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You are here: Home / Climate Change / How about that weather? / Hurricane Laura – Be Safe!

Hurricane Laura – Be Safe!

by Cheryl Rofer|  August 26, 20203:30 pm| 129 Comments

This post is in: How about that weather?, Open Threads

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Hurricane Laura - Be Safe!

Hurricane Laura intensifies; ‘catastrophic’ wind and storm surge expected

Gulf waters are warm at 86 F, which feeds the hurricane. It is expected to hit around the Texas-Louisiana border late tonight.

The article has a lot of information up to this morning.

Unsurvivable storm surge with large and destructive waves will cause catastrophic damage from Sea Rim State Park, Texas, to Intracoastal City, Louisiana, including Calcasieu and Sabine Lakes. This surge could penetrate up to 30 miles inland from the immediate coastline. #Laura pic.twitter.com/bV4jzT3Chd

— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) August 26, 2020

Unsurvivable – look at the heights of the storm surge that are predicted. Hurricane Rita in 2005 swept barrier islands clean. If you are in those areas, get out now and let us know when you’re safe.

Update: This is helpful.

The National Hurricane Center has forecasted "unsurvivable storm surge" from Hurricane #Laura in parts of Louisiana and Texas. Do NOT underestimate this storm.

This is what that kind of water height looks like: pic.twitter.com/ik7EtpFTzn

— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) August 26, 2020

Photo: Infrared satellite view of Hurricane Laura at 8:41 a.m. EDT Wednesday, August 26, 2020. Laura had just been upgraded to a category 3 hurricane with 115 mph winds. (Image credit: University of Wisconsin/CIMSS)

Open thread!

 

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Next Post: Point And Laugh: GOP Hunger Artists Edition »

Reader Interactions

129Comments

  1. 1.

    Elizabelle

    August 26, 2020 at 3:34 pm

    Ooh. I can see a skull in that satellite rendering.

  2. 2.

    Jess

    August 26, 2020 at 3:41 pm

    That is a really cool display from the Weather Channel. They should have added some alligators, though.

  3. 3.

    Jharp

    August 26, 2020 at 3:46 pm

    Great time to get rid of all the toxic chemicals stored in your home that the trash won’t take.

    And I’m sure those storing industrial waste will also be sure to take full advantage of this opportunity.

  4. 4.

    geg6

    August 26, 2020 at 3:51 pm

    Remember when Katrina was the gays’ fault?

    Who ya gonna blame now?  I vote the Velveeta Voldemort and Jerry Falwell, Jr.

  5. 5.

    Cheryl Rofer

    August 26, 2020 at 3:52 pm

    Laura’s up to Category 4 now.

    1 PM CDT: #Laura is now an extremely dangerous category 4 hurricane with maximum winds of 140 MPH. Little time remains to protect life and property before water levels begin to rise and winds increase in the warning areas https://t.co/tW4KeFW0gB pic.twitter.com/6f9tvionaR

    — National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) August 26, 2020

  6. 6.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    August 26, 2020 at 3:52 pm

    Bah!  Snowflakes…

  7. 7.

    Cheryl Rofer

    August 26, 2020 at 3:53 pm

    Right now, you can still safely evacuate, although the window to do so is closing. If you are going to evacuate, the time to do so is now. #lagov #lawx #Laura #HurricaneLaura https://t.co/FaedGnzsar

    — John Bel Edwards (@LouisianaGov) August 26, 2020

  8. 8.

    mad citizen

    August 26, 2020 at 3:53 pm

    Hurricanes are certainly more colorful these days with the reds, yellows, greens and blues.  Hoping Kacey Musgraves writes a song about it (though I’ve always preferred Like a Hurricane).

  9. 9.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    August 26, 2020 at 3:54 pm

    Landfall late tonight?  That makes it even worse.

  10. 10.

    HumboldtBlue

    August 26, 2020 at 3:54 pm

    I endured some tail-ends of hurricanes growing up but never had to bear the brunt. 20 fucking feet of flooding inland?

    This is the beginning of the end for that shoreline, ain’t it?

  11. 11.

    MisterForkbeard

    August 26, 2020 at 3:54 pm

    @Jess: Also, sharks. Maybe even flying sharks.

  12. 12.

    MisterForkbeard

    August 26, 2020 at 3:55 pm

    @geg6: I’m going to blame the lies, false idolatry and fascism at the RNC. I think it’s the only logical and theological explanation.

  13. 13.

    Betty Cracker

    August 26, 2020 at 3:55 pm

    I feel for the folks in that path. It’s so scary to have one of those monsters barreling toward your home. I hope everyone gets out of the way and stays safe.

  14. 14.

    WaterGirl

    August 26, 2020 at 3:55 pm

    Holy shit.  That video was terrifying and awe-inspiring at the same time.  Well done.

  15. 15.

    LuciaMia

    August 26, 2020 at 3:58 pm

    God, that is really frightening

    (And probably Trump is just pissed that it may take attention from his reality show.)

  16. 16.

    Calouste

    August 26, 2020 at 3:59 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: 

    I don’t know how you’re going to protect property from 9 feet of water.

  17. 17.

    WhatsMyNym

    August 26, 2020 at 4:00 pm

    The website and app Windy offers an up-to-date look/forecast of the storm with many options. Saves putting more of a load on the NOAA servers.

  18. 18.

    HumboldtBlue

    August 26, 2020 at 4:02 pm

    “Unsurvivable storm surge” is a term I have never heard before and one and one I hope I never have to deal with.

  19. 19.

    Ken

    August 26, 2020 at 4:03 pm

    The linked Yale Climate Connections article has pictures of Holly Beach and other communities after the last time this happened, with Rita in 2005.  Nothing but roads and concrete slabs left.

    EDIT: Sigh.  “It was feared that these strict building codes, along with the high insurance costs, would keep many of the original locals from returning and rebuilding, and that the southern part of the parish would end up with temporary trailer type housing indefinitely.”  Checking the latest Google maps, there are indeed lots of trailer houses on those concrete slabs.

  20. 20.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 26, 2020 at 4:04 pm

    @Calouste: I guess Trump will build another wall to keep out the illegal sea water,  it is coming from the Gulf of Mexico after all.

  21. 21.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 26, 2020 at 4:05 pm

    @MisterForkbeard:

    I’m going to blame the lies, false idolatry and fascism at the RNC. I think it’s the only logical and theological explanation. 

    Agreed.

    @geg6: Also, let’s blame the Rethuglican party for being a racist, money-grubbing shitpile for 40+ years.  Oh, and fuck George W. Bush especially.

  22. 22.

    Betty Cracker

    August 26, 2020 at 4:08 pm

    @Comrade Scrutinizer: Yes it does. We fled the projected path of Hurricane Irma a few years back and ended up more directly in its path than we would have been at home, though we evacuated well inland, so surge wasn’t a concern (it would have been at home).

    It hit in the wee hours, and it was so scary to hear the howling wind, things crashing into the house, the roof groaning under the strain, trees falling, etc., and not being able to SEE anything! And that was maybe a Cat 1 by the time it rolled over half the peninsula to reach us…

  23. 23.

    artem1s

    August 26, 2020 at 4:09 pm

    I have family that lived just north of Charleston the year Hugo hit.  Storm surge took out 80% of the structures on Sullivan Island. Not damage – eradicated.  Nothing left but pylon stubs.  wind and water – mighty powerful forces.

  24. 24.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    August 26, 2020 at 4:09 pm

    @geg6: This is Biden’s Katrina!

  25. 25.

    Ken

    August 26, 2020 at 4:10 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: I thought COVID was Biden’s Katrina.

    Actually I expect Trump will blame Gov. Edwards for everything, since he’s a Democrat.

  26. 26.

    wvng

    August 26, 2020 at 4:12 pm

    It seems as if nearly every hurricane that has favorable atmospheric conditions for development turns into an absolute monster these days, often with rapidity that stuns meteorologists.  It’s almost as if something has changed that forces this to happen.  I really ache for the people in the path of this one, including inland.  At least it seems to be moving quickly. That Dorian monster last year that sat and churned over Grand Bahama for 24 hours, with the surges and the winds and the waves on top of the surge almost certainly created the worst weather experience anyone has ever endured.

  27. 27.

    Baud

    August 26, 2020 at 4:13 pm

    @Ken: Probably, although the place where this storm will hit is Trump country.

  28. 28.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    August 26, 2020 at 4:16 pm

    er all joking aside, that storm as two eyes and it looks like it’s spaced far apart to hit both Austin and New Orleans at the same time. Crud.

  29. 29.

    Ken

    August 26, 2020 at 4:18 pm

    @wvng: I really ache for the people in the path of this one, including inland. At least it seems to be moving quickly.

    Yes, the forecast path has it curving up the Mississippi and Ohio valleys, crossing the Appalachians, and entering the Atlantic near Chesapeake Bay by Saturday evening – after which it’s expected to intensify to tropical storm level again.

    Also it’s predicted to drop 2-4 inches of rain on Cole’s willow.

  30. 30.

    Baud

    August 26, 2020 at 4:18 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: I’m not sure what you’re talking about.

  31. 31.

    Marcopolo

    August 26, 2020 at 4:19 pm

    So if you’re the person in charge of programming tonight @ CNN, MSNBC, or FOX what do you cover tonight the RNC or a massive Cat 4 hurricane with an “unsurvivable storm surge that may go as far as 30 miles inland.”

    And if you’re an evangelical when do stop to consider maybe a nationwide pandemic, infernos in CA, disasterous hurricanes in the Gulf, and generalized civilian unrest across the country is God punishing us for electing Trump prez?

    Yeah, the second question is mostly rhetorical but the first one is serious.

  32. 32.

    Ken

    August 26, 2020 at 4:20 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: No, just one eye. The spot to the east is part of the upper-atmosphere outflow, which according to that Yale climate article is particularly well-organized and allowing the storm to increase rapidly in intensity, because of course that’s the timeline we live in.

  33. 33.

    Martin

    August 26, 2020 at 4:20 pm

    Forecasters saying there’s a chance that it’ll reach Cat 5 based on the continued pace of intensification. It’s strengthening almost as quickly as Wilma.

    People really need to go now. It wasn’t supposed to reach Cat 4, after all. Good to see the LA Natl Guard are fully activated.

    Tornado warnings near Houston and Baton Rouge right now. That’s a long reach.

  34. 34.

    Benw

    August 26, 2020 at 4:20 pm

    I hope everyone can stay safe.

    OT: in the aftermath of the Jacob Blake murder, the Milwaukee Bucks are refusing to take the court, and the Raptors and Celtics are jointly discussing boycotting their next game

  35. 35.

    Delk

    August 26, 2020 at 4:21 pm

    The derecho lasted about 10 minutes in my neighborhood and that was scary. I can’t imagine what this must be like.
    Stay safe!

  36. 36.

    wvng

    August 26, 2020 at 4:22 pm

    @Ken: It may well drop 2-4″ on my willows as well, being as I am a ~150 miles east of Cole.  But it does seem that it will be moving quickly across the country and that should protect us to a considerable extent.  But I learned in 1985 to take hurricane remnants in WV seriously as Hurricane Juan caused terrible flooding here.

  37. 37.

    wvng

    August 26, 2020 at 4:25 pm

    @Betty Cracker: I had quite a few friends in South Florida when Andrew roared through. One in the Redlands boarded himself up in a bathroom in the center of the house as Andrew tore the rest of his house to shreds.  All of them remember the storm with horror.

    Anyone who plans to ride Laurie out in the high projected surge areas is a fool.

  38. 38.

    Cheryl Rofer

    August 26, 2020 at 4:27 pm

    A warning shot to the fourth largest city in the country and a county with more people than 26 states. The Houston Ship Channel accounts for 20% of Texas GDP and more petroleum and steel cargo than any other U.S. port. #HurricaneLaura #txlege https://t.co/AZn1jl3vSC

    — Jasper Scherer (@jaspscherer) August 26, 2020

  39. 39.

    Chyron HR

    August 26, 2020 at 4:27 pm

    “It is what it is.” – Our Fearless Leader

  40. 40.

    Martin

    August 26, 2020 at 4:30 pm

    Storm chasers are getting trapped. They drove into a larger storm than they expected.

  41. 41.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 26, 2020 at 4:32 pm

    @Delk: And the derecho ran straight east too.  Hope everyone stays safe on the Gulf coast.

  42. 42.

    Kent

    August 26, 2020 at 4:33 pm

    Laura is going to stomp all over Trump’s convention and acceptance speech tomorrow afternoon.

    Oops.   Is someone trying to send us a message?

  43. 43.

    Kent

    August 26, 2020 at 4:34 pm

    @Martin: How can they be trapped?  The storm hasn’t arrived yet.  Are highways already closed?

  44. 44.

    Martin

    August 26, 2020 at 4:34 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: Has Houston moved on any of the recommendations since Harvey?

  45. 45.

    Ken

    August 26, 2020 at 4:34 pm

    @Kent: Maybe he’ll take a page from McCain’s book and suspend his campaign to devote time to the disaster?

    Ha, I slay myself. If we hear anything from him about this, it will be a complaint that the rain prevented him from golfing on Saturday.

  46. 46.

    artem1s

    August 26, 2020 at 4:36 pm

    @Ken:

    Can’t wait for the photo op of him tossing paper towels to people stranded on their rooftops.

  47. 47.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    August 26, 2020 at 4:36 pm

    @Baud: Look at the picture, there are two eyes, this is two hurricanes at the same time.

  48. 48.

    Baud

    August 26, 2020 at 4:36 pm

    @Kent: No. That’s GOP thinking.

  49. 49.

    Redshift

    August 26, 2020 at 4:36 pm

    My sister is near Lafayette, which seems to be far enough inland to be beyond the storm surge, and she doesn’t have any big trees near the house any more, so I hope she’ll be okay. From past experience, she may be temporarily on an island for a while until the water drains away.

  50. 50.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    August 26, 2020 at 4:38 pm

    @Ken: Isn’t there another storm they were talking about at the same time?

  51. 51.

    Cheryl Rofer

    August 26, 2020 at 4:38 pm

    @Martin: I don’t know.

  52. 52.

    Chyron HR

    August 26, 2020 at 4:39 pm

    @Ken:

    Trump had the greatest Presidency of the Presidency until the Chinese Communists destroyed Houston.

  53. 53.

    Baud

    August 26, 2020 at 4:39 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    I don’t see two eyes, I have not read anyone say this has one has two eyes, and I’ve never heard of any theory that allows a hurricane to have two eyes.

  54. 54.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    August 26, 2020 at 4:40 pm

    @Ken:

    Also it’s predicted to drop 2-4 inches of rain on Cole’s willow.

    ?

  55. 55.

    WaterGirl

    August 26, 2020 at 4:40 pm

    @Betty Cracker: I was just wondering what you do if you have nowhere to go.

    Do you just fill up the car and drive?

    What if you have nowhere to go?

    What if you have no car?

    What if you have pets?

    What if you have no money?

  56. 56.

    Fair Economist

    August 26, 2020 at 4:41 pm

    @HumboldtBlue:

    This is the beginning of the end for that shoreline, ain’t it?

    It’s already ending, and has been for some time. The canonical shoreline you see in maps is fictional with real land miles back from there.

  57. 57.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    August 26, 2020 at 4:41 pm

    That is an awesome video at the top (the Weather Channel one).

  58. 58.

    Betty

    August 26, 2020 at 4:42 pm

    @Martin: We endured Category 5 Maria in 2017. Colossal damage and significant loss of life. I pray for these people. It will be bad.

  59. 59.

    OldDave

    August 26, 2020 at 4:42 pm

    @Kent: Perhaps because the water rises before the surge itself does.  Not sure – I’ve not seen the news coverage.

  60. 60.

    Martin

    August 26, 2020 at 4:43 pm

    @Kent: There are towns on the coast already under 6′ of water. And so much of LA coast is this spaghetti from the deltas, and so flat. The storm surge is coming in around 1-2′ per hour, so if you spent the last hour driving down shitty bayou roads all of which are inches above sea level, even if you turned around immediately, you can’t drive out as fast as the surge is coming in.

    Don’t get me wrong, these guys aren’t dumb about storms. But there are storms that always seem to be ahead of what everyone thinks is happening, and this is one of them (Andrew, Katrina, Wilma, etc.). Whatever you think is happening is probably lowballing what really is happening, so you’re constantly underprepared.

  61. 61.

    Betty

    August 26, 2020 at 4:45 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: That was Marco. It lost energy and was just rain.

  62. 62.

    M31

    August 26, 2020 at 4:46 pm

    “pretty soon, this hurricane is going to disappear”

  63. 63.

    MagdaInBlack

    August 26, 2020 at 4:46 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Katrina: many of the folks that didn’t leave, couldn’t leave, for those reasons.

  64. 64.

    JPL

    August 26, 2020 at 4:48 pm

    @Betty: kinda like the Senator.   Just fizzled out.

  65. 65.

    JCJ

    August 26, 2020 at 4:48 pm

    Best wishes to all in the path – stay safe

     

    OT – In different news the Milwaukee Bucks are boycotting their game today following the assault by the police and now the murders approved by the police in Kenosha.

  66. 66.

    Ken

    August 26, 2020 at 4:48 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: There was another hurricane Marco, but it faded and didn’t do much damage.

    @Baud: A hurricane can have a double eyewall, one ring inside the other.  Laura was showing signs of developing this, according to that Yale Climate article.

    They don’t have two eyes, though they can have vortices embedded in or just outside the eyewall. These are called “mesovortices” and can affect development. That feature in the satellite image is too far from the center to be a mesovortex.

  67. 67.

    HumboldtBlue

    August 26, 2020 at 4:51 pm

    @Benw:

    Just saw that

  68. 68.

    tybee

    August 26, 2020 at 4:51 pm

    single eye:  https://www.tropicaltidbits.com/sat/satlooper.php?region=13L&product=ir

  69. 69.

    WaterGirl

    August 26, 2020 at 4:51 pm

    @MagdaInBlack: The privilege of having resources.  Just like COVID. If you’re living on the edge financially, you are fucked a hundred different ways.

  70. 70.

    Martin

    August 26, 2020 at 4:54 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: That was Marco. Marco didn’t really materialize.

    Storms don’t like to be near one another. Even though a  hurricane seems chaotic, it’s really quite orderly. In order for a big storm to happen you need a big source of energy (warm water) and generally orderly conditions for it to spin up. Land disrupts it, winds do, other storms do.

    Marco could have had two impacts on Laura – one of absorbing heat from the gulf that Laura then couldn’t take (not unusual for ocean temps to drop by 5 degrees in the wake of a large storm)  and the other by growing strong enough to create winds that interrupt Lauras winds. One possibility was two annoying storms that disrupted each other enough that they couldn’t really get  that powerful, so a couple of Cat 1 storms were a possibility.

    But because Marco died out, neither of those happened (and it was on a somewhat different track so it wouldn’t have taken much ocean heat anyway – hooking from east to west). So, Marco is dead and buried and Laura remains free to grow as fat as the water temps will permit. Thankfully the water temps aren’t outrageously warm or else this would probably be even worse. And thankfully Laura seems to be holding course and not steering toward Houston, because they’d be fucked. No way to evacuate this late.

  71. 71.

    VeniceRiley

    August 26, 2020 at 4:54 pm

    My friend who just became a hospital RN this past year lives and works in Houston. She didn’t leave her post for Covid, and she won’t for this.  But boy, what a time to enter that profession!  I worry for her.

  72. 72.

    patrick II

    August 26, 2020 at 4:56 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    @Baud:

    @Ken:  explains it at 32.

    Ken already elaborated.  I don’t type fast enough.

  73. 73.

    MattF

    August 26, 2020 at 4:56 pm

    WaPo’s weather crew, the Capital Weather Gang, generally offers excellent, detailed coverage.

  74. 74.

    CatFacts

    August 26, 2020 at 4:58 pm

    @Redshift: I have friends in Lafayette. That’s high enough to be above the storm surge. They’ll get near hurricane-force winds but should make it through okay.

    Sadly, all of Cameron Parish south of Lake Charles, LA will be under water in 24 hours. Yes, the whole parish. It’s that flat and that low.

  75. 75.

    Calouste

    August 26, 2020 at 4:58 pm

    @JCJ: Apparently all NBA games are off tonight.

  76. 76.

    dnfree

    August 26, 2020 at 4:58 pm

    @Martin: the storms rising faster and worse before people can react is like the wildfires in California moving faster and hotter than people think they will. We are not ready for climate change.

  77. 77.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 26, 2020 at 4:58 pm

    @Betty: Sounds like the Floriduh Senator.

  78. 78.

    Martin

    August 26, 2020 at 5:02 pm

    Officially still strengthening. Sustained up to 145. Pressure down to 947. Just confirming what the hurricane hunters measured in the plane. 3 more hours like this and it’ll be a Cat 5. I have to imagine those storm surge forecasts are going up as well.

  79. 79.

    Kent

    August 26, 2020 at 5:02 pm

    @VeniceRiley:My friend who just became a hospital RN this past year lives and works in Houston. She didn’t leave her post for Covid, and she won’t for this.  But boy, what a time to enter that profession!  I worry for her.

    My daughter just graduated from University of Arkansas this past spring.  Her two roommates who were getting nursing degrees are the only classmates that she has who have found jobs.  Her best friend is now working in the pediatric ward at a hospital in Little Rock.  The only one of her good friends who has found jobs.

  80. 80.

    oclib

    August 26, 2020 at 5:07 pm

    for those that might be interested, here’s a live cam of the Galveston shoreline

     

    http://www.larrysvacationwebcams.com/cams/GalvestonBeachView.php

  81. 81.

    Brachiator

    August 26, 2020 at 5:08 pm

    @Martin:

    So, Marco is dead and buried and Laura remains free to grow as fat as the water temps will permit.

    Every time I see these names I think of Marco Rubio and the dope on Fox News.

    ETA. Trump has got his sharpie pen out ready to track the storms.

  82. 82.

    Martin

    August 26, 2020 at 5:09 pm

    @dnfree: No, we are not ready.

    Mind you, we’re not trying very hard to be ready, either.

  83. 83.

    Roger Moore

    August 26, 2020 at 5:10 pm

    @geg6:

    Remember when Katrina was the gays’ fault?

    It’s still the gays’ fault. It’s not that the gays are doing anything that makes it their fault; it’s that the rest of us tolerate their existence. Our tolerance for people who go against God’s commandments is a sin against Him, and he will punish the whole nation for it.

    As much as I would love to claim this is a result of wingnuts misreading the Bible to make it crazier, it’s actually stated that way very clearly in the latter prophets.  They were trying to explain Israel’s travails, and they placed the blame on the failure of the King and citizens to purge the country of people who went against God’s law.  It’s entirely straightforward for someone today to do the same thing with any particular problem America is facing: it’s because we tolerate people who have abandoned God’s laws.

    This kind of thing is one reason I would encourage everyone to read the Bible cover to cover.  It’s a critical part of many believers’ worldview, and you’ll never really understand it depending on someone else to summarize it for you.  You need to read it for yourself to really get it.  You can probably skip a few mind-numbingly boring parts (especially the genealogies in 1 Chronicles 1-9) but overall it’s worth reading.

  84. 84.

    Mary G

    August 26, 2020 at 5:13 pm

    @dnfree: Yes, “unsurvival storm surge” and “fire tornados” are two things I have never seen predicted before. I wonder what the next horrible phenomenon climate change will bring us.

  85. 85.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    August 26, 2020 at 5:17 pm

    @Martin: Ok thanks for the info.

  86. 86.

    Yutsano

    August 26, 2020 at 5:18 pm

    @Mary G
    How do you feel about raining fish?

  87. 87.

    Yutsano

    August 26, 2020 at 5:19 pm

    Hmm…just had a comment disappear into the æther…

  88. 88.

    Ruckus

    August 26, 2020 at 5:19 pm

    I’ve been at sea in a sustained storm for days, with winds at 90mph and above and seas of about 50-60 ft.

    That was nothing compared to what this is and the ship was built to withstand this level. And obviously did, but not without some damage. I don’t live where water and wind is a problem, just fire and the earth moving in directions not normal. I think I prefer here.

    I hope everyone is safe.

  89. 89.

    Feathers

    August 26, 2020 at 5:20 pm

    Interesting: Nitric Oxide as COVID Therapy. The study was done on pregnant patients. Very curious as to the approvals involved.

    I only caught on to Fringe at the very end of the run. Found it doubly hilarious because I worked as support staff at Harvard at the time. All I could think of was the show completely lacked the person who fudged all the paperwork for them so that they stayed under the radar. Would have been a fun web series/podcast.

  90. 90.

    burnspbesq

    August 26, 2020 at 5:21 pm

    We’ll likely need new maps of Texas, without Galveston, Port Arthur, or Beaumont, by Friday morning.

    And the storm would only have to deflect a couple of degrees west of its current track to really fuck up Houston.

    Hotels in Austin are already full of evacuees. San Antonio and Waco are next, then DFW.

  91. 91.

    featheredsprite

    August 26, 2020 at 5:23 pm

    @MattF: According to wapo, Laura may come ashore around 1 or 2 in the morning local time. High tide is scheduled for 12:47 a.m.

  92. 92.

    Roger Moore

    August 26, 2020 at 5:28 pm

    @Calouste:

    I don’t know how you’re going to protect property from 9 feet of water.

    You probably can’t but not everyone is going to get hit by the very worst a hurricane can throw at them.  People who are further inland or up the coast from the worst hit part will still be facing serious damage, and they may be able to protect their property with adequate preparation now.

  93. 93.

    Dan B

    August 26, 2020 at 5:30 pm

    @Mary G:  Agricultural failure.
    See: Iowa derecho, Sierra Nevada snowless future, droughts, floods, pests, disease, and pestilence, boils, serpents…

  94. 94.

    Kent

    August 26, 2020 at 5:31 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    We know how to build to protect properties from massive storm surges.  For example:  https://www.popsci.com/hurricane-michael-mexico-beach-house-engineering/

    People just don’t want to do it.

  95. 95.

    Martin

    August 26, 2020 at 5:32 pm

    @Mary G: Fire tornados have been a thing for a long time. That’s just a function of broader news coverage and a zillion cameras able to catch them and share them with the world.

    The largest fire in recorded CA history until recently was where I am now 130 years ago, but damn near nobody lived here then. Nobody to catch it on camera, nobody to fight the fire, etc.

    These fires are unusual in that mass lightning fires are uncommon here. But the Camp Fire – that was manmade. That was preventable. A lot of these are preventable. We need to get our shit together.

  96. 96.

    JPL

    August 26, 2020 at 5:38 pm

    There is a wildlife area that I treasure, that will certainly be changed by the storm. Sabine Wildlife Refuge is amazing. Although this is decades ago, one week I walked on the boardwalk and saw the largest gar fish that I have ever seen. A week later, I saw lots of eyes suddenly following me in the same spot. I quickly put the dog on a leash and let the gators finish their meals.

  97. 97.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    August 26, 2020 at 5:39 pm

    @Martin: The fires are also indirectly man made because of the aggressive firefighting over the past century. The west is supposed to burn on a 10 year cycle.

  98. 98.

    Martin

    August 26, 2020 at 5:41 pm

    @Kent: That’s part of it. But here we’re talking about 30 miles of incursion – and it’s among the poorest communities in the nation. There’s just such a compounding of shitty decisions that led to this.

    Yeah, new construction by snowbirds from NY, by all means require those building codes. But you’re a poor black community that exists because Louisiana was Louisiana, you can’t afford to do that, and decades ago when you were pushed to that corner of the state because there were opportunities for fishing so you could keep your kids alive, it wasn’t as susceptible to destruction so the codes probably wouldn’t have applied to you back then if they had existed. And of course if a black community on the coast vanished from sight in 1950, nobody in government or the media cared.

    Unfortunately that leaves us with a situation that if LA was willing to utilize their zoning authority (they aren’t) then we’re just sitting here waiting for storms to slowly extinguish every community along that area. Otherwise, the national community needs to go in and offer to relocate them or build them in a sustainable manner (if that’s even still possible).

  99. 99.

    Martin

    August 26, 2020 at 5:45 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: That’s part of it. What has people alarmed this month in CA, is that every habitat is burning. Desert chapparal doesn’t normally burn – but it is now. Everything from Joshua Trees to Redwoods are burning.

    This might be a fluke – 600 lightning fires across the state isn’t normal, and hopefully it won’t be. We’ll see.

    But it certainly doesn’t help when PG&E or whoever is the source of the fire. We can prevent that.

  100. 100.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    August 26, 2020 at 5:53 pm

    @Martin: This might be a fluke – 600 lightning fires across the state isn’t normal, and hopefully it won’t be. We’ll see.

    I have lived in Cal since the late 60s and never seen anything like that storm. The thought of more of those is quite unnerving.

  101. 101.

    greenergood

    August 26, 2020 at 5:54 pm

    @WaterGirl:  This is what I think about when I watch this scenario – I live on West coast Scotland – we have bad weather many times through the year  – wind, rain, high tides, etc. – but nothing like this. It is heartbreaking to watch, to know that the brunt of all this is on the people who can least afford to deal with it, and a government who couldn’t give a shit about them.

  102. 102.

    Salty Sam

    August 26, 2020 at 5:58 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    @Betty Cracker: I was just wondering what you do if you have nowhere to go.

    Do you just fill up the car and drive?

    What if you have nowhere to go?

    What if you have no car?

    What if you have pets?

    What if you have no money?

    This is what we call “being well and truly fucked”.

  103. 103.

    Kent

    August 26, 2020 at 5:58 pm

    @Martin: I agree with your comment entirely.  I’ve actually been to Port Arthur on business and it is a grim and poverty-ridden area.  There isn’t a good answer to address these poor communities of color along the Gulf Coast.  Ultimately most of those communities are going to vanish.  They already are.

    I was only responding to the notion that we can’t build for 9′ storm surges.  We most certainly can.  In the example I provided the owners said that the additional cost of making their home storm proof added 20% to the cost of the structure, which is cheap given the alternatives.   People just don’t want to.

  104. 104.

    Elizabelle

    August 26, 2020 at 5:59 pm

    Proud of the Bucks for not playing tonight.

    It’s sad that a lot of Americans only pay attention when sports gets involved, but it’s where we are.

    @Martin:   I think relocation.  Dog only knows what the next 30 years are going to look like.

  105. 105.

    Jinchi

    August 26, 2020 at 6:01 pm

    @Kent: Laura is going to stomp all over Trump’s convention and acceptance speech tomorrow afternoon.

    It’s an opportunity for him to finally show some empathy. I’m sure he’ll rise to the occasion.

  106. 106.

    Ken

    August 26, 2020 at 6:10 pm

    @Jinchi: Yes, with his usual quiet dignity and grace.

  107. 107.

    Roger Moore

    August 26, 2020 at 6:10 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    The west is supposed to burn on a 10 year cycle.

    The time frame varies depending on the local vegetation.  Here in Southern California, the plants have barely grown back to the point of being able to burn after 10 years, and the cycle is probably more like every 20-30 years.  I think what used to happen was the more frequent, lower intensity fires would lead to a patchwork of regions that were at different stages in recovery from previous fires.  That would naturally limit fires’ ability to spread, since they would quickly run into an area that hadn’t grown back enough to be easily burned.  When we suppress the fires for a long time, much larger areas are all at the stage where they can burn, and the fires can spread to a much larger area.

  108. 108.

    Kent

    August 26, 2020 at 6:13 pm

    @Elizabelle:@Martin:   I think relocation.  Dog only knows what the next 30 years are going to look like.

    Relocation happens.  Just not in a planned and foresighted manner.   I was teaching HS in Waco TX when Katrina hit.  That year my HS absorbed at least 50 new students who were Katrina refugees.  About half were black kids from New Orleans and about half were white kids from Mississippi.

    To my knowledge, few or none of them returned.  Their families found better jobs and stayed in Texas.

    Same things is going to happen here.  A whole bunch of Lake Charles and Port Arthur residents are going to leave and never return.

  109. 109.

    Martin

    August 26, 2020 at 6:15 pm

    New warning:

    Unsurvivable storm surge with large and destructive waves will cause catastrophic damage from Sea Rim State Park, Texas, to Intracoastal City, Louisiana, including Calcasieu and Sabine Lakes. This surge could penetrate up to 40 miles inland from the immediate coastline, and flood waters will not fully recede for several days after the storm.”

    40 miles is an increase from the 30 miles in the previous alert. Tropical storm warnings extending well into Arkansas now.

  110. 110.

    Elizabelle

    August 26, 2020 at 6:16 pm

    @Kent:   That’s what I think will happen.  I hope the families prosper after this uprooting.

  111. 111.

    Salty Sam

    August 26, 2020 at 6:30 pm

    @Elizabelle: @Kent:   That’s what I think will happen.  I hope the families prosper after this uprooting.

    Remember Barbara Bush <spit!> saying about Katrina refuges in the Houston Astrodome, “Well, this has certainly worked out well for them…”

  112. 112.

    Kent

    August 26, 2020 at 6:32 pm

    @Elizabelle:@Kent:   That’s what I think will happen.  I hope the families prosper after this uprooting.

    In most instances they will actually be better-off long term if they relocate to more prosperous parts of the country rather than getting rebuilt in these same declining communities with FEMA trailers or whatever.

    But there will be a LOT of effort to rebuild these same communities in place rather than abandoning them as should probably be done.

  113. 113.

    Kent

    August 26, 2020 at 6:37 pm

    @Salty Sam:Remember Barbara Bush <spit!> saying about Katrina refuges in the Houston Astrodome, “Well, this has certainly worked out well for them…”

    Yes. I was actually there at the Astrodome when that happened.  Sort of by coincidence.   I actually drove down for a college football game between Oregon and University of Houston that was happening next door and to visit a friend of mine who lived in Houston.   They were playing next door in the Houston Texans new stadium that shares a parking lot with the Astrodome.    They were giving out free tickets to any of the Katrina refugees at the astrodome who wanted to come over and watch the game and a whole bunch of them did so we were sitting with a couple of families who were evacuated from New Orleans.  Who were mostly bored with all the sitting around at the Astrodome and jumped at the chance to get out and stretch their legs and do something different.

    Barbara Bush can fuck off and die.

  114. 114.

    Feathers

    August 26, 2020 at 6:40 pm

    @Kent: The other, very real, problem is the FEMA approach of rebuilding each individual homeowner’s house to that person’s specifications. What is needed when a neighborhood is wiped out is for the people who live there to come up with a solution for the community, which would undoubtedly be better for everyone and far more cost effective. Shoddy houses will fall apart in a storm and take out the ones which were rebuilt to higher standards. The strong houses protect each other. But, no… Muh Freedom!!! Muh Property!!!

    Solutions like rebuilding as a strong and secure block of close together houses, with a barrier of empty flood plain around them need to become an option.

    Also, the bottom is going to drop out when the insurers stop underwriting anyway.

  115. 115.

    Salty Sam

    August 26, 2020 at 6:41 pm

    @Kent: But there will be a LOT of effort to rebuild these same communities in place rather than abandoning them as should probably be done.

    That happens every time.  In Rockport after Harvey, the first sign of economic recovery was real estate, as speculators bought up property to build more boat storage barns and RV/mobile home lots.

    ETA- and three years TO THE DAY later, there is still inadequate housing there for the tourist service industry people to live in.

  116. 116.

    Calouste

    August 26, 2020 at 6:44 pm

    @Kent:

    Barbara Bush can fuck off and die.

    She already did.

  117. 117.

    J R in WV

    August 26, 2020 at 6:50 pm

    @Baud:

    Enhanced Voting Techniques is a troll, or an ignoramous, just pie him and stop wasting space and time on his idiocy. Two eyes in a hurricane? Nope!

    This person is just babbling, knows nothing about anything.

  118. 118.

    satby

    August 26, 2020 at 6:59 pm

    @Calouste: You don’t. I was with the Red Cross in Waveland and Pas Christian after Katrina, and the land is scoured clean. The bodies of people who didn’t leave and were swept away and drowned were found in the upper branches of trees for days after.

    It’s truly horrible.

  119. 119.

    J R in WV

    August 26, 2020 at 7:18 pm

    We were in Pascagoula MS in 1972, and we drove into New Orleans one long weekend to see the wonder. We’re driving along the Gulf Coast, and there were ships lying in the woods to our right, hundreds of yards from the water line. Not little fishing boats, SHIPS aground from Camille in 1969…

    We left for sweet home West Virginia about a week after I achieved my discharge. Don’t want no hurricane like that, no, no, no!!!

    ETA fix speling typo

  120. 120.

    Ken

    August 26, 2020 at 7:36 pm

    @Feathers: Also, the bottom is going to drop out when the insurers stop underwriting anyway.

    Naw, they’ll just keep expanding the NFIP.  It’s already keeping Florida from complete collapse.

  121. 121.

    PIGL

    August 26, 2020 at 7:42 pm

    @Roger Moore: Statistical and simulation studies show that that’s pretty much exactly what happens.

    The only place I know of that burns on a 10 year cycle are summer Australian grasslands, though.

  122. 122.

    Martin

    August 26, 2020 at 7:54 pm

    150 MPH sustained, 940mb. Still strengthening pretty rapidly.

  123. 123.

    Another Scott

    August 26, 2020 at 8:01 pm

    NOAA GOES-17 satellite loop of Laura – https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/GOES/floater.php?stormid=AL132020#homePageLink

    That’s a scary looking storm!

    :-(

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  124. 124.

    chopper

    August 26, 2020 at 8:03 pm

    @Martin:

    good chance she’ll end up a cat 5 in post-season. shoosh.

  125. 125.

    chopper

    August 26, 2020 at 8:03 pm

    @Another Scott:

    here’s another

    https://weather.cod.edu/satrad/?parms=local-Houston-truecolor-24-1-50-1&checked=latlon-counties-usint-map-glm_flash&colorbar=undefined

  126. 126.

    Martin

    August 26, 2020 at 9:21 pm

    150MPH 937mb. Still strengthening.

  127. 127.

    Martin

    August 26, 2020 at 9:36 pm

    Have a feeling it won’t weaken until it’s pretty well inland. It’s going to be riding on an additional 10-20′ of ocean that it’s turned western LA into, pulling up all of the heat. No hills to break it up.

  128. 128.

    jame

    August 26, 2020 at 11:16 pm

    @HumboldtBlue:

     

    @HumboldtBlue: way past that point already. What will remain? I grew up in Cameron Parish; our house was destroyed by Rita in 2005.

  129. 129.

    jame

    August 26, 2020 at 11:17 pm

    It’s making landfall as a Category 5, I just heard.

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