Posted on 06/10/2005 3:22:23 AM PDT by bd476
An unidentified resident in the town of
Batabano reinforces the roof of his house...
MIAMI - A tropical storm watch was issued Friday for central Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, where residents are still recovering from last year's hurricanes. Arlene, the Atlantic hurricane season's first named tropical storm, was centered about 10 miles south-southeast of the western tip of Cuba at 5 a.m. EDT. It was moving north about 8 mph, and could cross near or over western Cuba as it moved into the Gulf of Mexico early Friday, forecasters said.
Wind and rain extended 140 miles to the north and east from the storm's center.
Arlene had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph. The storm could drop as much as 5 to 10 inches of rain, and possibly cause flooding in western Cuba and tornados in southwest Florida and the Florida Keys, meteorologists said.
"This is going to be a major rainfall event before and ahead of the storm," said Trisha Wallace, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
The Cuban government issued a tropical storm warning for the western province of Pinar Del Rio to the capital of Havana. A tropical storm warning was also in effect for the Dry Tortugas, a cluster of islands about 70 miles west of Key West that comprise a U.S. national park. Other than park personnel, there are no permanent residents.
The storm was not expected to develop into a hurricane before making landfall, Wallace said.
Hurricane season began June 1 and ends Nov. 30. Last season, Florida was struck by hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne; between them, the four storms damaged one out of every five homes in the state. The storms caused about 130 deaths in the United States and are blamed for $22 billion in insured damage.
Is Arlene the one that was called Adrian in the Pacific and got a "sex change" when it crossed over Panama into the Caribbean? Or did Adrian cross over at below T-Storm strength and thus never got an Atlantic name?
Thanks.
Look at THIS! We're in its path for a lot of rain, and the off shore oil rig workers...? Will they get to evacuate soon?
I've been enjoying all the rainy weather. It keeps us COOL and my water bill LOW.
Man we just can't catch a break in NW FL. Our beaches are still destroyed from Ivan the Terrible
Well, they better recover faster, hurricanes hit every year, like clockwork.
But WKB's son works off shore on one of those rigs! Do they get evacuated?
Arlene is a pop-corn fart.. In south Florida your average thunderstorm can produce winds in excess of 60 miles an hour..
It's about time some of the Gulf Coast residents, who are still recovering from Ivan, just lose their tempers and get in the faces of media people and their cameras. People like Cantore are gleefully showing people's unrepaired homes and salivating at the thought of MORE destruction.
It's bad enough American money is going to Indonesia for their typhoon relief- money that is a gift, not to be repaid as FEMA loans are- we don't need ghoulish media vultures circling in anticipation of more destruction and death.
They really get off on the possibility of people suffering, and if they came near me with a camera I'd give them something long remembered on the evening news!
They can up here too and frequently do. But thunderstorms don't create large tidal surges and don't last for hours like a hurricane or tropical storm can. If this storm makes landfall over Mobile Bay as predicted, those of us in NW FL on the east wall will take the worst beating. And we are still beaten up from Ivan; our dunes are gone.
And you are an old fart. Why don't you change places with
some of us.
I think they normally get evacuated.
I would hope so.
You're getting rain right now? At my house it's still mostly sunny with possible thunder storms predicted for tonight.
Took my flagpole down about an hour ago, the winds are starting to pick up. Just a few sprinkles so far. It's not supposed to make landfall west of us until sometime tomorrow
Where are you located?
At worst, this storm will be a minimal hurricane.
You know, this is a Tropical Storm, and yet the media makes you think that the whole world is ending, that massive destruction will be had. Let's get real folks, let's get real, this is just a summer thunderstorm when compared to Ivan.
Pensacola. I live about a half mile in from Pensacola Bay on one of the highest parts of the city (about 40 above sea level)
Oh my. Please be sure to keep us updated!
Lived in south florida for 30 years.. went thru Andrew.. 40 mile an hour canes' are just a lot of rain... even 68 mile an hour ones.. 100+ miles an hour causes some angst though.. 150+ ones are a good excuse to leave town..
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