Fox News:
Hurricane and storm surge warnings were issued late Thursday for South Florida as Hurricane Irma advanced westward in the Caribbean, with a northward turn toward Florida expected over the weekend.
Irma battered Turks and Caicos early Friday, with waves as high as 20 feet expected to hit those islands. Communications went down as the storm struck, and the extent of the devastation was unclear.Long story short: If you live in Florida, get the heck out of Dodge! It is going to be very bad. The evacuations ordered were fully justified, and people in those areas need to go.
On the other hand...
WSB-TV:
The latest track for Hurricane Irma has it getting closer to metro Atlanta.My disclaimer: I live in Savannah, Georgia, close to Pooler, and west of I-95, and in western Chatham County.
The latest track of the storm shows it moving into Georgia on Monday afternoon, further west than previous tracks.The current track shows the storm entering Georgia as a possible Category 1 storm in southeast Georgia.
The current track puts north Georgia at a higher risk for gusty winds, heavy rain and the possibility for tornadoes.
Gov. Nathan Deal added 24 more counties to the State of Emergency on Thursday ahead of Hurricane Irma.
This comes after a recommendation from Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency. There are now a total of 30 counties included in this State of Emergency.
Note that the storm is now a category 1, which is less than what Hurricane Matthew was when it hit Savannah last year. In the area where I live, there were a few trees knocked over and some lost roofing tiles and paneling, but the damage was minimal. Also, we are not in a flood plain, so it would take biblical flooding to affect us.
With that said:
In a statement Deal said, “The state is mobilizing all available resources to ensure public safety ahead of Hurricane Irma,” said Deal. “I encourage all Georgians in our coastal areas that could be impacted by this storm to evacuate the area as soon as possible. Beginning Saturday, a mandatory evacuation order will take effect for Chatham County, all areas east of I-95 and some areas west of I-95 that could be impacted by this catastrophic hurricane and storm surge..."West Chatham County does NOT need to be evacuated. This evacuation order was premature. Think about this: The order was given Thursday, and the storm was not expected to hit until Monday. If you know anything at all about weather, a whole lot can change in 3 days.
In Deal's defense, he made this decision based on a prediction of a category 3 hurricane, which was roughly what Matthew was. But he is forgetting that weather forecasters tend to predict the worst case. You really have to read into a forecast for the full range of possibilities.
Do NOT mistake what I am saying if you happen to live in south Georgia east of I-95. Most of that area is in the flood plain, and the storm surge alone makes the risk of staying too dangerous.
In summary, unless the prediction somehow worsens, I won't be going anywhere, although I do plan on securing my home for it.
In other Irwin Allen catastrophe news...
Reuters:
An earthquake of magnitude 8.1 struck off the southern coast of Mexico late on Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said, killing at least six people and triggering small tsunami waves but no major destruction.And in politics...
The quake was apparently stronger than a devastating 1985 tremor that flattened swathes of Mexico City and killed thousands, but this time damage to the city was limited.
A number of buildings suffered severe damage in parts of southern Mexico. Some of the worst initial reports came from Juchitan in Oaxaca state, where sections of the town hall, a hotel, a bar and other buildings were reduced to rubble.
Washington Post:
President Trump and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) have agreed to pursue a deal that would permanently remove the requirement that Congress repeatedly raise the debt ceiling, three people familiar with the decision said.If this is where we are going, why not scrap taxes all together and just print money for whatever we need?
Trump and Schumer discussed the idea Wednesday during an Oval Office meeting. The two, along with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D–Calif.), agreed to work together over the next several months to try to finalize a plan, which would need to be approved by Congress.
One of the people familiar described it as a “gentlemen’s agreement.”
Until then, Trump and Chuck (sounds like a bad tv sitcom, right?) both get the bear:
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