Hurriane Irene:

[gerrard]

Don't play the hero. That’s the message from FEMA as officials warn that Hurricane Irene could prompt widespread evacuation orders up and down the East Coast. Residents have been urged to heed those orders, for their safety and the safety of emergency workers.

In a media conference call Thursday morning, Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate stressed that if residents waited too long to flee to safe ground they could find themselves stranded and without help, as has happened in previous natural disasters.

"If you live in an evacuation zone, your plan should be to evacuate if an order comes," Fugate said. "There is a point that local responders will not be able to get to you if it gets too bad."

Fugate's voice seemed tinged with frustration, irritation and, perhaps, resignation. It's a common disaster scenario, be it wildfire, flooding or hurricanes: Some residents refuse to evacuate until it's too late. And, officials stress, that puts emergency works in a quandary and drains valuable resources.

PHOTOS: In the path of Hurricane Irene

Fugate recalled just such a scenario in the wake of Hurricane Ivan. That 2004 storm killed nearly 100 people as it traveled a similar course, ripping through the Caribbean on up through the East Coast. Ivan remains of the most intense and costliest hurricanes in U.S. history. People who refused to evacuate during that storm soon found themselves stranded on roads that were cut off due to water that was rising -- and rising fast. "And they're calling 911, begging to be saved, and no one could get to them," Fugate said. "This is really about life safety."

Fugate noted from past experience that some residents were furious when they complied with evacutation orders only to come home to find it safe and sound, just as they left it. If that happens during Hurricane Irene, he said, "count your blessings." Pinpointing which homes will and will not flood, he said, is impossible. So, "it’s so critical that you heed the evacuation warnings."

The latest prediction from the National Hurricane Center is that Hurricane Irene will make landfall in the Carolinas by Saturday morning.

[Hitman]

[url=http://www.desigifs.com/gifs/781/brahmanandam][img]http://www.desigifs.com/sites/default/files/entobemmi_0.gif[/img][/url]

[The QUEEN]

photos yekada  :0012391: :0012391:

[gerrard]

Airlines begin canceling flights as Irene nears

By DAVID KOENIG, AP Airlines Writer – 42 minutes ago

Airlines are beginning to cancel flights and get planes out of the way as Hurricane Irene barrels toward the U.S. East Coast.

The storm is likely to force hundreds of flights to be canceled through this weekend and create delays that could ripple across the country.

On Thursday, airlines offered passengers the option of free rebooking for trips to many East Coast cities.

[Ismail bhai]

[img]http://www.imageping.com/out.php/i49795_SunilCry.gif[/img]

[gerrard]

[quote author=The QUEEN link=topic=229573.msg2836395#msg2836395 date=1314300815]
photos yekada  :0012391: :0012391:
[/quote]

inka raaledu warnings start ayyayi  *7*^ *7*^

[Antaraatma]

[quote author=gerrard link=topic=229573.msg2836385#msg2836385 date=1314300704]
[size=18pt][b]Don't play the hero. [/b][/size]That’s the message from FEMA as officials warn that Hurricane Irene could prompt widespread evacuation orders up and down the East Coast. Residents have been urged to heed those orders, for their safety and the safety of emergency workers.

In a media conference call Thursday morning, Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate stressed that if residents waited too long to flee to safe ground they could find themselves stranded and without help, as has happened in previous natural disasters.

"If you live in an evacuation zone, your plan should be to evacuate if an order comes," Fugate said. "There is a point that local responders will not be able to get to you if it gets too bad."

Fugate's voice seemed tinged with frustration, irritation and, perhaps, resignation. It's a common disaster scenario, be it wildfire, flooding or hurricanes: Some residents refuse to evacuate until it's too late. And, officials stress, that puts emergency works in a quandary and drains valuable resources.

PHOTOS: In the path of Hurricane Irene

Fugate recalled just such a scenario in the wake of Hurricane Ivan. That 2004 storm killed nearly 100 people as it traveled a similar course, ripping through the Caribbean on up through the East Coast. Ivan remains of the most intense and costliest hurricanes in U.S. history. People who refused to evacuate during that storm soon found themselves stranded on roads that were cut off due to water that was rising -- and rising fast. "And they're calling 911, begging to be saved, and no one could get to them," Fugate said. "This is really about life safety."

Fugate noted from past experience that some residents were furious when they complied with evacutation orders only to come home to find it safe and sound, just as they left it. If that happens during Hurricane Irene, he said, "count your blessings." Pinpointing which homes will and will not flood, he said, is impossible. So, "it’s so critical that you heed the evacuation warnings."

The latest prediction from the National Hurricane Center is that Hurricane Irene will make landfall in the Carolinas by Saturday morning.
[/quote] @gr33d @gr33d @gr33d @gr33d pls jump aipondi.. its not a joke..

[gerrard]

[img]http://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2011/08/24/Web-Resampled/2011-08-24/APTOPIX_Dominican_Republic_Tropical_Weather_06663-6599--508x314.jpg?uuid=uEy0Cs4nEeC0-Dl2eJiBEg[/img]

this is at dominican republic..

[gerrard]

Hurricane Irene appears headed towards the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions this weekend — areas that haven’t endured tropical storm-force winds and rain in years.

And the Federal Emergency Management Agency, panned by Southerners almost six years ago for its inept response to Hurricane Katrina, is reminding Americans up north that they should turn first to local and state authorities in advance of the storm.

“If the public’s seeing FEMA, it’s most likely if we’ve had impacts and we have requests for assistance,” the agency’s administrator, Craig Fugate , told reporters Thursday. “Otherwise, we’re doing things to get ready, but we’re not getting in front of the governor’s teams, we’re there to support them.”

President Obama, who is vacationing on Martha’s Vineyard in the storm’s potential path, received an update on the storms from Fugate, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, and other officials on Thursday morning.

In the Washington area, FEMA’s regional office is coordinating with the National Park Service and D.C.-area officials regarding any potential affects of the hurricane on Sunday’s planned dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. Any final decisions on the event’s schedule will be made by the Park Service and District government, Fugate said.

FEMA serves as a support agency, called upon to provide supplies, expertise and eventually federal dollars only after state governors request assistance from the federal government. With a storm headed toward heavily populated urban areas unaccustomed to hurricanes — Washington, Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia, Providence and Boston among others — there is concern that city dwellers may be unfamiliar with FEMA’s role.

“There’s hardly any excuse for people not to know that there’s a hurricane out there,” Fugate said.

The administrator, a former Florida emergency management official and avid user of social media (he’s @CraigatFEMA on Twitter), is crediting local officials and concerned residents in the storm’s wake for sharing information through local news outlets and social media.

“When Mayor [Michael] Bloomberg and his team take time to talk about a storm in New York, that’s significant,” Fugate said. “Just looking at social media — at tweets on Irene and stuff like that — a lot of information is being shared. Hopefully people are taking the steps, but we’re seeing a lot of the official information, but also the general public taking that information and sending it to friends and family.”

“The hard thing is action,” Fugate said later, warning that if people are ordered to evacuate, they should move quickly, because “Delay can be deadly and you’ll run out of time and lose options.”

As The Post’s Capital Weather Gang is reporting, Irene is less than two days away from delivering a hard blow against most of the East Coast. Not only are severe impacts likely for coastal regions from the Outer Banks of North Carolina to New England, but interior sections of the mid-Atlantic, including Richmond, Washington and Baltimore, may also experience major effects from the storm.

Bill Reed, director of the National Hurricane Center, said Irene’s path is mirroring similar courses taken by Hurricane Gloria in 1985 and hurricanes Carol and Edna in the 1950s. If the storms move inland, some areas could get 5 to 10 inches of rain, most likely causing significant flooding in some areas.

In anticipation, Fugate said his agency is predeploying resources and supplies — including tarps, baby formula and bottled water — to military bases in North Carolina, New Jersey and Massachusetts.

“We’re busy,” Fugate said. And he’s likely to get much busier.

[gerrard]

Hurricane Irene impacts weekend MLB schedule:

Philadelphia, PA —
The Philadelphia Phillies became the first team to reschedule a baseball game Thursday as Hurricane Irene headed for what could be a direct hit on the Northeast this weekend.

Sunday's scheduled afternoon game with the Florida Marlins was moved up to Saturday, when the teams will play a day-night doubleheader starting at 1:05 p.m. local time.

The regularly-scheduled night game will still be held at 7:05 p.m., the Phillies said.

The game was moved because of the threat of severe weather from Irene, which could be a category 2 hurricane by the time it tracks near the zone where it would impact MLB games.

The Yankees and Orioles are already scheduled to have a doubleheader in Baltimore on Saturday as part of a five-game series, placing their game Sunday in jeopardy.

Other cities that could be impacted include New York, where the Mets and Braves are scheduled to play; and Boston, where the Red Sox are set to host the A's.

MLB commissioner Bud Selig told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that contingency plans have been discussed.

"The weather reports are all different, so we'll see what path it takes," Selig told the paper. "But we are trying to make as many contingency plans as we can. We're trying to figure out what we could do in case we have the one really bad day of rain."

[The QUEEN]

[quote author=gerrard link=topic=229573.msg2836404#msg2836404 date=1314300887]
inka raaledu warnings start ayyayi  *7*^ *7*^
[/quote]PHOTOS: In the path of Hurricane Irene
idi choosa  sCo_^Y sCo_^Y
ayina direct choostunam, no need of photos, thank you for your time  s%H# s%H#

[gerrard]

will it going to affect us open also  sCo_^Y sCo_^Y

as newyork is also one among the cities which is getting affected  sSa_j@il

[gerrard]

[quote author=The QUEEN link=topic=229573.msg2836432#msg2836432 date=1314301130]
PHOTOS: In the path of Hurricane Irene
idi choosa  sCo_^Y sCo_^Y
ayina direct choostunam, no need of photos, thank you for your time  s%H# s%H#
[/quote] F@!n F@!n

emikaadulee worry avvaku  H&*() H&*()

evacuation aithe kastha twaragaa cheyyi be safe  H&*()

[gerrard]

Hurricane Irene Shakes Up Planned Itineraries Of Cruise Lines :

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--The world's largest cruise lines have been rejiggering travel itineraries and changing ports of call in response to Hurricane Irene, the potentially damaging storm expected to make landfall in the U.S. this weekend.

Carnival Corp. (CCL) has altered itineraries for nine cruises and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL) has changed the schedule for eight voyages, according to spokeswomen for both companies.

Passengers on several of the Carnival cruises will spend an extra "Fun Day," as Carnival dubs them, at sea. For example, Carnival Liberty spent Tuesday and Wednesday at sea, en route to Cozumel, Mexico, on Thursday, rather than hit St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands on Tuesday; San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Wednesday; and Grand Turk island on Thursday.

Royal Caribbean altered some departure and arrival times, and changed or reversed the order of some scheduled ports of call. It also evacuated its staff on the island of Cococay, Bahamas, forcing two cruises to skip that destination on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Spokeswomen for both companies declined to discuss the financial impact, if any, the itinerary changes will have on the cruise operators.

Royal Caribbean hasn't altered itineraries for any ships departing Thursday through Sunday at its namesake line or for Celebrity Cruises. Carnival has rerouted to Cozumel a Thursday cruise from Charleston, S.C., to Bermuda, and a Thursday cruise from Jacksonville, Fla., won't stop in Freeport, Bahamas, on Friday.

Shares of industry behemoth Carnival were off 3.3% at $30.52 recently during Thursday's broad market selloff on Wall Street, while Royal Caribbean stock was down 5% at $22.67 apiece. Carnival has dropped by more than one-third this year, and Royal Caribbean stock has more than halved, as the cruise operators have grappled with higher fuel costs and disruption to itineraries caused by such factors as the social, political and economic unrest in several Mediterranean countries and the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis that struck Japan in March.

[vikuba]

naaku travel plans to Newengland area undhi ee weekend.
cut the frock yaaa