Alfresco

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1226123352670

http://www.wunderground.com/tropical...109_radar.html

ozzieeagle

Been admiring pic 7 on my other board

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14651327

Plus a Joke

why do they give hurricanes girls names?
because when they come they are all wet and wild
but when they leave they take the house and car !

Stay safe everyone

Rambi

Interesting that it's only a Category 1 storm.

Kooky.

Interesting too that there's rarely this much fuss when hurricanes are pounding the Caribbean.

Jerseygirl

Not really...it's because the areas involved have an extremely high population.

Bermudashorts

There was a hurricane in Bermuda when I lived there, Florence. Afterwards we called our relatives to tell them we were all well but they hadn't even heard there was a hurricane.

I am very surprised that a Hurricane Irene, cat 1 at landfall, would result in fatalities. That should not be happening.

Jerseygirl

Houses in Bermuda are of a very different construction to US houses.

Bermudashorts

Was that a reference to the fewer fatalities? Houses in Bermuda are indeed substantial; concrete mainly, going nowhere.

Actually I was more surprised that there were fewer fatalities following Yasi than Irene, I wondered if some people are not taking the threat seriously.

Kooky.

Yes, I've been in a hurricane in the Caribbean too. Thankfully I was in a well-built hotel and not a flimsy local house like the hotel staff running round looking after us whilst their roofs were flying off.

I'm not belittling what's happening in the US - I have friends in the expected path of Irene. Just doing a compare and contrast.

Pollyana

Irene is heading for an area that isn't accustomed to hurricanes, and where people are less well versed in how to react - similar to the way that the Far North of Queensland has people who are far better prepared to cope with cyclones than those further down the coast.
Irene is also a huge cyclone - her size has been compared to Katrina - which means that she will take longer to pass over an area than most hurricanes do, which means the sustained winds and rain can cause far more damage than a "short sharp shock". She was a Cat 3 at one point but has been downgraded as she moved across cooler water.

Jerseygirl

Yes it was. Houses in Bermuda as you say are built to be robust. The houses here in the US creak and groan with the slightest wind. Timber framed, timber clad with shingles (roofing felt) on the roof. One spark on the roof and the whole house is a pile of ashes in a few minutes.

DeadVim

And then there are some fatalities that are just plain preventable ...

----------------------------
A SURFER has died after "phenomenal" waves generated by Hurricane Irene knocked him off his board on a Florida beach.

The surfer was brought ashore at New Smyrna Beach, 160km south of Jacksonville, by his friends, but he showed no vital signs and was pronounced dead,

Authorities believe he may have suffered a fatal blow to the head.

Witnesses said waves were between 1.5-2m high at the time of the accident
----------------------------

Kooky.

What's the latest on Typhoon Mina, Polly? My friend in Manila says 6 people died in northern Luzon yesterday.

Mother Nature is obviously in a bad mood.

Pollyana

There are always idiots. You can warn them and warn them but they still think they know better

Radar Images of Hurricane Irene
http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/northeast_lite_loop.php

Pollyana

You're right, several big ones around at the same time.

Typhoon Mina - http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/loc...weakens-175828

Typhoon "Mina" (international codename: Namnadol) has weakened further and continues to move in a north northwest direction, said the weather bureau Sunday. Mina, which is packing winds of 140 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gustiness of up to 170 kph as of 5 a.m. Sunday, triggered landslides in Pangasinan and Baguio City on Saturday, causing the death of at least six people. Six other people also went missing due to the typhoon.

Sadly sounds like most were children.

http://www.gdacs.org/reports.asp?eve...sgard&new=true for a track map etc