Perilous
Times and Climate Change
Irene destroys 90% of homes on Bahamas island... now it's
headed for US
Officials in the US are scrambling to prepare for the storm as
reports begin drifting in of the damage done to a remote island in
the Bahamas.
Hurricane Irene moves across the Caribbean
3:00PM BST 25 Aug 2011
Hurricane Irene has destroyed 90 per cent of the homes on one
remote Bahamas island - a brutal demonstration of the storm's
power as it roars towards America's densely populatd north-east
coast.
On the remote Acklins Island, where Irene's eye passed over
Wednesday, nearly every home in the Lovely Bay settlement were
destroyed, the National Emergency Management Agency said. Several
were literally blown away.
The storm is raking slowly through the Atlantic archipelago on a
track that will see it barrel up the US East Coast over the next
few days. It is predicted to make landfall by Saturday somewhere
near North Carolina, where evacuations are already taking place.
On Thursday New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg revealed how
seriously American officials are taking the threat as he warned
city residents in low-lying areas to make for higher ground.
Irene is currently a Category 3 storm - the same strength as
Hurricane Katrina was when it destroyed much of New Orleans in
2005.
However forecasters are predicting that, once it moves past the
Bahamas into the warm waters off Florida, Irene will strengthen
even more into a lethal Category 4 storm.
As of noon GMT, Irene was packing winds of 115 miles per hour and
was located about 65 miles east northeast of Nassau. Once it
becomes a Category 4 its wind speed will have increased to 135
miles per hour.
Tourists have been fleeing from the storm's path through the
Caribbean in recent days as Irene gained in strength. Now America
is bracing for the storm's fury.
Officials in towns up and down the coast are scrambling to inspect
bridges, sending naval ships away, dusting off evacuation plans
and getting sandbags ready for potential floods.
They are also considering where and when to move people out of
harm's way.
President Barack Obama, holidaying on Martha's Vineyard off the
East Coast, may also have to face evacuation depending on the
storm's path.
The US Navy on Thursday ordered all its ships in the huge port of
Hampton Roads, Virginia, out to sea to weather the storm.
On Thursday the NHC issued an alert for the entire US East Coast.
Forecasters said they expected the eye to come close to Cape
Hatteras, North Carolina early Saturday, then continue north over
water toward the eastern edge of New York's Long Island on Sunday.
It's then predicted to chug up the East Coast, dumping rain from
Virginia to New York City before a much-weakened form reaches land
in Connecticut. Finally, it should peter out in Maine by Monday
afternoon.
"This could be a very large storm, so we are taking it very
seriously," said North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue.
Bill Read, director of NHC, said the track remains uncertain but
that "the exact center of the storm may stay close to the coast on
Saturday and perhaps become a big threat to New England and Long
Island."
He said the storm had become "very well organized overnight" and
was growing in size.
"It is in the warmest water and a favorable environment so it
could actually get stronger," he told reporters in a conference
call.
The NHC said that "interests in eastern North Carolina and the
mid-Atlantic states should monitor the progress of Irene."
Insurers kept a nervous watch in case Irene threatened wealthy
enclaves such as the Hamptons, an eastern Long Island playground
for New York's rich.
Forecasters warned that even if the centre of the hurricane stays
offshore as it tracks up the mid-Atlantic coast, its wide,
swirling bands could lash cities including Washington and New York
with winds and rain, knock out power, trigger coastal storm surges
and cause flooding.
"We're not paying attention just to the eye of the storm. We're
looking at how wide it is, how large it is," Virginia Emergency
Management Department spokeswoman Laura Southard said.
Craig Fugate, the head of the US Federal Emergency Management
Agency, said emergency personnel were preparing from impact from
the Carolinas to New England.
"This is going to be a big storm. Just because it hits one area
doesn't mean its not going to cause damage further up the coast,"
he said.
"The most important thing for people to do right now is to listen
to and follow the instructions of their local officials. If you
are told to evacuate, evacuate."
If Irene makes a direct landfall in the continental United States,
it will be the first hurricane to hit there since Ike pounded
Texas in 2008.
Meanwhile, a new tropical depression formed far out over the
Atlantic early Thursday, with the National Hurricane Center saying
it would likely become a tropical storm later in the day.