HURRICANE SEASON 2008

[Bianca]

                                   Fla. homes evacuated as waters rise in wake of Fay






By SARAH LARIMER,
Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 3 minutes ago
Aug. 24, 2008
 
MIAMI - Flooding left behind by Tropical Storm Fay forced residents in parts of northern Florida out of their homes Sunday, while the storm's remnants were forecast to dump several inches of rain on at least four other states.
 
Officials ferried people by boat from homes in DeBary, 25 miles north of Orlando, where some streets were under 4 feet of water, and flooded neighborhoods in and around Tallahassee.

"The water is very deep. It's already at everybody's door," said Debra Galloway, who lives in the Timber Lake subdivision east of Tallahassee. She was still at home Sunday evening but had no power and said if the rain continued, she would join neighbors who had already left by boat.

Fay made landfall a record four times in Florida before it was downgraded to a tropical depression late Saturday. The storm caused widespread flooding as it zigzagged across Florida for nearly a week.

Fay has been blamed for 13 deaths in the U.S., 11 in Florida and one each in Alabama and Georgia. A total of 23 died in Haiti and the Dominican Republic from flooding.

The storm's remnants were forecast to bring several inches of rain to Alabama, Mississippi, eastern Louisiana and Tennessee on Sunday and Monday.

President Bush declared four hard-hit Florida counties disaster areas. The declaration makes funds available for emergency work and repairs to governments in Brevard, Monroe, Okeechobee and St. Lucie counties. More could be added later.

On Sunday, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist visited the site of heavy flooding in Wakulla County in the Florida Panhandle.

"I think this storm is close to being over," Crist told Red Cross volunteers. "I don't know of one staying here longer."

Crist stopped at the Riverside Cafe on the banks of the St. Marks River, where a pole indicates the water level of past storms. While Hurricane Dennis brought 4 feet of water in 2005, owner Stan West said Fay brought only about 6 inches.

"God was good to us," West said as he served Crist fried and raw oysters.

But forecasters said West and others along the St. Marks River and similar waterways may not be in the clear.

The river was recorded at 6.9 feet on Friday. On Sunday, it was at 12.89 feet, and it may take some time for the water to recede, said Todd Hamill, a forecaster at the Southeast River Forecast Center in Georgia.

The 310-mile St. Johns River, which runs north from central Florida to the far northeast corner of the state, is the most swollen it has been since the 2004 hurricane season, Hamill said. On Wednesday, it was at 3.5 feet at one point. Four days of heavy rain later, it was at 10.2 feet.

"The water had nowhere to go," he said.

In Timber Lake, the 300-home subdivision near Tallahassee, firefighters, police and sheriff's deputies spent Saturday night and all day Sunday ferrying people out after a large holding pond overflowed.

As many as 100 homes were flooded, while the rest were cut off from the subdivision's only entrance road. Water rose near the tops of mailboxes, stranding several cars, and residents were told it could be days before power was restored because transformers were underwater.

Lagorris Smith, 35, went back to his house by boat to get his 6-year-old daughter's backpack and school work. He had gotten his family out just as water reached his house, though it had not flooded by Sunday evening.

"We were blessed," said Smith, who said he had never seen such bad flooding in seven years in the subdivision.

Jason Russell, 34, closed Friday on a new house in a different neighborhood. He hadn't intended to move until next weekend, but after the power went out, he spent Sunday emptying his Timber Lake house.

"We're getting the hell out of here," said Russell, whose face was covered in sweat as he and his brother-in-law hauled a small freezer up a dirt path and through the woods, the only way out of the subdivision besides the flooded main road. "This sucks."

In other states, the rain was welcome. Some areas expected to get heavy rain have been suffering long-term drought conditions.

In Huntsville, Ala., National Weather Service senior forecaster Andy Kula said the five-day rainfall projection through Friday — 6 to 7 inches south of the Tennessee River and 3 to 4 inches north of the river — would spread out and was not expected to create a flood problem.

"We need something like this to recharge the soil. It probably won't be a total drought-buster," Kula said.

[Bianca]

                                      Tropical storm Julio hits Mexico's Baja California





By Susy Buchanan
2 hours, 23 minutes ago
Aug. 24, 2008
 
LOS CABOS (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Julio drenched Mexico's Baja California on Sunday and hundreds of residents fled poor neighborhoods that were in danger of flooding near the popular tourist resort of Los Cabos.
 
The storm was earlier reported to be carrying winds of 50 mph (80 kph) over the eastern Pacific Ocean before it hit the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula on Sunday afternoon.

"Right now we have five emergency shelters activated and we have the potential to open 14 if necessary," local emergency official Juan Carlos Guevara told Reuters.

"Hotels are open and guests are being cared for by the hotel's own security," he said. Some tourists walked along the beaches to watch 8-foot-high (2.4-m-high) waves pound the shore. Others hunkered down in their rooms to wait out the storm.

The port at Los Cabos, popular with cruise ships, was closed, but all the country's major oil exporting ports remained open, Mexico's Transport Ministry said in a statement.

Julio, the 10th named storm of the Pacific hurricane season, could dump up to 6 inches of rain in the area.

Emergency officials worry shanty towns built in dry river beds could be overwhelmed by flash floods if heavy rains fall in the mountains behind Los Cabos.

Migrants from southern Mexico flock to the region to work in construction or at resorts, many building makeshift shacks in low-lying areas out of car hoods, plywood and plastic tarps.

Julio is expected to weaken over the next couple of days and will likely be downgraded to a tropical depression by late Monday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said in a statement.

The storm's center was unlikely to reach the northern town of Ensenada where the Sempra liquefied natural gas terminal is scheduled to open next week, forecasts said.

(Additional reporting by Mica Rosenberg in Mexico City; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

[Bianca]

                                        Fay's remnants spread rain, storms across South






By SARAH LARIMER,
Associated Press Writer
5 minutes ago

Aug. 25, 2005
 
The remnants of Tropical Storm Fay spread over a wide swath of the South on Monday, bringing heavy rain and wind as forecasters warned of possible flash flooding and tornadoes from Louisiana to Georgia.
 
The rain could be good news for some, including farmers looking for a break from a long-term drought that stretches from parts of Louisiana through the Carolinas into Virginia.

In Florida, drenched by Fay last week, floods forced residents in northern parts of the state out of homes Sunday. Some residents started cleaning up Monday as water slowly receded in places, while others saw swollen rivers continue to rise.

As Fay ebbed, a new storm was brewing. The seventh tropical depression of the Atlantic hurricane season formed in the central Caribbean and was heading for the Dominican Republic and Haiti, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

Thunderstorms, flash flooding and isolated tornadoes were a possibility Monday from northwestern Georgia through Alabama and Mississippi to southeastern Louisiana, all due to remains of Fay, forecasters said.

In Georgia, a family member said Fay's winds knocked an oak tree onto the Plains home of former President Jimmy Carter late on Saturday. One of the former president's sons, Jeff Carter, said both his father and his mother, Rosalynn Carter, were at home at the time but neither was hurt.

The storm's remnants were likely to bring several inches of rain to Alabama, Mississippi, eastern Louisiana and Tennessee. Many hoped the storm could bring much-needed relief from a regional drought.

"We need something like this to recharge the soil. It probably won't be a total drought-buster," said National Weather Service senior forecaster Andy Kula in Huntsville, Ala.

Rain was also reaching western North Carolina's parched mountains. Meteorologist Doug Outlaw at the National Weather Service in Greer, S.C., said some areas of extreme southwestern North Carolina had gotten as much as an inch of rain as remnants of Fay moved in from northeast Georgia, where as much as 3 to 4 inches had fallen.

Fay made landfall a record four times in Florida before it was downgraded to a tropical depression late Saturday. The storm caused widespread flooding as it zigzagged across Florida for nearly a week.

Fay has been blamed for 13 deaths in the U.S., 11 in Florida and one each in Alabama and Georgia. A total of 23 died in Haiti and the Dominican Republic from flooding.

President Bush declared four hard-hit Florida counties disaster areas. The declaration makes funds available for emergency work and repairs to governments in Brevard, Monroe, Okeechobee and St. Lucie counties. More could be added later.

___

[Kristina]

Glad you made it through that storm alright, Bianca, I can only imagine how bad it must have been, from the reports we were getting.

[Bianca]

Thank you, Kristina.

This time it was not too bad where I live.

To be truthful, after almost 20 years, one is pretty well ready for these occurrences.

Frankly, unless we get a hurricane the size and strength of Andrew, we seem to be
able to cope.  There are all kinds of shelters and, as I said above, our new Governor,
even if a Repug, is not named BUSH.  He kind of 'jumped the gun', but he played
better 'safe than sorry' and we are grateful.

People may wonder why we stay, well, this is 'paradise' from November 1st to June 1st
and a lot in between.  Personally, not to ever be FREEZING COLD is what keeps me here.

I always joke that, if I ever should have to leave, it would only be "OLA, FIDEL/RAUL"
for me......

Thank you again, Kristina, for your kind concern, I REALLY appreciate it!!!

Hugs,
b

[Bianca]

OOPS, Kristina,

here comes another one:






                             Tropical Storm Gustav takes aim at Haiti, Dominican Republic




Aug. 25, 2008


                                                              Story Highlights



Tropical storm could produce more than 2 feet of rain in areas, predict forecasters

Gustav had maximum sustained winds near 60 mph, a weather advisory said

Hurricane warnings were in effect for parts of the Dominican Republic and Haiti

Gustav is the seventh named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season


     
(CNN) -- Tropical Storm Gustav formed Monday in the central Caribbean, the National Hurricane Center said.

The NHC warned the storm could produce more than 2 feet of rain in some areas.

At 2 p.m. ET, Gustav had maximum sustained winds near 60 mph, the NHC said in an advisory. It was centered 225 miles southeast of Port Au Prince, Haiti.

"A gradual decrease in forward speed is expected over the next day or two. On the forecast track the center of Gustav will be moving near or over southwestern Haiti on Tuesday," the advisory said.

Hurricane warnings were in effect for parts of the Dominican Republic and Haiti -- meaning hurricane conditions were expected in the warning area within 24 hours.

Gustav is expected to produce up to 6 inches of rain over Hispaniola, "with isolated maximum amounts of 25 inches possible," the NHC advisory said.

Parts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic were battered less than two weeks ago by Tropical Storm Fay. At least 10 people died in Haiti as the storm swept through.

Gustav is the seventh named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.

[Bianca]

                                        Tropical Storm Gustav bears down on Haiti






By Jim Loney
46 minutes ago
Aug. 26, 2008
 
MIAMI (Reuters) - The Atlantic hurricane season's seventh tropical storm formed in the central Caribbean on Monday and could strengthen into a hurricane before striking vulnerable Haiti, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
 
 
Tropical Storm Gustav threatened the impoverished Caribbean nation of 9 million with up to 25 inches of rain in some place, which could trigger deadly floods and mudslides.

It strengthened late on Monday and was expected to become a hurricane and hit Hispaniola, the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, on Tuesday.

Oil prices rose as Gustav stirred concerns about disruptions to U.S. oil and gas output in the Gulf of Mexico and served as another reminder that this six-month storm season is shaping up to be busier than usual. At least one computer forecasting model showed the storm could enter the Gulf.

Hurricane warnings were issued for the southern coasts of the Dominican Republic and Haiti west of Barahona.

Gustav was about 150 miles south-southeast of Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, at 11 p.m. on Monday (0300 GMT on Tuesday) and was moving toward the northwest at 12 mph (19 kph), the Miami-based hurricane center said.

The storm's top sustained winds were near 70 mph (110 kph), and the center forecast the storm would become a hurricane on Tuesday, with winds of at least 74 mph (120 kph).

The storm was expected to be near or over southwest Haiti on Tuesday.

[Bianca]

'INTENSE RAINS'

Haiti was still recovering from the passage of Tropical Storm Fay, the remnants of which were causing flooding across the U.S. southeastern states. Fay may have killed more than 50 people in Haiti last week, including dozens missing after floodwaters swept a bus down a river.

Forecasters said Gustav could produce rainfall of 5 to 7 inches over Hispaniola, with the possibility of 15 to 25 inches in isolated areas.

"These intense rains may produce life-threatening flash floods and mudslides," the hurricane center said.

Haiti is vulnerable to devastating floods because its hillsides have been stripped of trees by people desperate for charcoal to be used as cooking fuel. In 2004, Tropical Storm Jeanne was blamed for flooding that killed some 3,000 people and spring floods killed 2,000 earlier that year.

The official forecast called for Gustav to move to the northwest across Haiti and over Cuba toward the Gulf of Mexico, but the computer models used to predict the future path of hurricanes disagreed significantly.

Some had it moving more toward the west, south of Cuba in the direction of Jamaica and then Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. Another showed Gustav moving over Cuba and into the Gulf. Yet another had it crossing Hispaniola and heading into the open Atlantic.

Energy markets have been riveted by the movements of tropical storms and hurricanes since the devastating Atlantic hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005, when a series of storms disrupted oil and gas production.

The 2005 season saw Katrina, the costliest hurricane in U.S. history with some $80 billion in damage, as well as Rita and Wilma, all of which raged through the Gulf.

(Additional reporting by Michael Christie in Miami; editing by Tom Brown and Mohammad Zargham)

[cleasterwood]

Well, now we have Hurricane Gustav!
It's below Haiti & going to stay over the warm waters of the Caribbean.   To me, it seems to be following Fay's path & I personally think it will turn towards us over the next day.  The high pressure is going to determine Gustav's path.  There is yet another wave in the Atlantic with a 50% chance of development.    This isn't even the height of storm season. 

The kitesurfer, however, survived & is out of the hospital.  They did have to induce a coma.  He has "no regrets about the accident" & will be "right back out there with the rest of them".  $75,000-100,000  in hospital bills and he has no insurance.  Wonder who's going to pay that bill? 

I can't say it enough: this is going to be a really bad hurricane season. 

Keeping safe,
Lynn

[Bianca]

You're right, Lynn!

Gustav seems to be Fay's 'evil twin'.

Please, you and your loved ones be careful, we'll make it.....

Keep posting in, so we won't worry about you.  I will be ok because my building is also H shelter.
At worst, we will lose power.

Love, Light and blessings,
b

[Volitzer]

Thanks for the information.  Confirms a bunch of rumors I've been hearing about another G-named hurricane.

[Bianca]

Oh, Vol -

Please forgive me, I forgot you were in Florida too....Still in Jacksonville?

You and your 'sweetie' OK?

Keep posting to let us know, like us, for the duration.


Hugs & Blessings,
b

[Bianca]

                                     Hurricane Gustav hits Haiti, drives up oil prices






By JONATHAN M. KATZ,
Associated Press Writer
52 minutes ago
Aug. 26, 2008
 
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Hurricane Gustav dumped torrential rains across southern Haiti on Tuesday, killing at least one man and threatening crops amid protests over high food prices. Global fuel futures soared on fears Gustav could move into the Gulf of Mexico as an "extremely dangerous" storm.
 
Trees toppled as the storm lingered for hours over Haiti's poor, deforested southern peninsula, and water levels were rising in banana, bean and vegetable fields. One man was killed in a landslide in the mountain town of Benet, civil protection director Marie Alta Jean-Baptiste told Radio Metropole.

"If the rain continues, we'll be flooded," U.N. food consultant Jean Gardy said from the southeastern town of Marigot.

Hundreds of people in coastal Les Cayes ignored government warnings to seek shelter, instead throwing rocks to protest the high cost of living in the Western Hemisphere's poorest country. Witnesses said U.N. peacekeepers used tear gas to disperse the crowd.

Haiti is a tinderbox because of soaring food prices, which in April led to deadly protests and the ouster of the nation's prime minister. It was difficult to ascertain the extent of the damage to the nation's crops on Tuesday because of Haiti's poor infrastructure and faulty communications.

Oil prices shot up $5 a barrel Tuesday after the National Hurricane Center predicted Gustav could enter the gulf as a major hurricane this weekend. Prices of futures in natural gas, heating oil and gasoline also rose.

If Gustav continues on its path, it could drive up U.S. gasoline prices by 10 cents a gallon ahead of Labor Day weekend, predicted James Cordier, president of Tampa, Florida-based Liberty Trading Group and OptionSellers.com.

"Most indications are that Gustav will be an extremely dangerous hurricane in the northwestern Caribbean Sea in a few days," the Miami-based hurricane center said.

Gustav roared ashore Tuesday afternoon near the city of Jacmel with top sustained winds near 90 mph (145 kph). Heavy rains pelted the area as winds bent palm trees and kicked up surf along waterfronts of dilapidated wooden buildings.

Patrice Tallyrand, 43, fled with his family to a friend's home after Gustav knocked down four trees in their back yard in the southern town of Kabik.

"We had to leave the house before it got worse," he said.

Forty miles (65 kms) to the north, residents in the capital wrapped themselves in plastic sheeting against the rain and wind as they ran home in advance of the storm. Businesses closed early, and stranded travelers mobbed the American Airlines counter at the airport after the airline canceled all flights.

"I knew it was coming, but I was hoping to be out before it came," said Jody Stoltzfus, a 27-year-old missionary who had planned a visit home to Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Forecasters said Gustav should slice along the southern coast of Cuba all week and grow into a perilous Category 3 hurricane with 120 mph (190 kph) winds before entering the central gulf on Sunday. Forecasters were reluctant to predict the storm's path beyond the weekend, the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

A powerful storm in the gulf could force shutdowns on the offshore rigs that account for a quarter of U.S. crude production and much of its natural gas. Royal Dutch Shell PLC said it could begin evacuating workers as soon as Wednesday.

The U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had been expecting a direct hit, but later forecasts suggested the fiercest winds and rain will pass offshore. Base spokesman Bruce Lloyd said they were preparing for emergencies in any case.

More than 4,000 people were evacuated from their homes in the Dominican Republic, while in Jamaica, officials alerted shelters to prepare for possible evacuations Wednesday.

[Volitzer]

Oh, Vol -

Please forgive me, I forgot you were in Florida too....Still in Jacksonville?

You and your 'sweetie' OK?

Keep posting to let us know, like us, for the duration.


Hugs & Blessings,
b

   Don't feel bad my own family can't believe my success either.   

Bianca I know you are posting from Orlando but Lynn which part of Florida are you posting from again ??

My sweetie and I just saw a lot of rain and wind here in Jacksonville.

She's reading this too.  + 

[Bianca]

NO, No, Vol-

I am in ST. PETERSBURG, on the Gulf of Mexico - Central Florida.


Hi, "Sweetie" - so good to have you aboard, too.


Stay safe, both of you!!!


Hugs and blessings,

b