Where’s the Outrage?

From Weather.com:

Hurricane Gustav is bearing down on the Louisiana coast and conditions will worsen over the next 12 hours.

As of 6 a.m. CDT, Gustav was centered about 85 miles south of New Orleans and about 150 miles southeast of Lafayette, Louisiana. It is moving to the northwest at 16 mph.

View the Gustav Tracker.

During Sunday, Gustav went through an ebb and flow of intensity. Through the morning hours, Hurricane Gustav continued to weaken but by the mid-afternoon hours the pressure once again dropped and its satellite appearance improved. During the late night hour, however, intensity fluctuations stabilized. All this said, Gustav continues to be a dangerous Category 3 hurricane and will make landfall during the next few hours. (More… )

Tags: Domestic Issues, Environment by ecthompson
No Comments »

I’m not sure why Michael Chertoff still has a job. As head of Homeland Security he gets a failing grade from me.

One of the things on the long list of ‘to-do’ items for our next president is to re-organize the government. Why FEMA is in the dysfunctional department of Homeland Security is a head scratcher to me.

Tags: Environment by ecthompson
No Comments »

New Orleans has been evacuated. I hope and pray that everyone has gotten out.

Tags: Environment by ecthompson
No Comments »

I don’t think that New Orleans is ready for another hurricane. I don’t think that the Gulf Coast is ready.

Lousiana Blogs, Liberty and Justice, is worried. Millwx has a huge update on Daily Kos. Kimberly is watching the tube. (I think that it is time for her to stop watching and get out.)

National Weather Service has just upgraded Gustav to a Category 4.

Tags: Environment by ecthompson
2 Comments »

Tropical Storm Fay has become increasingly important has time goes on. A week ago, Tropical Storm Fay was going to be yawn. Then Fay stayed and stayed and stayed…

From the Orlando Sentinel:

The St. Johns River could hit Central Florida this week with some of the worst flooding on record.

Runoff from Fay is gorging nearly every part of the 310-mile St. Johns River, which forms south of Melbourne and flows north to the Orlando area and on to Jacksonville.

“Geneva, Astor and other areas will see moderate and major flooding,” forecaster Todd Hamill at the Southeast River Forecast Center said Saturday night. “There’s just a lot of water and no place for it to go.”

Even in ordinary times, the meandering St. Johns drains to the Atlantic Ocean very slowly. During heavy rainfall, it grows wider rather than flow much more quickly. (more… )

Tags: Environment by ecthompson
No Comments »

From the Weather Channel:

Bringing heavy tropical rains and tropical storm-force winds, the first U.S. landfall of Tropical Storm Fay occurred Monday afternoon over Key West, Florida; a second landfall will occur Tuesday morning.

A hurricane warning is now in effect for southwestern Florida while a tropical storm warning is in effect for the Florida Keys and the majority of Florida’s Atlantic coast.

As of 11 pm EDT, Fay was located about 60 miles south of Naples, Florida with maximum sustained winds of 60 miles per hour. Fay is moving to the north at 9 mph. This northward motion (perhaps slightly east of north) is expected to continue through landfall. View Fay’s projected path. (more… )

Tags: Environment by ecthompson
No Comments »

Here is Asheville, North Carolina it was 94 degrees. It was hot. I called my mother, but she didn’t want to hear it. She lives in Dallas where they are melting– over 100 degrees for 11 straight days.

Tags: Domestic Issues, Environment by ecthompson
Comments Off

NBC producers are trapped in their own van. Too dangerous to get out. I’m not sure that it is all that safe to be inside a van with 100 mph winds whipping around. Crazy is the word that comes to mind.

Tags: Environment by ecthompson
Comments Off

Dolly hit Texas just north of Brownsville. Thirty-six thousand homes are without power.

Hope Texas Liberal is high and dry. He is in Houston.

Tags: Environment by ecthompson
Comments Off

Dr. John has been playing his music forever. His greatest hit is Right Place, Wrong Time. He plays this great tune with Eric Clapton. This is really, really cool.

Tags: Katrina, Music, Race by ecthompson
Comments Off

We are starting to get into Biblical events. Flooding. Tornados. Now, fires.

—————-

From AP:

With hundreds of wildfires raging across remote, rugged parts of California for a second week, fire officials have been forced to strategically choose which to fight and which to leave to burn for weeks or even months.

The number of fires burning in central and Northern California — more than 1,000, according to state fire officials — means authorities can’t send firefighters to battle every blaze, Jason Kirchner, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service, said Monday. (more…)

Tags: California Wildfires by ecthompson
Comments Off

More flooding. I just don’t see this ending any time soon.

From MSNBC:

The swollen Mississippi River burst another levee Tuesday, submerging farmland and threatening a residential area whose occupants had already moved out in anticipation of a flood.

The levee failure near St. Charles comes as teams furiously fill sandbags to reinforce other waterlogged embankments guarding towns still waiting for the arrival of the huge river’s flood crest. (more…)

Tags: Domestic Issues, Environment by ecthompson
Comments Off

Flooding is not just bad it is awful in the midwest. We must stay on this story.  This picture is not from Katrina.  It is from Cedar Rapids, Ia.

Tags: Domestic Issues, Environment by ecthompson
Comments Off

Can someone call the White House and see if the president is interested in coming to Iowa, Illinois or Missouri and comforting Americans in need?

Tags: Domestic Issues, Environment by ecthompson
2 Comments »

Barack Obama has been an Iowa filling sandbags. Where’s President Bush? The flooding in the Midwest appears to be some of the worst we’ve seen since the early 90s. Our president, is engaged in doing something important, I just don’t know what it is. Bush did get briefed today and spoke publicly about the flooding in the Midwest.

From AP:

The rising Mississippi River interrupted travel on two bridges between Iowa and Illinois and forced the helicopter rescue of more than a dozen people sandbagging a levee before it broke near the western Illinois village of Gulf Port.

The break also forced the closure of the Great River Bridge that connects Gulf Port to Burlington via U.S. Highway 34 and threatened to deluge farmland. (More…)

Tags: Domestic Issues, Environment by ecthompson
2 Comments »

Yesterday, I brought you a weather story and today, I’m bringing you another. Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In spite of a lot of work and preparation in Cedar Rapids, the Cedar river has overflowed its banks. Over 4000 houses have been flooded.

——–
From CNN.com:

The Cedar River poured over its banks here Thursday, forcing the evacuation of nearly 4,000 homes, causing a railroad bridge to collapse and leaving cars underwater on downtown streets.

Officials estimated that 100 blocks were underwater in Cedar Rapids, where several days of preparation could not hold back the rain-swollen river. Rescuers had to use boats to reach many stranded residents, and people could be seen dragging suitcases up closed highway exit ramps to escape the water.

“We’re just kind of at God’s mercy right now, so hopefully people that never prayed before this, it might be a good time to start,” Linn County Sheriff Don Zeller said. “We’re going to need a lot of prayers, and people are going to need a lot of patience and understanding.” (more…)

Tags: Domestic Issues, Environment by ecthompson
Comments Off

We have had a lot of violent weather this summer. Tornadoes are usually a phenomenon of spring but not this year. Last night a tornado torn through a boy scout camp killing four.

———

From MSNBC:

Four Boy Scouts were killed when a tornado tore through a camp in the remote hills of western Iowa, Gov. Chet Culver told TODAY on Thursday.

The twister late Wednesday set off a frantic search to reach others in the piles of debris and downed trees. At least 48 people were injured.

Culver described the scene at the site as “horrific.”

“All four of the young men who were killed were Scouts,” he said. “The devastation was massive through the campgrounds.”

Thomas White, a Scout supervisor, said he dug through the wreckage of a collapsed fireplace to reach victims in a building where many Scouts sought shelter. (more…)

Tags: Domestic Issues, Environment by ecthompson
2 Comments »

Every year we get flooding in the Midwest but somehow, we think that this year will be different. Well, this year was different. There was almost no flooding in March and April. Usually, the combination of rain plus melting snow but that’s not what’s happening now. This just pure rain.

Tags: Domestic Issues, Environment by ecthompson
Comments Off

Asheville, NC is a wonderful place. In the summer while people less than 60 miles away bake in the North Carolina/South Carolina or Tennessee sun, we stay cool. Well, that hasn’t been the case this summer. It was 94 today. I know that’s not hot in Texas standards but it is hot for Asheville!!

Tags: Domestic Issues, Environment by ecthompson
Comments Off

3 wheeled electric car - Aptera.

Update: Oops. Gael pointed out that this car doesn’t go 230 miles per hour but instead goes 230 miles per gallon.

From Gizmo:

We heard rumblings of the electric three-wheeled Aptera over a year ago but now the company has opened up an annoying and overwrought website soliciting “reservations,” meaning you can plunk down $500 and get the right to buy either the all-electric or plug-in diesel hybrid model. The good news is, there’s a working prototype with specs that are jaw-dropping. (more…)

 

 Totally cool car [1:45m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Energy, Environment by ecthompson
1 Comment »