Weather

 

Via Morgan J. Freeman

Why a ‘go bag’ can mean the difference between life or death during a disaster

Newsweek -  As Hurricane Milton threatens, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency continued to push back on false claims pertaining to its response to Hurricane Helene.  FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell on Monday highlighted the agency's expansive and growing collaborative efforts, urging residents in the hardest-hit areas to take advantage of the government's assistance programs. "We have thousands of people on the ground, not just federal, but also our volunteers in the private sector," Criswell said while speaking at a news conference in North Carolina. "And frankly, that type of rhetoric is demoralizing to our staff that have left their families to come here and help the people of North Carolina. And we will be here as long as they're needed."

In the wake of Helene, misinformation has circulated in the ravaged communities, including false claims that the federal government is deliberately withholding aid from Republican areas. Presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump and other Republicans have criticized FEMA's response, saying without evidence that the agency's disaster relief funding is being diverted to migrants or foreign conflicts. 

Axios - Several factors conspired to propel Hurricane Milton's rarely seen "explosive" intensification, including human-caused climate change.

• Sea level rise tied to climate change makes this storm potentially more destructive today than it would have been even just a few decades ago.

The storm... is on course for a calamitous encounter with the 17th-biggest metro area in the U.S.

• The city is unusually vulnerable to storm surge due to the shape of its coastline and large population living near sea level.
• The forecast calls for an unheard of 10 to 15 feet of surge in Tampa Bay depending on the storm's exact track.
• This would flood a vast swath of real estate, including critical infrastructure for the city, region and the U.S. military.

Climate change also helped enable this storm to become stronger, faster.

• Background conditions in the atmosphere conspired, too, to floor the gas pedal on the storm's winds, going from 90 mph to 180 mph maximum sustained winds in less than 24 hours.
• Global warming is leading to more instances of rapid intensification, a trend seen as recently as two weeks ago, when Hurricane Helene rapidly intensified before hitting Florida's less populated Big Bend region.
• The storm was over record-warm waters for this time of year when it intensified so quickly.

Climate change made those ocean temperatures up to 800 times more likely today than in a preindustrial climate with lower greenhouse gases in the air, according to calculations from Climate Central, a research nonprofit.

Yes, but: While joining other recent Gulf and broader Atlantic storms in rapidly intensifying, Milton also broke into the ranks of the elite top 5 strongest hurricanes.

• Doing so required a mix of oceanic and atmospheric ingredients, not all of which climate change is clearly influencing.
• Past storms that are ahead of Milton on the all-time intensity list for the Atlantic also rapidly intensified when conditions were less influenced by climate change.

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Evacuation advice

CNN -  Hurricane Milton, the planet's strongest storm this year, is expected to deliver severe impacts as it barrels toward Florida. While the storm strengthened to a Category 5 on Monday, forecasts show it will fluctuate in intensity before ultimately making landfall Wednesday as a Category 3. Milton's dangerous eye and eyewall could come ashore anywhere from Cedar Key in the north to Naples in the south, possibly in the Tampa or Fort Myers areas. More than 12 million people are under hurricane watches and warnings, and over 8 million are under tropical storm watches. Many flights in the region have been canceled and a mass exodus is occurring along roads as thousands follow mandatory evacuation orders ahead of Milton's arrival.

CNN - As Florida residents brace for another major storm, new estimates reveal Hurricane Helene caused more than $47 billion in losses for property owners.