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'Super' Typhoon Ioke Slams Tiny Wake Island (Winds at 220 mph, gusts top 250 mph)
Fox News ^ | August 31, 2006

Posted on 08/31/2006 9:37:02 AM PDT by HAL9000

Excerpt -

Super Typhoon Ioke, a Category 5 storm and the strongest to hit the Pacific in more than a decade, slammed into tiny Wake Island Thursday, threatening to submerge the U.S. territory, U.S. Navy weather forecasters said.

The storm, packing sustained winds of more than 220 mph, with some gusts topping 250 mph, came ashore at about 10 a.m. ET, and was slowly tracking west, gaining strength over the warm tropical waters, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center reported. Wake Island is located about 2,300 miles west of Honolulu.

~ snip ~


(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: hurricane; hurricaneioke; hurricaneseason2006; ioke; pacific; supertyphoon; supertyphoonioke; typhoon; typhoonioke; wakeisland
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To: Dog Gone; HAL9000
From your link....

The runway on the island is just 14 feet above sea level.

Hopefully it will be there after the storm....

61 posted on 08/31/2006 11:36:30 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (History is soon Forgotten,)
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To: onedoug

"...refueled there on the way to Vietnam."

Me, too. July 1967.


62 posted on 08/31/2006 11:38:29 AM PDT by beelzepug (I suffer no fool lightly!)
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To: All

63 posted on 08/31/2006 11:38:49 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (History is soon Forgotten,)
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To: All
Introduction Wake Island
Background:
The US annexed Wake Island in 1899 for a cable station. An important air and naval base was constructed in 1940-41. In December 1941, the island was captured by the Japanese and held until the end of World War II. In subsequent years, Wake was developed as a stopover and refueling site for military and commercial aircraft transiting the Pacific. Since 1974, the island's airstrip has been used by the US military and some commercial cargo planes, as well as for emergency landings. There are over 700 landings a year on the island.
Geography Wake Island
Location:
Oceania, atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, about two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to the Northern Mariana Islands
Geographic coordinates:
19 17 N, 166 36 E
Map references:
Oceania
Area:
total: 6.5 sq km
land: 6.5 sq km
water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative:
about 11 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC
Land boundaries:
0 km
Coastline:
19.3 km
Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Climate:
tropical
Terrain:
atoll of three coral islands built up on an underwater volcano; central lagoon is former crater, islands are part of the rim
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location 6 m
Natural resources:
none
Land use:
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0%
other: 100% (2001)
Irrigated land:
0 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards:
occasional typhoons
Environment - current issues:
NA
Geography - note:
strategic location in the North Pacific Ocean; emergency landing location for transpacific flights
People Wake Island
Population:
no indigenous inhabitants
note: US military personnel have left the island, but contractor personnel remain; as of October 2001, 200 contractor personnel were present (July 2005 est.)
Government Wake Island
Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Wake Island
Dependency status:
unincorporated territory of the US; administered from Washington, DC, by the Department of the Interior; activities on the island are conducted by the US Air Force
Legal system:
the laws of the US, where applicable, apply
Flag description:
the flag of the US is used
Economy Wake Island
Economy - overview:
Economic activity is limited to providing services to contractors located on the island. All food and manufactured goods must be imported.
Electricity - production:
NA
Communications Wake Island
Telephone system:
general assessment: satellite communications; 1 DSN circuit off the Overseas Telephone System (OTS)
domestic: NA
international: NA
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 0, FM NA, shortwave NA
note: Armed Forces Radio/Television Service (AFRTS) radio service provided by satellite (1998)
Television broadcast stations:
0 (1997)
Transportation Wake Island
Ports and harbors:
none; two offshore anchorages for large ships
Airports:
1 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 (2004 est.)
Transportation - note:
formerly an important commercial aviation base, now used by US military, some commercial cargo planes, and for emergency landings
Military Wake Island
Military - note:
defense is the responsibility of the US; launch support facility is part of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site (RTS) administered by US Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC)
Transnational Issues Wake Island
Disputes - international:
claimed by Marshall Islands

This page was last updated on 1 November, 2005


64 posted on 08/31/2006 11:41:50 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (History is soon Forgotten,)
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To: TampaDude; HAL9000; Dog Gone
launch support facility is part of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site (RTS) administered by US Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC)

Uh oh....this is gonna cost some big money .....got to have this up and going.....

65 posted on 08/31/2006 11:43:55 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (History is soon Forgotten,)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

I suspect it was just a monitoring site for missile tests. But there's little doubt it's all been destroyed.

It doesn't sound like a great place to live.


66 posted on 08/31/2006 11:50:27 AM PDT by Dog Gone
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To: pepperdog

http://wikitravel.org/en/Wake_Island

Eat
A base dining facility provides meals to those stationed on the island. +1-808-424-2794.
[edit]Drink
Drifter's Reef, a long-standing establishment, is the only bar on the island.
[edit]Sleep
Barracks capable of housing 154 are maintained on the island. Double-occupancy rooms are provided to visitors, with VIP quarters sometimes available. +1-808-424-2794.
[edit]Work
The facilities on Wake Island are managed by the civilian Chugach Alaska Corporation, 560 E. 34th, Anchorage AK 99503 +1 907-563-8866. [1]


67 posted on 08/31/2006 12:17:12 PM PDT by finnman69 (cum puella incedit minore medio corpore sub quo manifestu s globus, inflammare animos)
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To: HAL9000

OMG...nothing could survive that.


68 posted on 08/31/2006 12:24:10 PM PDT by Fawn (http://www.jokaroo.com/funnyvideos/toilet_obsession.html)
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To: spectre
The "98 Rock" is a memorial for the 98 U.S. Prisoners of War who were forced by their Japanese captors to rebuild the airstrip as slave labor, then blind-folded and killed with machine guns on 5 October 1943.

JESUS. Are we the only one who follow the rules?? This is horrible.

69 posted on 08/31/2006 12:27:31 PM PDT by Fawn (http://www.jokaroo.com/funnyvideos/toilet_obsession.html)
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To: groanup

That's the "before". It'll be interesting to see the "after".


70 posted on 08/31/2006 12:31:40 PM PDT by NCC-1701 (RADICAL ISLAM IS A CULT. IT MUST BE ELIMINATED FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH.)
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To: COEXERJ145

"More proof of global warming!"

Which means this is all Bush's Faulttm.
____________________________________________________

Don't forget its Arnold's fault too.

Arnold should have signed the global warming measure earlier. He could have saved Wake.


71 posted on 08/31/2006 12:31:58 PM PDT by racing fan (Go Team Israel!)
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To: Dog Gone

"...They'll have to send in a bulldozer by boat, and it's unlikely that the docks exist to unload it...."

Get some helicopters to help lift the dozers to the island.


72 posted on 08/31/2006 12:34:19 PM PDT by NCC-1701 (RADICAL ISLAM IS A CULT. IT MUST BE ELIMINATED FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH.)
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To: GarySpFc
The second article quotes winds of 300 KPH, and so the 220 MPH just might be right.

That may be GIGO. If someone got handed 220 mph instead of 220 kph, then converted to kph from that, it could compound the error.

73 posted on 08/31/2006 12:35:55 PM PDT by SlowBoat407 (I've had it with these &%#@* jihadis on these &%#@* planes!)
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To: ContemptofCourt

Ride it out?

Storm surge had to have been 20' higher than the highest point of the island.... unless he was inside something that didn't shatter, or he lashed himself to something with a permanent foundation.... I'd lay odds his body will never be found.


74 posted on 08/31/2006 12:36:53 PM PDT by HamiltonJay
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To: NCC-1701
That's the "before". It'll be interesting to see the "after".


75 posted on 08/31/2006 12:42:44 PM PDT by groanup (Faith, hope, charity. Industry, thrift, intellect. But the truly gifted man knows how to plan ahe)
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To: groanup

Probably not far off the mark.


76 posted on 08/31/2006 12:47:09 PM PDT by NCC-1701 (RADICAL ISLAM IS A CULT. IT MUST BE ELIMINATED FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH.)
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To: NCC-1701

I'd truly hate to see this WWII landmark destroyed.


77 posted on 08/31/2006 12:48:20 PM PDT by groanup (Faith, hope, charity. Industry, thrift, intellect. But the truly gifted man knows how to plan ahe)
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To: HAL9000

ugggh
I live New Orleans, and I involuntarily shuddered and glanced at the clouds outside when I saw this
better hope they got EVERYBODY off, cuz whether they did or not nobody'll be there when they get back


78 posted on 08/31/2006 12:55:33 PM PDT by verum ago (Proper foreign policy makes loud noises.)
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To: groanup

dittos!


79 posted on 08/31/2006 12:57:56 PM PDT by NCC-1701 (RADICAL ISLAM IS A CULT. IT MUST BE ELIMINATED FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH.)
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To: pepperdog

My neighbor was a USAF major. He and his wife stayed in the quarters of a friend who was a DOD civilian who was on vacation in the CONUS.


80 posted on 08/31/2006 12:59:38 PM PDT by RightWingConspirator (Glad that Ted the Boorish Drunk, Hitlery the Witch and John Fonda/Fraud Kerry are not my senators.)
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