via gallup.com
Monday, August 22, 2011
Hurricane Irene threatens South Florida - Hurricanes
Irene became the season’s first hurricane early Monday, raking Puerto Rico with 75 mph winds and churning on a track that appeared likely to leave it largely unscathed by the mountains of Hispaniola.
That could allow Irene to strengthen, potentially into a major hurricane, before it approaches the mainland United States later this week.
At 8 a.m., Irene was beginning to move away from Puerto Rico and was expected to skirt the northern coast of Hispaniola later Monday. The heavily populated Southeast Florida coast was near the center of the forecast cones for later in the week but the National Hurricane Center stressed Irene’s path remained uncertain and it could make landfall anywhere from the Florida Keys to the Carolinas.
Most computer models steered Irene just off the coast of Florida, with the storm’s eye looming off Miami-Dade and Broward counties early Friday, but they varied on the timing of an anticipated turn that will be the key to where — and whether — it would make landfall. A wobble one way or the other in the next few days could mean the difference between a close shave for South Florida and a direct hit.
“Don’t just pay attention to the skinny black line,’’ stressed Dennis Feltgen, a National Hurricane Center spokesman. He urged South Florida residents to monitor the storm carefully, double check supplies and review hurricane plans.
Despite crossing Puerto Rico, Irene gained strength and appeared much better organized overnight.
Rain bands and gusty winds flood streets and left tens of thousands without power outages in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico and shut down the airport in San Juan, packed with passengers stranded by canceled flights.
Maria Antonia Ordonez, 59, said she secured the shutters of her house in historic Old San Juan after inviting neighbors over for dinner and wine.
"You can hear the wind, the gusts are relentless," she told The Associated Press. "I can’t see anything because I’ve closed everything."
Forecasters said Irene tracked more to the north than originally expected, taking it directly across Puerto Rico but also putting it on a path that would likely skirt the highest mountains in Hispaniola, which had broken up Tropical Storm Emily earlier this month. If that happens, Irene would move into warm waters and atmospheric conditions that could fuel a significant increase in wind speeds.
“It would not surprise me if this cyclone became a major hurricane at some time during its lifetime,’’ wrote senior hurricane specialist Stacy Steward in the center’s 5 a.m. analysis.
Haiti and the Dominican Republic were bracing for impacts. The Dominican Republic, which saw bridges and roads washed away by Emily, could again see damaging deluges.
In Port-au-Prince, the government put residents on red alert and urged the half-million still living in makeshift tent communities a year after a devastating earthquake to seek shelter with friends and family. The U.S. Navy ordered its hospital ship, the USNS Comfort, which had been stationed off the city for months, to steam for safer waters until Irene’s passage.
Strong winds and rain were battering the outlying Puerto Rican islands of Culebra and Vieques, where 150 tourists were evacuated, according to Gov. Luis Fortuno. At least 120,000 people were without power and another 13,000 without water as the storm approached.
via miamiherald.com
Sunday, August 21, 2011
BBC News - Tropical storm Irene heads towards Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic has issued a hurricane alert as a tropical storm closes in on its southern coast.
Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami said tropical storm Irene could turn into a hurricane before making landfall.
They expect it to pass near Puerto Rico and make landfall in the Dominican Republic on Monday.
via bbc.co.uk
Wingwalker dies after fall at Michigan air show | Reuters
(Reuters) - A wingwalker at an air show near Detroit fell to his death on Sunday, after he tried to transfer from an aircraft to a helicopter and plunged about 200 feet to the ground, officials said.
The death of wingwalker Todd Green comes one day after an aerobatic flyer crashed and died at a Kansas City, Missouri, air show and a British Royal Air Force "Red Arrows" pilot crashed and died at an air festival on the coast of England.
via reuters.com
Gadhafi near collapse with capture of son, surrender of guard - World Wires
CAIRO -- Libyan President Muammar Gadhafi's regime appeared near collapse Sunday with the reported capture of his son and the surrender of his personal guard to rebel forces, Libyan officials and NATO said.
With NATO bombings paving the way, rebel forces swiftly closed in on Tripoli and by late Sunday controlled much of the capital. Live television showed crowds of opposition fighters in Tripoli unfurling the rebel tricolor flag and smashing Gadhafi portraits. Young men stomped on a large tapestry of the leader as they flashed victory signs.
Gadhafi made a brief audio statement on Libyan TV, sounding desperate as he called on individual tribes and cities to rise up and defend Tripoli. He pleaded with Libyans to "take weapons" and prevent the destruction of "beautiful Tripoli."
"All the tribes, you must all march to Tripoli in order to purify and cleanse it otherwise you will have no dignity, you will be slaves, servants of the occupier. Servants forever."
Thousands of Libyans celebrated in the rebels' eastern capital of Benghazi, cheering and dancing as the news broke that Gadhafi's son and onetime heir apparent Seif al-Islam was in rebel custody. The rebels' National Transitional Council confirmed his capture, according to news reports.
In Benghazi, heavy artillery rained on the city as Transitional National Council leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil announced the capture of Seif al-Islam son just before midnight local time. Indeed, the sounds of ammunition drowned out the cheers of residents gathered along main streets and in their neighborhoods.
For some, the capture of A powerful son was more important than the whereabouts of the aging leader himself. Ffor many, the revolution was as much about the prospects of the son taking over as it was about ending Gadhafi's 42-year rule.
U.S. officials, however, could not confirm the arrest or Gadhafi's whereabouts, conceding they do not have good intelligence in Tripolie. On Sunday, the State Department issued an advisory confirming the rebels were on the outskirts of Tripoli just as Jalil appeared on television.
If the regime indeed fails, Jalil will become Libya's new leader until elections, which he has promised will happen in the next few months.
via miamiherald.com
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