Running Update On Irene And Impact

I'm gonna be keeping a running blog post on Irene and what's going on in the East Coast.

You'll want to bookmark this specific post that I'll use to provide updates from the major news sources and then I'll have another set up at Greenjava that has other posts and resources. I set one up for the major north Japanese earthquake back in March.

I've learned from that so I hope to do better this time around.

UPDATES:

• MOBILE TIP: MAKE SURE YOUR MOBILE DEVICES, TABLETS, AND LAPTOPS ARE FULLY CHARGED AND YOU KNOW WHERE YOU'VE GOT YOUR GEAR ACCESSORIES. BEST TO GET A BACK UP BATTERY IF YOU STILL CAN.
• NY Times is provide free access to weather related information on the Web and mobile apps.
• Sun 1345 EST Evac order lifted in NYC. New Yorkers largely unimpressed with Irene. It could have been worse. Flooding is still widespread and 4 million without power. Also at least 15 deaths. More at CNN.
• Sat 1210 EST flooding reported in NC. Continues march up north at 15 mph. Still a powerful storm. RI added to list of state under federal emergency declaration. Gov of NC advised people to continue to stay inside. NY public transpiration will not return until Monday.
• Sat 1200 EST Irene now at 85 mph, category 1 hurricane.
• 2310 EST - Need to assume all major venues, transportation hubs, public facilities, etc. will be closed up and down east coast.
• 2310 EST - Hurricane for extends 90 miles, tropical storm force extends nearly 300 miles.
• 2300 EST - General who was later put in charge of Katrina said it was right for the government evac lower lying areas. More closure in NY being called for.
• 2105 EST - times like this when you think maybe you'll need a Kindle to get by...#iPad is nice but doesn't last days... #mobile #irene (Twitter: paul_onxo)
• 2100 EST - AMTRAK will have no service in the Northeast on Sunday. Maybe they got more information or modeling that this is really going to hit the area pretty hard.
• 2050 EST - More tweets about mobile warriors charging up their devices. Funny how they like to name off what they have. My kind of people. Stay safe!
• 2045 EST - Lots of focus on NY. NFL preseason game cancelled. If you haven't gone shopping, now's the time. I'm in California and even I'm gonna go fill up my gas tank...
• 2025 EST - @EricFisherTWC First flooding reports starting to come in from #Wrightsville Beach area. Winds sustained well above tropical storm strength. #Irene #ncwx
• 2025 EST - Reminder that subway to close in NYC tomorrow.
• 2010 EST - Irene heading NNE at 14 mph.
• 2010 EST - Already seeing a lot of tweets about no batteries or flashlights.
• 2005 EST - Brides, roads, airports, businesses closed. Best to leave or stay put and forget about your plans for the weekend. Ball games also cancelled.
• 2000 EST - Huffington Post seems most organized among online news sources.
• 1955 EST - Twitter seems to be more effective than news organizations for updated information - some reports no gas for their cars now.
• 1950 EST - Twitterverse asking why weather people have to stand outside, shout incomprehensibly without giving any important information. Maybe that's the purpose all along.
• 1950 EST - Tree fell on house on stone chimney road. Bay Street in Southport flooded. #brunsco #irene (Twitter)
• Update 1945 EST - Forget about going to the east coast or out. More than 6K flights cancelled. (Twitter)
• Update 1941 EST - Irene should weaken into a Category 1 Hurricane by tomorrow afternoon (Twitter)
• Update 1923 EST - Evac map of NY (ABC News)
• Update 1900 EST - 2,100 flights cancelled for Saturday and 4,200 flights for Sunday in US
• Update 1845 EST - earlier in the week, 5.8 earthquake created havoc on the wireless networks. It'll be interesting to see just how they hold up against Irene.
• Update 1845 EST - statement from the National Weather Service: At 5:00 p.m. EDT the center of Hurricane Irene was located near latitude 31.7 north, longitude 77.4 west. Irene is moving toward the north near 14 mph. A turn toward the north-northeast is expected tonight or early Saturday. The core of the hurricane is forecast to approach the coast of North Carolina tonight and pass near or over the North Carolina coast on Saturday. The hurricane is forecast to move near or over the Mid-Atlantic coast Saturday night and move over southern New England on Sunday. Maximum sustained winds are near 100 mph, with higher gusts. Irene is a Category Two hurricane. Little change in strength is forecast before Irene reaches the coast of North Carolina. Some weakening is expected after that, but Irene is expected to remain a hurricane as it moves along the Mid-Atlantic coast on Sunday.
• Update 1833 EST - Irene is now at 100 mph with gust up to 120 mph.
• Update 1822 EST - Map of when Irene will hit where along the east coast (Weather.com)
• Update 1820 EST - Irene has is now beginning to affect the Carolinas. 20-Foot waves. (Weather.com)
• Update 1820 EST - President Obama's statement on Irene. Urges the 70 million or so Americans potentially in Irene's path to take it seriouisly.
• Update 1756 EST - Here is FEMA's link. President has been briefed and actions put into place to deal with the hurricane and the aftermath.
• Update 1756 EST - Looks like people are heading the authorities' warnings - major traffic jam and gas shortage (MSNBC)
• Update 1750 EST - CNN has a worse case scenario for NYC should the models come true. It looks like they want to freak us out.