Potential ‘Nightmare’ Scenario if Irene Wreaks Havoc on East Coast
- Posted on August 26, 2011 at 7:35am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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NAGS HEAD, N.C. (The Blaze/AP) — Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers were told Thursday to pack a bag and prepare to be evacuated as the nation’s biggest city braced for its first hurricane in decades.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered nursing homes and five hospitals in low-lying areas evacuated beginning Friday and said he would order 270,000 other people moved by Saturday if the storm stays on its current path.
Hurricane Irene was on track to make landfall Saturday in North Carolina and then move up the East Coast, reaching the New York area by late Sunday.
(Photo: NOAA)
“For the general public, it’s a good idea to move Friday,” Bloomberg said. “Keep in mind, it is possible – I don’t know that I want to say likely – but it is very conceivable … that Saturday morning at 8 o’clock, we’re going to say, `Look, the forecast has not changed. The storm is still barreling down on us. It’s still very dangerous. You must get out of these areas.’”
Evacuating hundreds of thousands of people would be particularly difficult in New York, where there are about 1.6 million people in Manhattan, many without cars. There are about 6.8 million in the city’s other four boroughs.
“Don’t wait until the last minute,” the mayor said. “If you can move out on Friday, that’s great.”
Farmer Wilson Daughtry shrugged off an evacuation order and raced to harvest all the corn and squash he could hours before the initial waves churned up by Hurricane Irene started bumping the outer islands of North Carolina. Far away in Maine, lobsterman Greg Griffin reported his colleagues were stowing traps and tying up boats, heeding forecasts of 30-foot battering waves to come.
For hundreds of miles, as many as 65 million people along the densely populated East Coast warily waited Friday for a dangerous hurricane that has the potential to inflict billions of dollars in damages anywhere within that urban sprawl that arcs from Washington and Baltimore through Philadelphia, New York, Boston and beyond.
The main thrust of Irene wasn’t expected in North Carolina until sometime Saturday. But heightened waves from the enormous Category 3 storm weren’t waiting, already hitting the Outer Banks early Friday where many tourists and regular islanders had packed up and left, the National Weather Service said.
Buxton, N.C. real estate agent Danny Couch owns a bus tour business on Hatteras Island and worries about Irene’s damage potential in unexpected ways. Not the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse or other icons of the Outer Banks, but N.C. Highway 12, the two-lane road that runs up and down the vulnerable barrier island.
That’s a lifeline for the community, along with the aged Bonner Bridge, the only connection to the mainland other than two ferries.
“It always the road,” he said when asked what he will check when Irene passes. “That’s your way in, that’s your way out.”
North Carolina was just first in line along the Eastern Seaboard — home to some of the nation’s most heavily populated areas and some of its priciest real estate. Besides major cities, sprawling suburban bedroom communities, ports, airports, highway networks, cropland and mile after mile of built-up beachfront neighborhoods are in harm’s way.
“One of my greatest nightmares was having a major hurricane go up the whole Northeast coast,” Max Mayfield, the National Hurricane Center’s retired director, told The Associated Press on Thursday as the storm lurched toward the U.S. “This is going to be a real challenge … There’s going to be millions of people affected.”
The enormous Category 3 storm with winds of 115 mph (185 kph) — the threshold for a major hurricane — would be the strongest to strike the East Coast in seven years, and people were already getting out of the way. After dousing the Bahamas, it was again moving over warm Atlantic waters that will energize it.
The center of the storm was still about 460 miles (740 kilometers) south-southwest of Cape Hatteras and moving to the north at 14 mph (22 kph).
Hurricane watches already extend all the way to New Jersey and New York was likely next.
Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers were told Thursday to pack a bag and be prepared to move elsewhere. The nation‘s biggest city hasn’t seen a hurricane in decades.
Farther south, tens of thousands packed up and left North Carolina beach towns and farmers pulled up their crops.
Daughtry has lost count of how many times his crops have been wiped out by storms that regularly blow up from the tropics.
“That’s the price of living in paradise,” he said of a fertile farm belt that’s weathered an unusually hot and dry summer. Any deluge from Irene’s rain bands could wipe out many crops just when they are ready for harvesting.
What’s at stake in North Carolina? Latest figures show coastal North Carolina’s fields earned nearly $6.3 billion in farm income in 2009 alone from its tobacco, corn and other crops.
Risks are many from Irene’s wrath: surging seas, drenching rains, flash floods and high winds are all possibilities the Federal Emergency Management Agency director wasn’t counting out.
“We’re going to have damages, we just don’t know how bad,” Craig Fugate told AP as FEMA readied plans in many states. “This is one of the largest populations that will be impacted by one storm at one time.”
Not just infrastructure, but jobs are also at stake.
Take Mary Thomas of Nags Head, a 34-year-old motel worker.
“We depend on tourism,” said Thomas. “If we’re hit, the motel will be shut down for a while. Businesses will be closed. People will have to rebuild. And that means I’ll be out of a job.”
The Outer Banks attracts thousands of tourists each year who stay in hotels and motels or the upscale homes lining the oceanfront. Many workers, like Thomas, earn a living by working in restaurants that cater to the tourists — and some were struggling before the storm barreled toward North Carolina.
“I just don’t know what I would do if I lose my job,” said Thomas, the mother of two.
Latest forecasts had Irene crashing up the North Carolina coastline Saturday, then churning up the East while drenching areas from Virginia to New York City before a much-weakened storm reaches New England.
Forecasters said passing near Manhattan could lead to a nightmare scenario: shattered glass falling from skyscrapers, flooded subways and seawater coursing through the streets.
In the last 200 years, New York has seen only a few significant hurricanes. In September of 1821, a hurricane raised tides by 13 feet in an hour and flooded all of Manhattan south of Canal Street, the southernmost tip of the city. The area now includes Wall Street and the World Trade Center memorial.
In 1938, a storm dubbed the Long Island Express came ashore about 75 miles east of the city on neighboring Long Island and then hit New England, killing 700 people and leaving 63,000 homeless.
Fugate, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, worries about a storm surge coming into Manhattan, home to some of the most valuable real estate in the country. He noted pictures from a 1944 hurricane where police in Midtown, where Times Square, Broadway theaters and the Empire State Building are located, were standing in waist-deep water.
“This is going to have a lot of impacts well away from the coastline,” Fugate said. “A little bit of damage over big areas with large populations can add up fast.”
Even if the winds aren’t strong enough to damage buildings in a metropolis made largely of brick, concrete and steel, a lot of New York’s subway system and other infrastructure is underground and subject to flooding in the event of an unusually strong storm surge or heavy rains, authorities noted.
New York City’s two airports also are close to the water and could be inundated, as could densely packed neighborhoods, if the storm pushes ocean water into the city’s waterways, officials said. The city had a brush with a tropical storm, Hanna, in 2008 that dumped 3 inches of rain in Manhattan.
All told, Irene could cause billions of dollars in damages or more along the Eastern Seaboard in a worst case scenario, said Kathleen Tierney, director of the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado.
In the last 200 years, New York has seen only a few significant hurricanes. In September of 1821, a hurricane raised tides by 13 feet in an hour and flooded all of Manhattan south of Canal Street, the southernmost tip of the city. The area now includes Wall Street and the World Trade Center memorial.
New England is also unaccustomed to direct hits from hurricanes. Griffin, who fishes from Portland, Maine, still recalls the clobbering when Hurricane Gloria struck in 1985 and said this one is not one to ignore after years without a large, dangerous storm.
“We have a young generation of lobstermen who’ve never experienced a full-blown hurricane,” Griffin warned.
The first U.S. injuries from Irene appeared to be in South Florida near West Palm Beach where eight people were washed off a jetty Thursday by a large wave churned up by the storm.
In Washington, Irene dashed hopes of dedicating a 30-foot sculpture to the late Martin Luther King Jr. on the National Mall on Sunday with the help of President Barack Obama. While a direct strike on the nation’s capital appeared slim, organizers said the forecasts of wind and heavy rain made it too dangerous to summon a throng they initially expected to number up to 250,000 strong.
CoreLogic, a company that provides strategic information to businesses and others, issued a statement Thursday that its data showed some 1.8 million residential and commercial properties in the region were at potential risk to storm surge flooding. It said those properties are in 12 major coastal metropolitan areas within Irene’s projected path and added Long Island, New York, faced the highest risk with nearly 388,000 properties.
Heavy rain and possible floods were big worries in the Northeast. The potential for flooding and wind damage are Irene’s greatest threats to Rhode Island, still smarting from the 2010 spring floods that devastated parts of the Ocean State.
In Connecticut, Gov. Daniel P. Malloy declared a state of emergency and warned there could be prolonged power outages if Irene dumps up to a foot of rain on already saturated ground as some fear. He said emergency responders must be ready in event of any evacuations from heavily developed urban areas.
“We are a much more urban state than we were in 1938,” he said, referring to the year that the so-called “Long Island Express” hurricane killed 600 people and caused major damage with 17-foot storm surges and high winds.
The urban population explosion in recent decades also worries New Jersey officials. Gov. Chris Christie encouraged anyone on that state’s heavily built-up shoreline to begin preparations to leave.
Hurricanes have made landfall on New Jersey just twice in the last 200 years, in 1821 and 1903, the latter battering the Atlantic City area. But the state now has 8.8 million people and coastal areas packed with homes and businesses — and 11 major casinos in Atlantic City.
The beach community of Ocean City, Md., was taking no chances, ordering thousands of people to leave.
“This is not a time to get out the camera and sit on the beach and take pictures of the waves,” said Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley.
___
Associated Press writers Michael Biesecker in Raleigh, N.C.; Jennifer Peltz and Seth Borenstein in New York; Wayne Parry, Geoff Mulvihill and Bruce Shipkowski in New Jersey; Brock Vergakis in Virginia; Randall Chase in Ocean City, Md.; and Martha Waggoner in North Carolina contributed to this story.
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Comments (148)
MAnderson1965
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 9:10amI suspect that this event could finally break the back of the U.S. economy, thrusting us down that hole from which there may be no return. Was this planned?
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 9:22amPlanned? Not likely in the long run, yet look indeed for Obama to use this no matter what happens to his advantage for grabbing of more and more power and this may be the event that indeed pushes us over the edge economically and socially if the Big Apple goes down in the storm.
Watch for how long it will take for the Democrats to blame this storm and any mess it makes, or does not make, upon the conservatives and Tea Party while praising their hero of the world Obama.
Cobra Blue
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 9:24amWelll…Break the back once and for all of New York City anyway. And that’s a good start.
Report Post »rangerp
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 9:36amWooo Hoooo, New big screen TVs for Tyrone and his kinsman. Sit back and watch the show. Let us see the biproducts of the democrat’s socialism run wild and act the heathen. How many stores will they destroy and how much will they steal?
If it gets bad, will people say that Pres Obama sent a storm to the east coast, like they claimed when they said Bush and Chenney sent a storm to Lousiana?
Report Post »Dustyluv
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 10:05amRanger…I lived in Houston when the Feds gave the Katrina “victims” their $5000.00 debit cards. They bought big screens like there was no tommorrow. They also used the cards in topless bars and in liquor stores…Then on top of that you could not go anywhere in Houston that a Katrina “victim” begger didn’t approach you to ask for money. It was sickening.
I also evacuated for Rita…16 hours to go 100 miles inland.
Report Post »lylejk
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 10:42amAs sad as Hurricane Katrina was, it did have a stimulating effect for that region in the contruction arena and lots of residual work too. It all depends on how damaging this Hurricane will be, but doubt it will cripple a country already gone due to trade agreements like NAFTA/GATT. Only solution to our crises is below, but they won’t implement it. I figure we may have 5 years, but my gut says much less unless folk wake up. :)
The Solution
First of all, we have to understand that we are going broke. My solution: we got to recall all our military from all foreign lands (and I mean all) and cut it by a third to a half and the remaining troops main mission should be guarding the borders as they are Constitutionally demanded too. Now that would save a heck of a lot of money. Let the rest of the world take care of their own business; we can no longer be the police force of the world. Domestically, I would eliminate the Income tax and IRS and go to a National Sales Tax model. Less entities to collect from so that will further reduce the need for government workers saving more money. Also, before we even had income tax, we got most of our money from tariffs and other fees. Repeal NAFTA/GATT and bring the tariffs back. Short term, things will cost more. Long term, the jobs will return (they have too if companies want to sell their goods to us at a reasonable cost to them). NAFTA/GATT just gave them incentives to leave. That’s my take; want to hear yours. :)
Report Post »GPS-Tech
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 11:05am@Dusty
Report Post »Mayor Bill White sold us out when he stocked the Astrodome full of democrat voters and called it sheltering the refugees. My job at the time had me dealing directly with local and federal law enforcement. I heard stories of people walking out of the astrodome parking lot with their FEMA cards and coming back with X Boxs and Playstations. FEMA set up an office off of Long drive where the Target used to be before the south park rats destroyed that neighborhood. One of my most vivid memories of that disaster is of a black woman standing in line at that office yelling “What yall gonna do for me!” The abuse of the FEMA cards was so rampant that when hurricane Ike hit us in 08 that FEMA we found out that FEMA had canceled the card program. I am sure thought that if another hurricane hits Nawlins again that those cards will be available to them.
KPEdwards
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 11:44am@COBRABLUE
Hey CobraBlue, —- off.
Report Post »KickinBack
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 12:30pmWaiting for Mr. Gore to jump into his cherry-picker and save the nation from this malicious spawn of the GOP that they call a “hurricane”.
Report Post »gmoneytx
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 1:23pm@KPEDWARDS, sounds like you got your feelings hurt…Wah, Wah, Wah…If the people of NY weren’t such p( )ssies about this “little” storm coming through I’d have some compassion for you.
When Ike hit us in Houston in 08, we had over 1.6 million people without power, some for 3 weeks. If NY fairs worse than that, I’ll retract my statement, otherwise take the BIG Texas boot up your ass and don’t let the door hit ya or the good lord split ya!
Report Post »KPEdwards
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 1:47pm@GMONEYTX
Well no, my feelings weren’t hurt. You see, saying that if the back of a highly populated area was broken once and for all is a good start is, what I like to think of as, being a schmuck. But, you know, go ahead and defend that if you’d like. It‘s just like someone else saying that it’d be a “good start” if a natural disaster took out some conservative area because they didn’t like conservative beliefs.
Now, I understand Ike hit Houston – and it was pretty devastating. However, nyc getting hit by smaller hurricane (which in this case it looks like both will be hitting the land as a Cat-2) *can* (NB: not will) be a worse scenario – seeing as we’re right on the ocean as opposed to a couple of miles away from it. Secondly, nyc and li are islands – a bit of a different dimension than just a coast town getting hit. Thirdly, the hurricane isn’t just hitting nyc – it’s most of the entire east coast. I’m not saying nyc is going to be devastated, but you can‘t say that it’s going to be just a blustery, rainy day.
Lastly, how exactly are we being p-ssies about this? By preparing for a worst case scenario? By evacuating flood areas?
Report Post »BOUGHT YOUR SILO YET?
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 1:51pmMy hope is always that people are smart- prepare for anything. I watched the events of Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath unfold. And, like most American’s I was ashamed at how many in the Baton Rouge area behaved- lootings, beatings, and the hindering of rescue operations.
This was probably the first time that I realized that should a bad event occur: natural or man-made, people can not depend on anyone but themselves. I guess you could, but it is a risk not worth taking.
Today, it is particularly volatile because we now have an administration that has all but come out and said, people have to rely on the government because they CAN’T take care of themselves. The entitlement mentality has only grown much worse in the last couple of years. This mentality coupled with a natural disaster could be quite devastating for the NY area.
Report Post »robert
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 2:38pmThis will definitely have an impact on local economies, but I seriousl;y doubt it will be disasterous enough to hit a tipping point in the US economic situation. It certainly won’t help, but I don’t see it as the financial catastrophe the press is making out out to be.
A much greater drain on the country’s resources is coming from the three wars now in progress. Compared to them, this hurricaine is a blip on the financial screen.
Report Post »weeblewacker1
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 4:55pmplanned? wow! i can’t believe you just said that.what planet are you on?
Report Post »artman
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 9:04amThis large storm is sure to cause some major damage. Obama will use this disaster to again payoff his contributors and supporters. No congress will question the “emergency” dollars even if they are printed and cause inflation.
We will see Obama throw all the dollars he can using it as the “stimulus 2” he has wanted. It will payoff unions. It will be manna from heaven for the minorities as wasted dollars are showered down with little monitoring. Obama will give these people some of the repossessed homes on the market and flood the building trade with borrowed money to push the new home building hoping to help his reelection. Money will flow like honey all up and down the east coast with reparations to blacks being a major focus. Waste will be rampant. Fraud will be common. And the taxpayer will again be left holding the bag for another giant boondoggle delivered from the federal government.
Report Post »GPS-Tech
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 11:27am@Artman
Report Post »Rebuild? You better go take a look at New orleans east side, especially I-10 and Chef Monteur highway. 3 Years after Katrina hit there it was still a ghost town. 3 years since Ike hit Galveston next month and the city has never looked this good. One reason could be is that they refused to rebuild the projects.
wewantchillywilly
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 9:02amI can’t see why NYC would be worried if they have their fearless mayor bloomberg. you talk about leadership…
Report Post »encinom
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 10:31amRather have Bloomberg, than W. I can trust that neither Obama, Cuomo or Bloomberg will be reading “My Pet Goat” while the emergency is going on nor will they let people die like what happened during Katrina.
Funny thing is the Tea-Party wants the budget of FEMA and NOAA cut, nothing like blinding us to the approaching storms.
Report Post »vennoye
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 12:28pmencinom
Report Post »You can blame whomever you want to….BUT it doesn’t matter who is President, doesn’t matter who is Mayor. IF these people don’t get up off their tails–if they sit around and wait for someone else to come in and save them, this will not turn out good for some of them, if things are bad in this storm.
Steve
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 12:29pmDistortion and Propaganda. Nothing more nothing less. Works for the huffington post but not here.
Report Post »hempstead1944
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:52amPeople ! It’s a BIG STORM ! Manup, it is NOT the friggin end of the world !!!!!
Report Post »Dustyluv
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 9:59amThe problem is this….Not many homeowners own guns up north. WFT are they going to do to protect their property? Looters are going to have a field day…
Report Post »KPEdwards
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 11:55am@DUSTYLUV
Like the mass looting after the blackouts of ‘03 or ’65, right? Or the widespread riots that followed 9/11, right? Oh wait – those don’t fit into your nicely wrapped up version of reality. So, better just dismiss them and only focus on events like the blackout of ‘77 – also ignore any other factors that might explain why there was mass looting in ‘77 (ie. an extended summer heat wave, son of sam, even the timing of it).
Nope it’s definitely just because of gun laws. Derpty Doo.
Report Post »Perspective
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:48amWe can always hope that the storm destroys the UN building. Now that would be something!
Report Post »RRFlyer
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 9:02amSo this means all the hurricane evacuations in SE Texas have been easy? For Rita it took us 6 hours to go 15 miles. Then we had to get Through Beaumont. Drove 36 hours straight to get to the Dallas area. Plus there were worse stories in the Houston Area.
Report Post »Boy the Media sure loves to create scare stories. Why can’t they try to assure people rather than cause panic?
biohazard23
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 9:10am@RRFlyer, now where would be the fun in THAT?
Report Post »rangerp
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 9:38am@Perspective
Report Post »destruction of the UN building…… We could not be so lucky. Where is the ACLU HQ? If we could get a storm to take it out also, would be a double blessing.
Perspective
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 11:10amI like the way you think Rangerp
Report Post »NWalters78
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:48amOh noooo, it’s a storm, it’s a Category 1, waaaaaaaaaaah! Hey, I rode out a Cat 3- lower Cat 4 Hurricane in Houston Texas, OK? HURRICANE IKE! That’s right big bad Ike, which everyone but the local media here in Houston, forget about. Cry me a freakin river, yankees. Texas got hit by Ike, very little coverage. Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida got slapped by Katrina, not a peep. Nawlins, Liberal A$$ Decadent city and hub of certain ethnicities gets hit and Bush can be smeared due to FEMA and Governor/Mayor stupidity, it’s HELL ON EARTH! East Coast is about to get a stiff breeze and more rain than usual. OMDG…. the media is gushing all over this crap.
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 9:00amHa ha ha!!!!! How true!!!
Report Post »rdk
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 9:57amA storm surge on the Hamptons on Long Island and Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts affects the elite. Therefore, it is a tragedy. Is it not?
Report Post »vennoye
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 9:58amBut you see, it affects THEM now……..big news, big disaster…….after all, it is causing them to interrupt their daily routine!! Wonder if the residents of New York will react like the residents of Houston…..or the residents of New Orleans??
Report Post »I do feel sorry for the people affected by this……but it is not the end of the world. When it is passed, you roll up your sleeves and get to work putting things back in place!!
SCHEXbp
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 10:33amHaving lived in VA, but spent most of my life near New Orleans, I can testify that the East Coast media is in a frenzy for anything from Miami to Maine – but they hardly pay attention to REAL POWERFUL hurricanes that hit the dirt poor South – like the STRONGEST (Camille – 190 mph). Granted the hilly terrain is against them (Camille killed the most people in Miss & the 2nd most in the VA foothills via flash floods), but they think any mere Cat 1-2 is the end of the world BECAUSE IT’S THEM. I was on the Outer Banks for Floyd & went inland for its pitiful 35 mph breeze across the Chesapeake. They should thank their lucky stars the Atlantic is so much cooler than the Gulf & the curvature of the eath generally dumps storms from NC to the open sea. I agree, Man Up!
Report Post »Rayblue
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 12:14pmTook 6 months to get a contractor to repair the damage after IKE. We closed off the downstairs bedroom and lived like refugees. 1 year to get back in order.
Report Post »A trick we learned from this is to set up a building contractor for repairs when you hear a disaster is on the way. So when he digs himself out, you will be farther up in line.
ddg7
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 4:08pm‘Big Apple’ my ash. More like ‘Big Sissies’!
Report Post »ERFBURNER
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:43amGeorge Bush Hates East Coast People!
Report Post »notmeatglennbeckdotcom
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:51amWhen Obama got in the White House, GW left him a note that said, “Once you take your feet off the desk, you’ll see a set of drawers down the left side. The third one has a controller. Simply point it at the TV screen that will pop up out of the back of the desk and stter the storm where you want it to go.”
Because Obama hates Capitalism, he’s got this one aimed for Wall Street.
Report Post »NWalters78
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:54amGWB and Cheney must be using that Damned Weather Dominator to destroy the East Coast, like they did to The Ninth Ward of Nawlins….. I guess Cobra Commander and Destro made Halliburton power up the ole Dominator to kill some liberal people, not just brown people.
Report Post »Marylou7
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:59amI knew it had to be his fault.
Report Post »Hoosierkid
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 11:07amAnd I’m sure Bush sent the storm!
Report Post »MAnderson1965
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:41amOkay, how about this; several or the largest insurance companies backed out of Florida following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, because it couldn’t handle the claims caused from hurricane related weather in that state afterward. Do those companies have the capitol necessary to hand out during the recovery, after Irene devastates the northeastern coast? I wonder how solvent many insurance companies are these days? We don’t seem to hear much about them in the news.
Report Post »christos
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:41am……By their own account the collective “almost controls the weather” they must be testing their super galactic weather control knobs surely they will have everything under control as to they are attempting to control everything else,it’s just par for their course one major element they left out +GOD+JESUS+ not to worry move aside make sure to stay out of there progressive way.TA
Report Post »ares338
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:38amLook at it this way! It might wash all of the rats and cockroaches out to see.
Report Post »notmeatglennbeckdotcom
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:30amNever Let A Crisis go to waste!!
This will already be the excuse for the poor economy like the Earthquake/Tsunami and Arab Spring Before it.
I do love how the Arab Spring that Obama incited is now his excuse for his intentionally mismanaged economy. With the 9/11 anniversary coming, this President reminds me of Flight 93. He has taken over control and is driving this econimic plane into the ground and blaming it on those who are trying to save it. Let’s Roll in 2012!
Report Post »Libby Tarian
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 9:09amExactly, when we used to have a MAN in the White House, I never heard him blame his bad choices on Katrina, 9/11, the Muslims (all of them are tearing this country apart), and various other floods and uprisings in third world countries.
Report Post »It is time to have some one with the 3all$ in the presidency again.
TRONINTHEMORNING
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:29amOur poser prez shan’t be bothered by such details like a deadly storm. Why, he’s getting that much needed R & R and surely he can come up with a plan to help those affected by Irene; as soon as he finishes his magic job-creating plan in September. Back to the golf course, lovey.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:29amOMG .. the CBS Morning show interviewed “School Bus” Ray Nagan (Mayor of New Orleans) and called him an “expert” in hurricane preparedness! Yes– if you want to know what NOT to do! He actually said that people “choose” not to evacuate! LOL .. it is better than anything on SNL in YEARS! You must seek out a copy and watch! It was on Friday morning around 8:25 … PRICELESS!
TEA!
Report Post »CatB
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:36amI tried to send a “tip” to The Blaze to post it .. will not work (I am in the north woods on vacation and a lot of “funny” things with internet connectio) If someone could copy and send my above post as a “tip” I would appreciate it … it is SOOOOO FUNNNNNNYYYYYY!
TEA!
Report Post »kentuckypatriot
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 9:02am@CATB
Report Post »Why do you watch CBS? SHame on you! ( just kidding)
SCHEXbp
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 11:01amAs a person who lives just outside the city & stayed thru Katrina, let me tell you that Nagin started off as a very good mayor. Eventually he found out that politics was different than his previous business executive experience. He actually told the residents that, IF THEY HAD A CAR, to leave town, & if they did NOT have a car, to make their way to the Superdome. So what happened? The lazies DROVE to the Superdome, parked & went in & overloaded it.
Report Post »Nagin had endorsed Jindal the 1st time around, but the Dems here barely elected bureaucratic fixture Lt Gov Kathleen Blanco. So she was MAD at Nagin & they did not coordinate as the storm approached. Also the GOP in DC did not want to make the initial overture to a female Dem Gov. (embarrassing her), & she stalled for too long. Can you imagine the difference if young smart energetic Jindal had been Gov. during Katrina?
BTW if Brownie was so bad, how come the year before when 3 hurricanes all crossed FLA around the same place, there was not the wanton destruction, lawlessness, & whining that occurred in tthe welfare city of New Orleans? You should ask yourself that. I was so ashamed of the radio personalities here whining & crying. My favorite story was a 60 yr old man who got stuck in the city, so he WALKED 100 miles to Baton Rouge. People used to be tough.
My personal assignment of blame nonetheless is (1-10): Nagin 8, Blanco 7, Bush 3.
CatB
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 11:22am@KENTUCKYPATRIOT .. I am in the north woods .. I get two tv channels since they switched to digital .. THANK GOD for SATELLITE RADIO .. that is the ONLY reason I was watching CBS this morning .(also had FOX NEWS ON satellite radio at the time) .. I have to say they have some good COMEDY on CBS .. if you aren’t looking for facts or the truth … at least they have that!
TEA!
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:26amMeanwhile, people in the Keys are giggling at the hysterical New Yorkers freaking out about a “little rain storm”…..
Mind you, those are the same crusty critters who wouldn’t leave no matter what. It’s the same type of hard-headed morons who think that they can withstand the weather. Sure, maybe they can. But, like Jeff Dunham said, it’s not the wind, it‘s the projectiles picked up by the wind that you can’t survive. No matter how great your health or whatever, if you get hit by a flying Volvo…. Well, all we can say is, “Goodnight, Irene.”
Report Post »CatB
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:39amI love how people in the northeast .. who told me I had NO business living near the beach in Florida now are the ones having to lay in supplies or leave …. as I pointed out to them … there is no “SAFE” place .. something could happen anywhere.
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:52amYep, it’s either hurricanes on the coast or tornadoes in the middle or earthquakes anywhere.
Report Post »NWalters78
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 9:19amHere in Texas, we’re sneering at those whining YANKEE P#$$IES. Sack up or pack up, is what I say.
Well, they’re packing up…..
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 5:12pmWhoops! That was Ron White, not Jeff Dunham. My bad!
Report Post »SirFlannel
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:24amI wonder if this will qualify as a “great opportunity to improve the economy”, for Krugmann?
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:26amOnly if it involves an alien invasion from Planet Morlock, too.
Report Post »TxMadMac
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:22amAin’t no thing ! here in Texas we say ” it‘s like wadi’n at the beach with a nice breeze blowin in your face, only in your living room !”
Report Post »weeblewacker1
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 5:02pmyour just jealous because the east coast is gonna get so rain.texas is sooo dried-up,it looks like inside of a tea partiers head.
Report Post »Dustyluv
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:07amAs with all Hurricanes…Only the stupid will stay. Could we thin the herd this time and stay away for a while instead of running in with food and water. But no…we are going to go in and rescue the FOOLS again. Sorry, I have no compassion for morons who ride out hurricanes Let them suffer there idiocy…
Report Post »txbigfoot
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:23amThis is funny as hell to read. The east coast is SOOOO afraid. They dont give a rats fart when it happens to the gulf states. And here its like the end of the world. When we get hit you guys yawn and deny and delay federal funding. Its not even hit yet and I bet the funds are already there for you Yankees.
Report Post »Welome to our world.
biohazard23
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:30am@txbigfoot, same here in Florida, except all the transplanted New Yorkers whine about how the hurricanes are NOTHING compared to the snow they have in NY, MA, or wherever in the NE they moved from. After all, EVERYTHING is better (worse?) up north.
Report Post »sWampy
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:36amBioHazard, why won‘t the sob’s move back and leave our little slice of heaven alone.
Report Post »NWalters78
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:44amAll of you East Coast Libs (which is not you East Coast Conservatives here) can all kiss my @$$. I live in Houston. I hunkered down during Hurricane Ike! Ike was a Cat 3- lower Cat 4. We had over 100 mile mph winds. My roof developed a crack and leak, but I made it through it, dammit. Oh and unlike the East Coast, I had a firearm ready to greet any looters and thugs. Also, the Texas National Guard and State Troopers were ready to put some folks at room temperature. Thankfully, there was almost no looting. We know how to handle a hurricane and other disaster. Yeah, Perry did OK with his stuff but Ike’s saving grace were the local and county officials keeping their heads on a swivel.
Also, the media is gushing all over the East Coast. When Houston got hit, who cares? They’re a Red State and they deserved it. Nawlins got hit by Katrina and Lawdy Lawd the sky is falling! OK, Louisiana is pretty Red, buuut Nawlins was all liberal and Brad & Angelina live there and their people were the right color….so they deserved the coverage and all aid. Never heard a peep about Mississippi or Alabama or Florida which also got thrashed by Katrina. Eff the media.
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:50amSwampy, because they want to move to our lovely warm beaches then drive verrrrrrrry slowly. They also enjoy getting worked into a tizzy while yelling at their neighbor’s grandkids and dogs to get off their lawn.
Of course, electing the likes of Frederica Wilson and Dee Snider’s twin sister, Wasserman Schlitz-for-brains, gives them a perverse thrill as it horrifies the locals.
Last but not least, they want to move to God’s Waiting Room, er, I mean St Pete Beach, Naples, and Palm Beach Gardens so they can quietly await the Grim Reaper while moaning that they don’t make bagels and pizza down here like they do in NYC.
Did I miss anything? :)
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:56amTry living in Bermuda when Hurricane Emily hit. Where do you evacuate when you’re on an island? It had been downgraded to a tropical storm, and then went back up to hurricane (don’t know the cat, but it destroyed a lot of Bermudian cedar trees to the point the the government was asking people if they lost any kind of tree to replace it with a Bermuda cedar). I was active duty Navy, and the only civilians who knew it was coming were those with Navy renters, because we all called our landlords and told them about it. There were people caught at bus stops. I was also in Hurricane Dean, but it was nothing compared to Emily. I played trivial pursuit for 8 hours with Dean.
Report Post »JERSEYJUDE
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 9:28amI have to say… I PRAY and donate when anything happens to anyone in our good country. I live in Jersey and am gonna get hit and am Praying everyone uses common sense. We’re not used to these storms. But please don’t group us all as uncaring and stupid. I ask that you PRAY for us just as hard as most of do for you.
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 9:42amJerseyJude, we WILL be praying for you. I seriously doubt that any of us really wants to see anyone get hurt (or worse) by this storm. However, we will also be laughing at the panicked residents of NYC as they have done at those of us in the south for years. We know that not all of you guys up there are stupid and uncaring. We’re just giggling at those who are.
Be safe, use common sense, and evacuate if they tell you to.
Report Post »quicker
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 10:08am@Nwalters78;I live in Jones Creek had some tree damage none to the house.After the storm had a week long bbq.
Report Post »quicker
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 10:11amAnd it was funny watching Herado getting knocked on his butt by the wave.
Report Post »vennoye
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 10:21amJERSEYJUDE
Report Post »You are right, of course! I have been praying for all of you, and I will continue to do so. I know that many of the structures in the Northeast are older than ours. (we’ve had to replace ours a lot) So I know that there probably will be some damage to those older structures.
Our comments are meant for the elitist jerks up there, who not only think they control everything, they want to control everyone. Well, they will learn they do not have the control they think they do.
NWalters78
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 11:10amBio Hazard, don’t insult Dee Snider comparing him to Debbie Water-brain Sh#tz…. seriously her Adam’s Apple is bigger than his… I wonder what else is bi…..forget it.
Quicker, my neighbors downstairs of me had a BBQ going to cook their food which they then put in airtight containers, and boiled water to drink….. power was back on in 6 days but btw the storm and restoration we had a cool front that kept us from boiling over. Plus, most folks cleaned up their own stuff rather than wait on FEMA.
We didn’t get all the goodies Nawlins got, but truth be told Texas didn’t need that. I wonder if Louisiana would have needed as much, if Jindal had been a the Governor in 2005? Somehow think, not as much.
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 11:45am@NWalters78, my sincere apologies to Mr Snider. I meant no offense. :)
And Jindal would have told them to suck it up and deal. Don’t wanna leave? Don’t expect a bailout, losers. End of story.
Report Post »team1blazer
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 12:03pmSorry Dust, but you are sadly mistaken. Evacuation has it’s own hazards. For those of us who are prepared – ICF home construction, not on a barrier island (God designed them to be temporary / sacrificial), plenty of food, backup power supply, arms…staying put is a better option. I will never run from another storm – I’m prepared for anything.
Report Post »AJAYW
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:07amThis gives Bam Bam something else to blame his failures on
Report Post »jakartaman
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:05amNot to worry – Those New Yorkers are use to water – They have been all wet for years!!
Report Post »creativeogre
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 7:56amThis could be the one to take out Manhattan Island.
Since the island is only several feet above sea level on a good day, any flooding could lead to salt water inundating the tunnels under the city. What does this mean? It means that the subway system, power distribution, communications and water systems ( both fresh and sewer) will be disabled for many months
Forget about life above the 4th floor… too many stairs
Forget about water and power
Forget about Wall Street opening Monday.. or anytime in the near future
Forget about any easy evacuation after the storm.. (you have 96 hours before all hell breaks loose)
With winds being what they predict, streets will be filled with glass and debris
Friends.. there is more… But I do hope for our nations sake I am wrong about this…
Report Post »jhaydeng
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:00amThere is nothing you can do to stop this storm. If people can’t heed the warning then so be it!!!
Report Post »lovenfl3
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:02amI couldn’t agree more. This could be really ugly for Manhatten Island. Thoughts and prayers for all that are in Irene’s path. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKZhaEFA1Yk
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 7:52amI hope this wont mess-up Obama’s vacation ..let us pray
Report Post »ecurbyy
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:10amAre you kidding? This could be great for the Obummer’s. Now he can blame unemployment on global warming/climate change/restless earth syndrome.
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:18amglobal warming/climate change isn’t selling. But if it does a a lot of damage he will claim he created jobs
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:58amIf it does a lot of damage, it could be the crisis he’s looking for to declare himself Emporer for life. He could stop elections because of martial law.
Report Post »olddog
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 7:49amIf Irene hits NYC and kills every liberal, would there be anyone left in NYC ????
Report Post »RightUnite
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 7:52amProbably not….
Report Post »BIGJAYINPA
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 7:58amVery cold, OLDDOG. I dislike Liberals, but I don’t necessarly wish them dead, re-educated and come to their senses will do..After all they may eventually become useful, tax-paying citizens some day. I am a Christian, I belive in miracles……Just sayin’
Report Post »Gerrymanderer
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:41amYou are an extremist who cares nothing for American lives. Liberal or not – never wish death upon fellow citizens. Shameful and despicable. This is a message from a proud New Yorker who endured 9/11. Go to Hell redneck.
Report Post »yougottabekidding
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 9:09amGerrymanderer
Report Post »What a maroon!
Where did he say he WANTED them to die?
Typical liberal putting words in someone elses mouth, or not reading what is said! Wake up while you still have something to wake up to. Most of us legal citizens have lived through 911 in one way or another. Regretablly some worse then others.
slimkendall
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 7:47amScary. I didn’t catch the “political nightmare scenario” in the story.
Report Post »The nightmare is a bit larger than “political” I’d say.
ecurbyy
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:14amBut now Obummer can blame the economy and high unemployment on global warming. This could put Algore back in the money.
Report Post »ecurbyy
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 8:15amThat was potential, not political.
Report Post »BIGJAYINPA
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 7:46amThis could become very expensive very fast. Now we will see if all those who called for more and more coastal developement actually knew what they were talking about. My guess is that a lot of homes, hotels and businesses have been built on marginal ground and now the butcher’s bill has come due. I really love the one NJ official that told people if you are not going to evacuate at least write down all of you pertinate info and put it in your shoe so we can identify you and notify your next of kin. My prayers are with anyone foolish enough to try and “ride this out” in an iffy location. You have my prayers, but not my sympathy, Bad choices have bad results, you reap what you sow. As for you in New York City–GET OUT, GET OUT NOW! If you are still there when Irene arrives you have a problem and I don’t know when you might get help. You were warned, I don’t want to hear your whining……Just sayin’
Report Post »yougottabekidding
Posted on August 26, 2011 at 7:43amWhy are these people from New York all of a sudden worried? Did they not hear Bloomburgs declaration?
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