Hurricane Irma

[Dancerwithwings]

Just the sound of this would be terrifying

 

 

[chillyblast]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

....a few more live streams going up on facebook on its next approach (link posted by earlier member):

https://www.facebook.com/livemap/#@18.549928497961417,-65.77377319335936,9z

 

Edited September 6, 2017 by chillyblast

[ThundersnowDays]

President of Antigua & Barbuda has landed on Barbuda after no contact since the storm hit.

[Had Worse]

Looking at the pictures from St Maarten, one has to wonder how the mincing machine left Barbuda.

According to the government, they were resilient and suffered less damage.

[ThundersnowDays]

4 minutes ago, Had Worse said:

Looking at the pictures from St Maarten, one has to wonder how the mincing machine left Barbuda.

According to the government, they were resilient and suffered less damage.

Actually the president of the country just said 90% of homes were destroyed.

[Iceberg]

9 minutes ago, ThundersnowDays said:

President of Antigua & Barbuda has landed on Barbuda after no contact since the storm hit.

And has apparently said 80% k everything is either damaged or destroyed or there abouts !

Edited September 6, 2017 by Iceberg

[Had Worse]

4 hours ago, philglossop said:

If this is verified this is the best news of the day given that at 4am watching this barrel down in Barbuda with the eye crossing it seemed more worrying than this. Sadly I do think there will be a few loss of life in Barbuda but given our worries even up to a couple of hours ago... 

In these days of unstable and nightmare Politics this man and the government  of A and B have avoided the nightmare Cat 5 with honour.

With increased metrology knowledge the islands have prepared, dealt with and survived. And that has to be a good thing. 

I can feel a FAIL award coming.

 

app-facebook

ABS Television/Radio

7 hours ago

Statement by the Hon Gaston Browne. Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda
Preliminary remarks on the passage of Hurricane Irma

6th September 2017

...

My first words must be of thanks.
Thanks to Almighty God in all his forms for standing at our side at a time of great adversity.
There is no doubt that the Good Lord is on our side.
We in Antigua have weathered the most powerful hurricane ever to storm its way through the Caribbean.
And we have done so with stunning results.
The forecast was that Antigua would be devastated, our infrastructure demolished, people killed and our economy destroyed.
In the light of day, the picture is very different.
In Antigua, no life has been lost – all the people survived.
The guests in our hotels are all well.
Even our animals were protected from this massive storm.
Our airport will be open for flights into and out of Antigua by 2pm today.
The people of Antigua should all be very proud of the part that each of them played in our impressive story of readiness and resilience.
I dare to say that no other country in the Caribbean would have been as well prepared as we were.
People heeded the warnings of my government to treat Hurricane Irma with absolute seriousness, and everyone did.
Properties were properly shuttered and protected, and neighbours and friends opened their homes to less fortunate persons to shelter through the long night.
There was a chain of brotherhood and sisterhood that strengthened our collective resolve.
The work that the government initiated in advance of the storm paid remarkable dividends.
The drains, gutters and reservoirs that were cleared in advance, ensured that the island experienced no flooding, hence eliminating the possibility of water-borne disease.
While there has been property damage, it is not anywhere near the horrendous injury that was feared.
The essential point is that our main infrastructure has stood-up and our country can resume normal life within hours.
From early this morning, the Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force has been on the streets clearing fallen trees and debris.
They were followed by contingents from the Solid Waste Unit.
Ours has been an exceptional story of resilience, honed by past experience and by the high level of our preparedness to confront the challenges of the world’s mightiest and most dangerous hurricane.
With regard to Barbuda, preliminary reports indicate damage to rooves and to some buildings, but I have had no report of any fatalities.
Barbuda too benefitted from a high level of readiness, responsive to the urgings of the government and from the preparations that were made in advance, including the shelter constructed for that purpose.
I was able to drive through many areas of Antigua since 5.30 this morning and I was heartened by what I saw.
I intend to visit Barbuda at the earliest opportunity to see conditions on the island for myself.
Meantime, it is clear that Antigua and Barbuda has stood up to a mighty test.
Our preparedness led to impressive resilience.
Our people are safe, our country is secure and our piece of paradise remains open to be shared by people from all over the world.
God bless you, and God continue to bless our beloved land – Antigua and Barbuda.

See More

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Edited September 6, 2017 by Had Worse

[Iceberg]

Pressure now 911mb coming down slowly 

[Barking_Mad]

The only positive about Barbuda is that it has a relatively small population of 1.5k people. Reports suggest people are ok. To be fair despite a lot of roofs being blown off, most building have not collapsed or been blown away. Had this come 20 years ago I suspect we'd be looking at a different story in terms of damage.

 

[Carl46Wrexham]

28 minutes ago, Dancerwithwings said:

Just the sound of this would be terrifying

 

 

Am I seeing lightning flashes? No point listening for thunder if so......

[ThundersnowDays]

2 minutes ago, Barking_Mad said:

The only positive about Barbuda is that it has a relatively small population of 1.5k people. Reports suggest people are ok. To be fair despite a lot of roofs being blown off, most building have not collapsed or been blown away. Had this come 20 years ago I suspect we'd be looking at a different story in terms of damage.

 

This was before he visited just now

[Had Worse]

Just now, Carl46Wrexham said:

Am I seeing lightning flashes? No point listening for thunder if so......

Yes you were seeing lightning, it was also visiblle on the St Barts cam which failed but can still be viewed here. the beginning is fairly calm but if you get the slider near the end, its almost gone. PS the palm tree is called Hector, theres been no word on its status but it had a cult following during the passing of Irma due to its resolve in surviing what ever was thrown at it.

 

[Methuselah]

And to put things into a wee bit of perspective - what was the maximum sustained wind speed, during the 1987 so-called 'hurricane'? c. 65 mph?

[chillyblast]

Edited - no point posting unconfirmed news.

Lets hope all is ok.

Edited September 6, 2017 by chillyblast

[staplehurst]

I thought it odd several hours ago that the PM of Antigua and Barbuda seemed so upbeat at how the events had unfolded - thankfully no deaths on Antigua and no major destruction - but it came across as if he thought the storm was perhaps not as strong as they were expecting and he seemed completely unaware of the fact the eye had gone over Barbuda. He did acknowledge the fact that they haven't had any contact from Barbuda since 3am, which was presumably before the eye had even properly passed over the small island?

Now that he's been to finally visit Barbuda, he has apparently seen '90% of buildings damaged or destroyed'.

 

https://twitter.com/ldobsonhughes/status/905528629010067456

Edited September 6, 2017 by staplehurst

[Methuselah]

3 minutes ago, Had Worse said:

Yes you were seeing lightning, it was also visiblle on the St Barts cam which failed but can still be viewed here. the beginning is fairly calm but if you get the slider near the end, its almost gone. PS the palm tree is called Hector, theres been no word on its status but it had a cult following during the passing of Irma due to its resolve in surviing what ever was thrown at it.

 

What a thoroughly miserable, windswept old Hector!

 

 

[chillyblast]

1 minute ago, staplehurst said:

I thought it odd several hours ago that the PM of Antigua and Barbuda seemed so upbeat at how the events had unfolded - thankfully no deaths on Antigua and no major destruction - but it came across as if he thought the storm was perhaps not as strong as they were expecting and he seemed completely unaware of the fact the eye had gone over Barbuda. He did acknowledge the fact that they haven't had any contact from Barbuda since 3am, which was presumably before the eye had even properly passed over the small island?

Now that he's been to finally visit Barbuda, he has apparently seen '90% of buildings damaged or destroyed'.

 

https://twitter.com/ldobsonhughes/status/905528629010067456

Yes its odd, but lets hope its not as bad as is coming out.

[crimsone]

Either the president looked at the main island of A&B (which didn't take the full hit) and assumed that that was the full impact of it, or he was downplaying things for some reason.

All I can say is that with 90% of houses destroyed, one fatality and only one would be bloody remarkable out of 1600 people... and if true, it's a real reason to be relieved. 

[Harry]

5 minutes ago, Ed Stone said:

And to put things into a wee bit of perspective - what was the maximum sustained wind speed, during the 1987 so-called 'hurricane'? c. 65 mph?

Yes but gusts over 100mph, including a full on sting jet which felled 15,000,000 trees. You are spot on however in putting it into perspective the distinction between that and a phenomenal Irma. I will be surprised if Irma doesn't end up becoming the strongest Atlantic basin hurricane of all time

[Summer Sun]

 

[crimsone]

Just now, Harry said:

Yes but gusts over 100mph, including a full on sting jet which felled 15,000,000 trees. You are spot on however in putting it into perspective the distinction between that and a phenomenal Irma. I will be surprised if Irma doesn't end up becoming the strongest Atlantic basin hurricane of all time

To be fair, wind wise she only needs to sustain another 6mph for a minute... Pressure wise she has a ways to go.

[Harry]

17 minutes ago, Iceberg said:

Pressure now 911mb coming down slowly 

I watched a CNN (I think) video a few days ago during which time their weatherman said that Irma getting close to 900mb was "not going to happen", putting it down to GFS recalibrations which were clearly wrong (im paraphrasing to be fair). Bet he's regretting those bold statements now.

[alexisj9]

6 minutes ago, Harry said:

I watched a CNN (I think) video a few days ago during which time their weatherman said that Irma getting close to 900mb was "not going to happen", putting it down to GFS recalibrations which were clearly wrong (im paraphrasing to be fair). Bet he's regretting those bold statements now.

I thought the same my self at the time. Thinking back to all our winter dartboard lows, that normally melow with time.

[Iceberg]

Latest nhc update just now confirms they are keeping her as a cat 5 160kts and that pressure has started to fall again. 

Also no change to track a cat 4-5 for s. Florida 

[Geordiesnow]

11 minutes ago, Harry said:

I watched a CNN (I think) video a few days ago during which time their weatherman said that Irma getting close to 900mb was "not going to happen", putting it down to GFS recalibrations which were clearly wrong (im paraphrasing to be fair). Bet he's regretting those bold statements now.

If its the one I seen, then I'm sure he was responding to the facts that the GFS has been forecasting the hurricane to have a central pressure of 880MB and said this was not possible/very unlikely to happen and its showing this because of the model upgrade in July which is showing a bias towards over strengthening storm systems. 

So I don't think he said it can't get close to 900MB, more that its very unlikely to get as close as the GFS is predicting.