Storm in a tea cup: The weather thread

[Hot Pepsi]

Very concerned...

[Bruno]

I could be wrong but it seems like this is turning out to be less severe for Florida than anticipated?

[Femme Folle]

I think you're wrong. 2.5 million people without electricity. The storm surge hasn't even hit all of the places that it will before it's all over, and there are still areas that are being battered that are not accessible for damage assessment. It's not over yet.

[Bruno]

Not suggesting it's over. The folks on The Weather Channel are saying they expected a stronger eye wall in places like Naples than what they got. So not as much wind damage. Yesterday they were worried about 130 mph sustained winds, weren't they? Plus it sounds like the eye went further inland than it might have, which could mean less severe storm surges in some places.

[Femme Folle]

Less severe is relative. Is 8 feet less than 12 feet? Yes. Will it make a difference to a single story house? No. A lot of people in some areas of the western coast of Florida and the Keys live in mobile homes. Those are toast.

But anyway, look at this divot:

Trump: Hurricanes are helping the Coast Guard improve its 'brand'

[Bruno]

Okay, I wasn't trying to minimize the bad stuff that we know is happening.

[Femme Folle]

I know.

[Femme Folle]

Now they've said that the surge predictions are lower than they were earlier. That has to be a huge relief for a lot of people.

[Third rate Leszno]

Looking like St. Pete may have had less damage than initially feared as Irma swung inland before it reached Tampa Bay. Hope your brother is all OK, HP.

[Guy Profumo]

Fallon:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...hurricane-irma

"Asked how big the looting problem was in the British territory, Fallon said: “There has been a security issue there and that’s why we’re now prioritising getting armed troops in and police coming in behind them to strengthen the local police force.

“You can understand the island has been devastated. It’s been difficult for people to move around until you get helicopters there, but there are troops now there assisting the governor to ensure law and order is maintained.”


Yeah. Law and order. The first priority.

[Bruno]

Now they've said that the surge predictions are lower than they were earlier. That has to be a huge relief for a lot of people.

No doubt. On the downside, this being a fucked up country where Fake News lurks around every corner, there will be a backlash and likely a decreased willingness to heed dire warnings the next time. I'm pretty sure the news media tried to maximize how EPIC this storm was/is in inverse proportion to its diminishing severity over the course of Sunday. I've been looking for above the fold reports of catastrophic storm surges, which in the buildup were dominating coverage. Am I missing them or are they still waiting to happen?

[Sean of the Shed]

Heard some dick from Britain who was holed up in Florida on the radio. He described it as "a bit of an anti-climax" and said that he'd seen worse weather in Manchester. What a fucking bell-end.

[Giggler]

For any Leicester, Hereford, Hong Kong Rangers, Chesterfield, Port Vale, Stockport, Bury, Rochdale, Colchester, Burnley, West Brom, Doncaster, Carlisle or Wigan fans on the forum, Winston White now lives in Naples, Florida.

I emailed him last week and he replied saying that although they'd made every preparation they could and that he'd been in similar situations before when he was in the Caribbean, he was moving to a safer area.

[Femme Folle]

Bruno: Brian Williams on msnbc brought up the possibility that people would be upset with the media and or the authorities because the storm turned out to be less catastrophic than predicted. That would be fucked up, but I think that is now our national mentality.

[Hot Pepsi]

Looking like St. Pete may have had less damage than initially feared as Irma swung inland before it reached Tampa Bay. Hope your brother is all OK, HP.

Yeah. Turned out not so bad. He maintained power and only some tree damage. But I don't know how his agency's office did. It may be flooded.

[Bruno]

It's fucked up, but the meeja aren't helping by treating it like a spectator sport. Not a new observation I realize. I watched more cable news than was healthy this weekend, because I have friends in Sarasota, and it only ratcheted up my contempt. The profit motive oozes into every second of their coverage. They were so transparently desperate to retain your eyeballs with every scrap of info that would feed the doomsday prognostication. So while people would be wrong to conclude that forecasts can be discounted, they're not wrong to perceive the crassness behind what's being sold to them.

[Bruno]

And the twats out grandstanding in the rain, getting their dicks remotely sucked by the studio anchors. I kept hoping they'd blow away, or be swarmed by hurricane resistant bees.

[WOM]

Bruno: Brian Williams on msnbc brought up the possibility that people would be upset with the media and or the authorities because the storm turned out to be less catastrophic than predicted. That would be fucked up, but I think that is now our national mentality.

People still talk about how Y2K turned out to be 'no big thing after all'. Yeah, cuz everyone swung into action and billions of lines of code were rewritten and provisions were made.

[Femme Folle]

I was glued to it for selfish reasons. I grew up in hurricane country, but I've never seen what the worst part of one looks like as it's happening. The meteorological aspect of it fascinates me. Having said that, though, I agree with your comments.

Maybe when one of the reporters is impaled by a flying tree branch or fence post, they will stop doing that. Doubtful though.

[Bruno]

They'd have been thwarted by stronger sustained winds, ironically. As it was they got to show off being buffeted with little risk.

Y2K, yes but there were also lots of rumors that your car and microwave might not run. I had a once or twice removed uncle who was a computer specialist of some kind, who went full commando (bomb shelter, canned food, gold) because he thought not nearly enough had been (or could be) done.

[Bruno]

Now we have cell phone videos for watching hurricanes in action. I'd be fine with cable news keeping a live feed up, but their downfall is when there's a conflict of interest between reality and the worst case scenarios that spike their viewership.

[Flynnie]

Most of my mom's family has done the Sun Belt migration to Gulf Coast Florida, so I was pretty relieved to see Irma be less brutal than expected. Now if Jose can just fuck off.

[Sean of the Shed]

You're beginning to sound like Berbaslug

[Satchmo Distel]

Our home dodged a bullet, successfully withstanding winds of 135mph that have brought down trees and power lines. We will be without power for 7-14 days but a friend is renting us her condo, which has power and WiFi, in exchange for us paying to fix her lanai screens and power washing the debris from her lanai floor.

Anyone complaining that the worst did not happen should take a look at the Keys, where 90% of homes are gone or damaged, and Lehigh Acres, which is under water. It's true that Naples escaped the storm surge because Irma took a 20 mile turn to a more easterly path after the Keys, but it is expecting a ridiculous degree of precision to believe that this should have been predicted, and it is absurd to demand that officials do not operate from the worst case scenario.

Personal observations - it was alarming to see live wires dangling down from broken traffic lights as late as Monday night. The police started badly on Monday IMHO but gradually improved. There should have been more policing and rationing of gas both last week and today, instead of people being allowed to fill half a dozen jugs when others were left unable to evacuate. Horrific Social Darwinism at the pumps.

Credit to Sam's Club and my local Chinese takeout for being back open by 11am today. Especially the latter because I was surviving on bananas and potato chips.

Thanks to all for the messages above.

[Femme Folle]

I'm so glad that you don't have to be without power for two weeks. I had to do that after the so-called "superstorm" Sandy and it was no fun at all. Everybody down there has those lanai screens, don't they? It's such a weird phenomenon. You don't really see those outside of Florida, do you? I guess maybe folks on the GA and SC coasts probably have them too.