Posted on 09/19/2006 1:34:25 PM PDT by blam
Azores set for Hurricane Gordon
The Azores islands in the mid-Atlantic have been placed on high alert for Hurricane Gordon, which is due to hit the Portuguese territory shortly.
People and livestock have been told to stay indoors as forecasters warn the hurricane will bring heavy rain and winds of 170km/h (105mph).
Waves as high as 12 metres (40ft) are also predicted and the region's ports are expected to be the most exposed.
Some 240,000 people live in the nine Azores islands.
Farming and fishing are the mainstay of the economy of the islands, which lie about 1,500 km (930 miles) off the western coast of Europe.
Hurricane Gordon is expected to hit the islands at around 1800 local time (1800 GMT), with the archipelago's westernmost islands of Corvo and Flores taking its full force.
Ricardo Barros, vice president of the Azores Civil Protection Service, told the Associated Press news agency the islands' 1,200 emergency workers were prepared.
"We're ready," he said.
Air traffic to the islands is likely to be suspended until Hurricane Gordon leaves the region on Wednesday, he added.
A spokeswoman for Portugal's meteorological agency said the hurricane would weaken to a tropical storm before leaving the islands.
I put my hurricane shutters back into storage saturday. I'm done for this season.
If you check the markets, you can see how Rove has crushed oil, gold and other commodities while propping up the stock market. And Howard Dean continues to be worth every penny Rove is paying him.
But after the election, all this will return to normal. Keep your hurricane equipment ready for the storm that hits after election day.
Oh No! I wish you had waited until at least mid-October. I have a couple of trips until then. One of them is to NOLA.
They have told their livestock to stay indoors?
Bush can't do a darn thing right; can't even hit the broad side of a continent with a hurricane anymore.
There's a limerick in there somewhere.
I think the season is pretty well over as well. 'Course I remember saying that last year, right before Wilma hit us. I also made a prediction early in the season that Miami would be spared last year...we got hit by both Katrina and Wilma...both minimal storms here, thank God.
Hope it doesn't get that much damage.
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