Hurricane Maria hammers Puerto Rico with force not seen in 'modern history'

[brooklynite]

Source: Washington Post

SAN JUAN — Hurricane Maria roared ashore on Puerto Rico on Wednesday as the strongest storm to strike the island in more than 80 years while panicked residents fled to high ground and huddled in shelters hoping to withstand powerhouse winds that have already left death and devastation across the Caribbean.

"On the forecast track, [Maria] would be the most destructive hurricane in Puerto Rico history," tweeted Eric Blake, a forecaster at the Hurricane Center.

The storm slammed ashore near Yabucoa, Puerto Rico at 6:15 a.m. Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane with 155 mph winds. It is the first Category 4 storm to directly strike the island since 1932.

Michael Brennan, another Hurricane Center forecaster, tweeted late Tuesday that he was "starting to run out of adjectives for" Maria, the second huge hurricane to plow through the Caribbean this month.







Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/09/20/hurricane-maria-takes-aim-at-puerto-rico-with-force-not-seen-in-modern-history/?tid=sm_tw&utm_term=.f752649b0438

[riversedge]

1. John Kerry was on Morning Joe just now talking about the horrific storms, fires, floods we have

been experiencing. It was in the context of Trumps climate change denial and the Paris climate change initiatives

[Sunlei]

2. Puerto Rico under high winds now, concrete shelters seem ok-keep safe! here's 2 hours ofmusic links

[ananda]

3. Just so long as we understand that ..

.. human induced warming and climate chaos
is a hoax.

(sarcastic emoji here)

[KY_EnviroGuy]

4. Observe the flooding...

See: http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/index.php?wfo=SJU

14 of 27 gauges at or above flood stage, with many currently taking off like a rocket.

Just "hover" you mouse over each point to see the active graph. As those blue lines rise, people are suffering.

NWS's radar there has been knocked out by the storm. See https://radar.weather.gov/ridge/radar.php?rid=jua

Warm hugs to the people sheltered there.

[mountain grammy]

5. Hoping for the best for all Islanders.

Terrifying season. Almost afraid to watch the weather.

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. What we know so far

The US National Weather Service has issued flash flooding emergencies for parts of Puerto Rico as river levels exceed record levels with more rain to come. They signal that life-threatening flood is occurring.

Seven people are confirmed to have been killed on Dominica and more deaths are feared amid reports of “total destruction” on the island. A 58-year-old female was reportedly recovered from flood water. An aide to the prime minister said Dominica had been devastated with much of the housing stock damaged or destroyed. Nearly all the students at the island’s Ross University school of medicine have been accounted amid plans to evacuate them over the weekend.
...
At least one person has died in the French island of Guadeloupe, considered the first official fatality attributed to the storm.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2017/sep/19/hurricane-maria-category-5-caribbean-live-updates?page=with:block-59c27297e4b0e9e3a1da769c#block-59c27297e4b0e9e3a1da769c

And from later, on Puerto Rico:

El Nuevo Dia newspaper reported that 80 percent of homes in a small fishing community near San Juan were damaged, and that an emergency medical station in the coastal town of Arecibo lost its roof, while communication was severed with several emergency management posts. A hospital and a police station reported broken windows, and a tree fell on an ambulance.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2017/sep/19/hurricane-maria-category-5-caribbean-live-updates?page=with:block-59c297eae4b049683f1f0f35#block-59c297eae4b049683f1f0f35