ATL HANNA: Prep/Obs NW Caribbean SE US

[greels]

Thanks Barbara.

Folks are pretty exhausted from all these hellish nights we have been having here. Looks like another such night here and hopefully Hanna will be out of here.

Now we are getting really concerned about IKE and her path towards our door.

At the moment, it is not looking good.

Gretchen

[bvigal]

Gretchen, been thinking about you, too, it has hung over your head for days!!
Ike must be causing a lot more frayed nerves. I hope you can get some sleep tonight.

Whoops - LOUD thunder and lights just dipped, gonna unplug, get out lantern, and have dinner.

[cycloneye]

I cant remember when a flash flood warning was issued for all of Puerto Rico,as normally they are issued for certain areas.But that means that the situation is very serious here with plenty flooding,some mudslides,power outages in many places and no water for over 100,000 due to no power to some water plants.

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JUAN PR
650 PM AST WED SEP 3 2008

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SAN JUAN HAS EXPANDED AND EXTENDED
THE

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING TO INCLUDE ALL MUNICIPALITIES OF PUERTO RICO

* UNTIL 1245 AM AST

* AT 636 PM AST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
ADDITIONAL BANDS OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN
APPROACHING FROM THE MONA PASSAGE. GROUNDS ARE SATURATED FROM THE
PAST 12 HOURS RAINFALL. ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES
ARE LIKELY THROUGH MIDNIGHT. NUMEROUS RIVER AND SMALL STREAMS ARE
SWOLLEN OR NEAR BANKFULL AND THIS ADDITIONAL RAINFALL WILL EASILY
ALLOW THEM TO OVERFLOW THEIR BANKS IN RURAL AND URBAN AREAS.
MUDSLIDES AND LANDSLIDES ARE TO BE EXPECTED ALONG HIGHER ELEVATIONS
AND STEEP TERRAIN.

THIS FLASH FLOOD WARNING SUPERCEDES ALL PREVIOUS FLASH FLOOD
WARNINGS AND URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORIES THAT WERE IN
EFFECT.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLOODING. IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED ACT QUICKLY. MOVE
UP TO HIGHER GROUND TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO NOT STAY IN AREAS
SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT OR OCCURRING.
IF YOU ARE IN THE WARNING AREA MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY.
RESIDENTS LIVING ALONG STREAMS AND CREEKS SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE
PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS
SWIFTLY FLOWING WATERS OR WATERS OF UNKNOWN DEPTH BY FOOT OR BY
AUTOMOBILE.

LAT...LON 1794 6726 1823 6720 1829 6729 1838 6731
1856 6714 1849 6582 1839 6559 1795 6582
1789 6654 1793 6658 1793 6677 1787 6698

$$

RM/BCS

[sweetpea]

Wow cycloneye!! Stay safe. I didn't know it was that bad over there. Going to call my dad and Abuela. My dad lives in Aguirre (outside of Salinas) and my Abuela lives in Bayamon. Thanks for the heads up!

Talking to my dad now, he said he just got power back a little while ago, he had no water or power since about 10 this morning. He is saying one of his neighbors lost his roof, trees down, he said it was nasty with some of the winds, there are roads blocked. My Aunt in Rio Piedras (sp?) can't get out, she lives on a hill but is surrounded by water. My Abuela is doing ok, she is just complaining about all the rain.

edited for update

[bvigal]

You are right Luis, it is serious. I will be praying for all in PR at risk of floods and slides. Just got my power back a few minutes ago, it went out almost immediately after my last signoff. I hope it stays on this time.

from http://www.srh.noaa.gov/productview.php?pil=SJUAFDSJU&version=0
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JUAN PR
436 PM AST WED SEP 3 2008

.DISCUSSION...VERY ACTIVE WEATHER EXPECTED TO CONTINUE ACROSS THE LOCAL AREA THIS EVENING AS THE BROAD CYCLONIC CIRCULATION OF HANNA PERSISTS ACROSS THE REGION. A GRADUALLY VEERING 25-35 KT FLOW HAS PRODUCED STRONG HELICITY ACROSS THE AREA...WITH SJU 12Z SOUNDING INDICATING A VALUE OF 112 M2/S2...WHICH IS AS HIGH AS I REMEMBER SEEING HERE. THIS STRONG MOIST FLOW COUPLED WITH GOOD DIVERGENCE ALOFT HAS PRODUCED SPIRAL BANDS OF SQUALLS AND TSTORMS RACING NNE ACROSS THE AREA AT 30 KT...WITH NUMEROUS REPORTS OF 35-45 MPH WIND GUSTS...AND MULTIPLE WATERSPOUTS REPORTS...AND A FEW TORNADOES S OF THE SAN JUAN METRO AREA THIS MORNING. NWS
DOPPLER DEPICTING STRONG SEVERE AND MESO SIGNALS ALL DAY. HANNA IS FINALLY ROTATING AROUND THE UPPER LOW TO ITS W/NW BUT THIS HAS YET TO AFFECT THE BROAD ZONE OF WEATHER ACROSS THE CENTRAL CARIB SPREADING NE ACROSS HISPANIOLA AND PR. RAINFALL MAX PER 88D SHOWS 9 INCHES SINCE MIDNIGHT ACROSS THE W END OF THE CORDILLERA CENTRAL... AND MORE NOW OCCURRING ACROSS MUCH OF THE ISLAND IN MERGING LINES OF CNVTN... AND AN ADDITIONAL 3 TO 6 INCHES COULD BE SEEN OVERNIGHT. WE HAVE NUMEROUS WATCH-WARNINGS-ADVISORIES CURRENTLY IN EFFECT... INCLUDING A WIND ADVISORY FOR HIGHER ELEVATIONS.

[greels]

Be safe everyone.

Gretchen

[cycloneye]

More comming.

[artist]

be safe cycloneye!

[cycloneye]

For the most part,things haved calmed down here as Hanna moves further away.Still some renegade showers and thunderstorms will move thru today,but much less than yesterday.

[msbee]

this is so awful.
Luis, what is the situation in PR today?

and Gretchen, it is scary to think that Ike might be coming your way too. I hope not. we are thinking of you.
there was a storm report on stormcarib this mornign from Haiti with pictures.
Alll of Gonaives is under water

http://stormcarib.com/reports/current/haiti.shtml

[gubyw1]

Buoy 41047 NE Bahamas reported 35 kts gust 66 kts recently and waves near 17 ft at last report. Certainly is causing a disturbance out there. Can't see it making 65 kt hurricane force, or at least not as a hurricane with an eye structure.

[Tampa Bay Hurricane]

Hanna's very large, Hanna's cloud tops have spread
all the way west to over florida's west coast- I mean the high
clouds from Hanna have obscured sunlight and it is pretty
breezy here- and the storm is 400+ miles away from here. This
thing has a Very Big Size on the Satellite. I can't recall a storm
that had clouds spreading out this far from the center!

[CrazyC83]

Hanna's very large, Hanna's cloud tops have spread
all the way west to over florida's west coast- I mean the high
clouds from Hanna have obscured sunlight and it is pretty
breezy here- and the storm is 400+ miles away from here. This
thing has a Very Big Size on the Satellite. I can't recall a storm
that had clouds spreading out this far from the center!

Floyd's cloud deck spread out as far as 50°N when it was off the coast of Florida...stretching over 20 degrees of latitude!

[Terry]

From Hopetown Fire and Rescue - Abacos, Bahamas:

04/2000 EDT

As the core of Hanna approaches, Elbow Cay is receiving heavy rain, gusts 40+ kts and thunderstorms. Power remains off for the entire island.

[Chacor]

Not aware if this has been posted yet.

Haiti facing storm 'catastrophe'

Haiti faces a "catastrophe" after being hit by a series of storms in recent weeks, President Rene Preval has said.

Three storms in less than 21 days have killed more than 200 people, Haitian officials say.

A UN official says 600,000 people may need help because of flooding caused by Tropical Storm Hanna, which has caused the deaths of 136 people.

Mr Preval warned that Hanna could prove even more deadly than Hurricane Jeanne, which killed more than 3,000 in 2004.

Hanna swirled over Haiti for four days, dumping massive amounts of rain, blowing down fruit trees and swamping tin-roofed houses.

The port city of Gonaives bore the brunt of the storm, with thousands of people seeking shelter on rooftops and balconies.

"There is no food, no water, no clothes," Arnaud Dumas, a pastor at a Gonaives church, told the Associated Press.

"I want to know what I'm supposed to do. We haven't found anything to eat in two, three days. Nothing at all."

The UN co-ordinator for humanitarian aid in Haiti, Joel Boutroue told the BBC: "We're already facing a lot of difficulty trying to respond.

"In Gonaives alone we have some 70,000 people in shelters, and around 250,000 around Gonaives City need our assistance and that of the government, and throughout the country I would say around up to 600,000 people might require our assistance."

An AP reporter in the city said safe drinking water was in very short supply, and fetid carcasses of drowned farm animals were strewn in soupy floodwaters.

Help was arriving in the area, with UN troops picking people from rooftops and Spain announcing that a planeload of aid was being flown in from Panama.

But floodwaters were frustrating efforts to distribute food, the UN said.

The British Red Cross announced it was launching an appeal, saying the needs of Haiti were "massive".

Red Cross workers were also helping residents of the Turks and Caicos Islands, north of Haiti, rebuild after Hanna ripped through there on Monday.

"Our volunteers have been supporting the shelters here with food and shelter management, transporting people to hospital, and handing out tarpaulins to help keep roofs on," said the organisation's Clive Evans, on the islands.

"There are abandoned cars everywhere, overturned boats, uprooted trees, downed power lines and flooded roads."

Earlier, Mr Preval said he would hold emergency talks with donor countries to appeal for aid.

Gonaives was battered with winds of 100km/h (65mph), leaving people on rooftops screaming for help as floods reached depths of 2m (6.5ft).

At 2100 GMT on Thursday, Hanna was about 250km (155 miles) east of Nassau and moving north-west, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

There are fears it could become a hurricane by the time it hits land along the US coast on Saturday, but the storm's uncertain path means officials are holding off ordering an evacuation.

However, a tropical storm watch has been issued from Virginia's border with North Carolina extending north to include Washington DC.

Some residents of North and South Carolina have already moved boats and booked inland hotel rooms.

Separately, storm Ike has strengthened rapidly into an extremely powerful Category Four hurricane in the open Atlantic, the NHC says.

However, it says it is too early to determine if Ike poses any threat to land.

Haiti was first drenched by Tropical Storm Fay, before Hurricane Gustav wreaked havoc last week, with torrential rainfall over heavily deforested and hilly terrain causing floods and mudslides.

Also: In pictures: Haiti reels from storms

[storms in NC]

Well It is 6:24AM and it is very quite out side. You can hear just a few locus. Too early for birds I would guess. It is cloudy. I can tell more when the sun come up.

Is to go down hill from mid morning

[MBismyPlayground]

Well It is 6:24AM and it is very quite out side. You can hear just a few locus. Too early for birds I would guess. It is cloudy. I can tell more when the sun come up.

Is to go down hill from mid morning

Hi Storms, I also woke up to a dark overcast muugy morning. My dog now is acting weird, haha and the bird. Myrtle Beach is as prepared as can be I think. Not that I am super concerned...I am more concerned for the idiots out there, that since it is only a "tropical storm" want to go down to the beach and watch it. The local mets have made it seem to the general public that a tropical storm is no big deal. So all the "new" locals from up north, think it will be fun to go "see" it. I hope you have got all your stuff done and tied down and be safe.

[Terry]

From Hopetown, Abaco, Bahamas:

05/0430 EDT - Weather: S-SE 40 kts gusting 50 kts and rain. Barometer 994 mb and rising.

[cpdaman]

3.4 inches of rain in boca, fl by the beach

5 inches reported in w parkland (12 miles WSW)

winds gusting to 32 per TWC in boca

local forecast last nite said "30 percent chance of showers"

[artist]

same here in north county. I almost wish they would speed up the dropping of the lake now even though I have been against it. Seems they must not be able to drop our canals since they haven't and we will flood if this keeps up with Ike coming our way.