Hurricane Dean Live Thread Part III

NOAA/NHC ^ | 20 August 2007 | NOAA/NHC

[NautiNurse]

Extremely dangerous Hurricane Dean is steaming toward the Yucatan Peninsula today, packing winds over 150 mph. The Hurricane Hunter aircraft aborted its mission Monday morning due to equipment problems. The storm is expected to attain catastrophic Category 5 status today. The Cayman Islands have been spared the brunt of the storm's winds as Dean passed 125 miles south of Grand Cayman.

Jamaica continues to assess damage to its infrastructure after Dean uprooted trees, knocked down power lines, stripped off roofs, and dumped up to 20 inches of rain, causing mudslides in the mountains. The government of Jamaica has declared a month-long state of emergency. Haiti has reported four fatalities. The Dominican Republic reported a 20ft storm surge. Martinique lost its banana crops. Additional details are scarce at this point due to extensive power outages.

Alcoa suspended aluminum production in Jamaica. Mexico evacuated thousands of workers from oil platforms. Texas mobilized the National Guard, opened emergency operations centers and moved inmates inland from three prisons in advance of the storm.

Space shuttle Endeavour is returning home Tuesday, a day early due to Hurricane Dean.

In other storm news, the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin caused massive rains and flooding in Oklahoma Sunday. Two people have drowned, and three are reported missing at this time.

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Hurricane Dean Thread II
Hurricane Dean Thread I

Category	Wind Speed	Barometric Pressure	Storm Surge	Damage Potential
Tropical Depression	< 39 mph < 34 kts			Minimal
Tropical Storm	39 - 73 mph 34 - 63 kts			Minimal
Hurricane 1 (Weak)	74 - 95 mph 64 - 82 kts	28.94" or more 980.02 mb or more	4.0' - 5.0' 1.2 m - 1.5 m	Minimal damage to vegetation
Hurricane 2 (Moderate)	96 - 110 mph 83 - 95 kts	28.50" - 28.93" 965.12 mb - 979.68 mb	6.0' - 8.0' 1.8 m - 2.4 m	Moderate damage to houses
Hurricane 3 (Strong)	111 - 130 mph 96 - 112 kts	27.91" - 28.49" 945.14 mb - 964.78 mb	9.0' - 12.0' 2.7 m - 3.7 m	Extensive damage to small buildings
Hurricane 4 (Very strong)	131 - 155 mph 113 - 135 kts	27.17" - 27.90" 920.08 mb - 944.80 mb	13.0' - 18.0' 3.9 m - 5.5 m	Extreme structural damage
Hurricane 5 (Devastating)	Greater than 155 mph Greater than 135 kts	Less than 27.17" Less than 920.08 mb	Greater than 18.0' Greater than 5.5m	Catastrophic building failures possible

[3AngelaD]

Yikes. That picture is awesome.

[CindyDawg]

Yep, from Texas to Florida and around the corner too.
Governor Perry can be almost as determined (stubborn) as GB. I don’t know if he knows something we don’t or it’s just he decided we are going to do this.

[shield]

Katrina and Rita...better safe than sorry...

Estimated Point of Initial Mexican Landfall:
18.9310N 87.6292W

Estimated Point of Second Mexico Landfall:
21.3220N 97.4150W

[NautiNurse]

I'm wondering if storm surge is the most significant Texas issue because the Bay of Campeche is essentially a small bowl inside a bigger bowl (GOM).

>

[NCC-1701]

If Texas is going to be bypassed, why not leave the shuttle up a couple of more days. Mission Control ordered the one day early landing on the assumption that Dean was going to roll through Houston. If Dean’s going elsewhere, why not leave Endeavour where it is? The crew wouldn’t mind it a bit.

I hope that those in Dean’s path will make it through the storm safely.

[shield]

Yes, and rain

[rwfromkansas]

I am sure they can; by this point they are like natural formations and won’t be damaged much at all.

[ruthles]

Even when the big one hit New Orleans, the actual storm seemed very mile. It was that the levees broke that caused the problems.

[steveegg]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe I heard the Shuttle has already undocked from the Space Station.

[Rb ver. 2.0]

They’ll be fine. The Pyramids have taken everything Mom has thrown at them for the past millennium or so.

[American Quilter]

Geraldo was on Fox late yesterday having an absolute foaming fit about the floods in OK and WI, and Dean. He was hysterical and should have been nowhere near a TV camera.

It's beyond my comprehension how that ridiculous fool continues to have a career in TV "journalism". Low as the standards may be, one would still think he couldn't meet them.

[NCC-1701]

Endeavour undocked Sunday morning. They should have enough consumable to stay up a few more days instead of coming home tomorrow. I know I wouldn’t mind a few extra days on orbit.

[prairiebreeze]

thank you for the new thread, bump!

[steveegg]

Thanks.

I hear you; I wouldn't mind a few (extra) days in space either.

[Orange1998]

it’s just he decided we are going to do this.

I choose this one.

[dirtboy]

CD, the problem is that repeated false alarms have the opposite effect.

The other problem is, if you wait until you know for sure where the storm is going to hit, it will be too late to evacuate everyone.

[stentorian conservative]

They're just salivating for another disaster.

The Bubble-headed-bleach-blonde still has a gleam in her eye. . . and probably always will.

[txhurl]

This Phil Keating from FNC covering OK is.. OK ;).

[brothers4thID]

Well I’d be more likely to believe a scream of fire than I would anything I hear on a Breaking News Fox ticker ;)

[Sender]

Remember the famous NY (I think) reporter chick who was sitting in a canoe with a rain slicker on, ostensibly to show the horribly flooded conditions at her location requiring a canoe to get there, when two guys walked between the canoe and the camera in about an inch of water?