Hurricane Katrina!!

[Shay37]

Just wanted all those affected to know they are in mine and my children''s prayers daily. God bless each and every one of you and your families.

Shay

 

[icekid]

pearcrazy- so glad to hear that your family came out relatively unscathed. It sounds like they must have been very lucky!

 

[pearcrazy]

And even more good news! We finally got through to them today and not only do they not have to boil their water any more but their power is on!! MIL said their air conditioning was running full blast and she was sitting in front of the duct getting cool after the last few days of 90+ degree heat and high humidity. Now they are the ones playing host to other relatives seeking a cool place to spend the night and to see the news coverage of what''s going on around them. They''ve only had radio reports so far.

 

[AGBF]

Date: 8/28/2005 10:14:01 PM
Author: AGBF

Date: 8/28/2005 9:44:21 PM

Author: Jennifer5973

What's with all these hurricanes?

I am not sure if that is a rhetorical question, but supposedly the reason for more and more severe hurricanes is related to water temperature in the Atlantic. I was once interested in geography, but have not kept up to date in the field. If anyone has some relevant articles on climate and the current hurricane season that do not require enormous scientific knowledge to decode, I would be interested in reading them. If no one else has any, I can probably find some on the 'net.

Ophelia Strengthens, May Hit Southeast

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: September 11, 2005

Filed at 3:10 a.m. ET

"CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- Hurricane Ophelia lingered in the Atlantic early Sunday but meteorologists said the storm could take a sharp turn toward the Carolinas, where a hurricane watch took effect.

A 300-mile stretch from the Georgia-South Carolina line to North Carolina's Cape Lookout was under a hurricane watch as Ophelia again reached hurricane strength Saturday.

'Almost every (computer) model indicates a United States landfall,' said meteorologist Eric Blake of the National Hurricane Center in Miami. 'It's time to make those preparations.'
...
Ophelia is the seventh hurricane in this year's busy Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1 and ends Nov. 30. Peak storm activity typically occurs from the end of August through mid-September."


Hurricane Ophelia

 

[AGBF]

Date: 8/28/2005 9:44:21 PM
Author: Jennifer5973
What's with all these hurricanes? When is the last time anyone remembers a hurricane beginning with the letter K and it's not even September yet?????

Scary on all levels...

Jennifer's question (and the answer to it, that hurricanes that hit the southeastern United States are caused by warm waters in the Atlantic) has led some people to suggest the next constructive step in preventing future disasters would be to deal with global warming.

One problem in dealing with global warming is the denial by some that it even exists. This group includes President Bush. The scientific (and international) community disagrees with him, however.

I found this Op-ed piece from, "The New York Times" to offer some constructive advice.

"If the White House wants to move the debate about Hurricane Katrina beyond what it calls the 'blame game' for bodies decomposing in the streets of New Orleans, then here's a constructive step that President Bush could take to protect people in the future: Tackle global warming.

True, we don't know whether Katrina was linked to global warming. But there are indications that global warming will produce more Category 5 hurricanes. Now that we've all seen what a Katrina can do - and Katrina was only Category 4 when it hit Louisiana - it would be crazy for President Bush to continue to refuse to develop a national policy on greenhouse gases.

'The available scientific evidence indicates that it is likely that global warming will make - and possibly already is making - those hurricanes that form more destructive than they otherwise would have been,' declares an analysis by five climate scientists at www.realclimate.org."

The piece goes on to suggest that global warming is raising sea level and, by doing that, making the coasts even more vulnerable to the stronger hurricanes that are forming.

Here is a link to the Op-ed piece excerpted above.

The Storm Next Time by Nicholas D. Kristof

Deborah

 

[Jennifer5973]

Thanks for getting back to my question in such a succinct manner, Deb.

I am not equipped to argue or debate all the issues associated with the response to this horrible event,as I haven''t been focusing on the legal and governmental debates, but I saw the mayor of Houston on TV this morning and I found what he said to be very sound and reasonable in the face of what is starting to sound, at least to me, like a lot of empty rhetoric and name calling.

He said that what this showed us is that we are clearly NOT equipped to deal with the complete destruction of a major American city. He went to say that we will now truly begin to understand what "Homeland Security" is really about.

The first thing I said as this unfolded (after "God help us") was, "if I were the terrorissts, I''d be licking my chops..."

If something positive does come out of this horrror (in addition to some serious steps to combat global warming, which IS happening), perhaps it will be that we finally DO wake up and learn how to prepare for and manage through disasters, whether manmade or natural.