Beyond Katrina

Powerful Hurricane Ike looms as trouble for Gulf

KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) — Powerful Hurricane Ike rolled down an uncertain path Sunday that may lead to the U.S. Gulf Coast late this week, forcing emergency officials to pay attention and leaving millions of people from Florida to Mexico to wonder where it will eventually strike. Continue>>>

Florida Keys Evacuation Ordered for Hurricane Ike

Hurricane Ike is forecast to hit the low-lying Florida Keys island chain early next week as a major hurricane. Given the Keys' limited escape routes, officials aren't taking chances and have ordered mandatory evacuations to begin Saturday. Continue at National Geographic News.

IKE BARRELS TOWARD FLORIDA KEYS; HANNA HITS CAROLINAS

Hurricane Ike moved on course Friday toward the Keys and South Florida, and forecasters projected it could hit the Keys on Tuesday as a vicious Category 4 storm. Continue>>>

Tropical Storm Fay Intensifies Over Land

Re TS Fay, I just haven't been  in the mood to track a rainmaker, however this one is turning out to be a fascinating storm system.  As of the 5:00 pm EDT Discussion National Hurricane Center forecaster Lixion Avila reports that Fay did not weaken over land as anticipated and it is stronger than it has been so far, prompting a significant change in its intensity forecast.   The good doctor Jeff Masters (who is calling  this storm "The Joker" because of it's consistent trickiness) has a great blog post today on Fay's latest morph here - and be sure and visit for a view of a NASA blue marble image of Fay with a distinct eyewall over land.  This may be an unprecedented ocurrance. It is certainly rare for a storm to intensify and develop an eye wall over a land mass. The computer models are in better agreement that Fay will re-enter the Atlantic,  intensify and then  encounter a  ridge of high pressure that will force  Fay westward over northern Florida or southern Georgia, and possibly back into the northern of Gulf of Mexico. wow.

NASA image by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response team at NASA/GSFC.

Summary from NASA Earth Observatory: Tropical Storm Fay became the sixth named storm system of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season after forming over the Dominican Republic on August 15. The storm system traveled the length of Hispaniola, bringing heavy rains and winds to the Dominican Republic and Haiti before traveling along Cuba’s southern coast. The Associated Press reported five deaths caused by the storm on Hispaniola as of August 18.

This photo-like image was made from data collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image of the storm at 10:35 a.m. local time (15:35 UTC) on August 18. Fay had crossed through central Cuba and was most of the way across the Florida Straits when MODIS obtained these data. The storm system appears as an organized ball of spiraling clouds, but it lacks the central eye usually associated with a hurricane. The National Hurricane Center was reporting sustained winds in the storm system of 95 kilometers per hour (60 miles per hour). Tides were around two to four feet higher than normal from storm surge, and rainfall totals of four to eight inches (ten to twenty centimeters) were predicted for central Cuba.

As of 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time) August 18, forecasts called for the storm to reach Category 1 strength as it traveled from the Keys towards the west coast of Florida, then lose strength as it moved inland. The National Hurricane Center issued hurricane warnings throughout much of southern Florida and tropical storm warnings elsewhere in the state, as forecasters expected the storm to gain power as it moved across the Straits of Florida between Cuba and the Florida Keys. Emergency officials encouraged local residents and visitors in the Keys to leave ahead of the storm.

 

Controversial Billboard Stirring Emotions in Florida

ORLANDO, Fla. -- There are three billboards across Orlando, Fla., that all contain the same controversial image (video: MyFoxOrlando). Each shows the Twin Towers burning and read "Please Don't Vote for a Democrat."  At a time when people are trying to forget the Twin Towers on fire, the billboards attempt to remind us of the War on Terrorism. Continue>>>

Dolly causing rip currents on the Suncoast

SARASOTA COUNTY - Hurricane Dolly is creating rip currents here, a major concern for lifeguards.  Several swimmers had to be pulled from the waters at Siesta Key Beach Tuesday, and six more on Wednesday. Continue>>>

Dolly churns up surf in Florida; 6 rescued

Six people at a Perdido Key beach were rescued from perilous surf conditions churned up by Hurricane Dolly Tuesday as the Category 1 storm headed for landfall on the U.S.-Mexico border. Continue at Pensacola News Journal.

Everglades: Return of the blue-green plague?

From the Palm Beach Post:

"The algae's reappearance spotlights the importance of cleaning up Lake Okeechobee, a job that, done correctly, could cost at least $2 billion. Even after pressure from Gov. Crist, the Legislature appropriated just a paltry $50 million for Everglades and lake projects, not even close to what will be needed for either next year. Gov. Crist had asked for $200 million, with half going to the Everglades and the other $100 million to the lake". continue here.

Loew's Eyes the Everglades

I'll be monitoring this story closely from here on...

From Time Magazine:

As you drive west out of Miami along a road called Tamiami Trail, you come to a tract where you can feel the sprawl ending and the Everglades beginning. On your right, across the road from the last strip mall, is a large parcel of wetlands and pine trees protected by Miami-Dade County's Urban Development Boundary (UBD), a line drawn in the marsh to keep South Florida builders from encroaching any further on this unique ecosystem. Lowe's, the home improvement chain, wants to move the border so it can erect a new store on more than 20 acres of the wetlands; further south, developers want to hop the line to build a commercial park and thousands of new homes. Continue here.

Legislators find $50 million for Everglades

This is indeed good news!

TALLAHASSEE — After declaring that Florida's budget woes were so grim that they had to cut off funding for the restoration of the Everglades, legislative leaders quickly reversed themselves Monday, finding an extra $50 million to fund the massive environmental cleanup project. continue at the Herald Tribune...