm down again.
Well jury is still out on that one. We don't really know, all our observations are based on, at best, sketchy record of the last 150 years. We still might be experiencing effects of global warming.