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Subscribe to RSSThose considered most vulnerable were urged to move into an evacuation camp housed in a school building, but others with nowhere else to go were digging trenches to avoid the water. Haiti's population remains especially vulnerable due to the country's sprawling shanty towns. NBC's Mark Potter reports.
Updated at 11 p.m. ET: Tropical Storm Isaac strengthened on Friday as its lashing rains took aim at flood-prone Haiti, but it was not expected to become a hurricane until it barreled into the Gulf of Mexico early next week.
On its current path, forecasters said Isaac would hit Cuba and the southern tip of Florida before making landfall anywhere from the Florida Panhandle in the northwestern part of the state to Alabama and as far west as New Orleans.
Forecasters put the entire coast of south Florida under tropical storm watch as of 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT) on Friday.
But the biggest immediate concern was heavily deforested Haiti, where the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said the full force of the storm was expected to be felt later Friday.
Isaac could pass near Florida's Gulf Coast early Monday just as the Republican National Convention is scheduled to start in Tampa.
Winds at tropical storm strength extend 185 miles out from Isaac's center, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in an afternoon advisory, making it a very wide storm.
On exiting Haiti, Isaac's center should cross Cuba on Saturday, and then pass south of the Florida Keys before making landfall as a Category 1 hurricane overnight Tuesday somewhere between New Orleans and Tallahassee, NBC meteorologist Al Roker said Friday on TODAY. Warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico will be "energy for the storm" as it makes its way across the gulf, he added.
In related developments Friday:
- The U.S. embassy in Haiti sent an e-mail to American citizens in the country warning that flights into and out of Port-au-Prince have been suspended due to Isaac.
- Oil and gas producers in the Gulf of Mexico started preparing as Isaac's track looked to skirt the heart of the U.S. offshore energy producing zone. BP said it would shut down its giant Thunder Horse platform, the world's largest. Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron and Apache Corp. said they would evacuate some workers from their Gulf platforms with no production impacts. Other offshore drillers were likely to shut production in coming days as the storm approaches.
- The U.S. military moved 22 F-16s from Homestead Air Reserve Base in Florida to Fort Worth, Texas. Three F-15s from the base are on alert to move to Jacksonville if necessary.
How do you salvage vacation plans when a hurricane strikes? NBC's Chris Clackum reports.
South Florida could see a few twisters and heavy rain -- some 5-10 inches Sunday and into Monday, weather.com experts said in an online chat with readers Friday.
Florida has not been hit by a major hurricane since 2005 and officials are concerned that residents there have become complacent.
Aid workers prep Haiti's tent city residents for Isaac's onlsaught
"I think it's a challenge of getting people to understand their risk and make sure they’ve got a plan," said Craig Fugate, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
With more than 19 million people living across the Sunshine State, Fugate wants every Florida resident to have enough supplies to last 72 hours and to know when to evacuate.
Click this image to get to our Atlantic storm tracker.
"I think the most dangerous thing is when people keep waiting to see what the next forecast is even if they’re in an evacuation zone. They say, 'Oh, it’s just a Category 1 storm or a minimum hurricane.' We’ve seen significant impacts from tropical storm force winds and rain," Fugate added.
In the Florida Keys, where there are few routes available for evacuation -- U.S. 1, Key West International Airport, and the Florida Keys Marathon Airport -- Mayor Craig Cates said his biggest concern was the storm's timing. Cates said he would need at least 36 hours to begin evacuations of tourists and residents.
"If it (Isaac) comes straight on to Key West, we’re worried about the damage that could happen in Key West. If it goes further up the Keys, it could damage power lines and we could get affected," Cates said. "Even if it hits further up the state, we have got to be prepared with our generators and our supplies. Being on an island, we understand that."
Forecasters with The Weather Channel think the evacuation decisions could come quickly. It is anticipated that watches will be issued for South Florida and the Keys by Friday night. In the event of an evacuation, Cates told The Weather Channel that tourists would leave first, followed by special needs citizens.
Live updates and analysis from weather.com
Transcript of weather.com experts answering Isaac questions
Florida Gov. Rick Scott said state officials are working with convention organizers, who will ultimately make the call on a delay or cancellation of the event.
State officials announced Thursday that they will wait to make decisions about moving supplies until after Isaac passes Cuba. FEMA has already placed food and generators in Jacksonville.
Isaac is forecast to remain a tropical storm after crossing the Dominican Republic and Haiti and then passing over Cuba into the Florida Straits.
Tampa officials have not ruled out the possibility of postponing the GOP Convention if the storm poses a public safety risk. NBC's Kerry Sanders reports.
The National Hurricane Center warned it was "important not to focus on the exact track because of forecast uncertainties and the fact that Isaac has a large area of tropical storm force winds."
Follow Isaac's path with our storm tracker
Isaac was expected to dump between 8 and 12 inches of rain over parts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and up to 20 inches in a few areas. That poses a significant threat to Haiti, which is highly prone to flooding and mudslides because of its near-total deforestation.
Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, still has about 350,000 people living in tents or makeshift shelters more than 2-1/2 years after a devastating earthquake that took more than a quarter of a million lives.
With nearly 400,000 people still living in evacuation tents, a hurricane or even a tropical storm could lead to deaths and more damage to the already fragile country. NBC's Mark Potter reports.
Red Cross workers toured crowded tent camps of Haitians left homeless by the 2010 quake to warn about Isaac.
Authorities in the Dominican Republic evacuated people living on the banks of rivers, streams and areas vulnerable to landslides in preparation for the approach of Isaac, whose effects were beginning to be felt with showers in the south of the country.
Weather.com and Reuters contributed to this report.
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Pat-2643768 If it's a battle of whits you want, I don't mind fighting unarmed people such as yourself. This American Indian hates liberals.
Considering your history--and you are a Conservative?----I think that you have a "mental deficiency!!"
The storm you are witnessing is likely the result of direct weather modification by either the United States or perhaps Russia, Japan, China, or one of a few others with weather modification technology. This technology and the use of it has been largely hidden from the world, and no weather station will report it even though they may be aware of it. But, since Americans rarely research topics unless either they are being paid, or its for a grade in school, here is some links and information to get you started. If it were being used for great weather, I wouldn’t care, but these deadly storms and earthquakes, tsunamis, and anomalous hurricanes and drought that “has never happened” are occurring almost daily now. Think about Katrina, Rita, Ike, Gustav, Irene, Japan’s nightmare, the Virginia earthquake, Haiti earthquake, Chile earthquake, etc. etc.
There are several groups working to track and spread the message about this dangerous practice:
If you want some background on how this technology is possible and its origins, you can read more about that here:
The device that allows this to be done, along with high altitude cloud seeding of the ionosphere with in some cases heavy metals, is called HAARP, and works in conjunction with satellites and the chem trails spraying planes do overhead every day that we are told are jet engine trails (Bull…they are)
The US Government has been trying to implement a law to allow unmitigated weather modification for years now, largely led by Sen. Hutchinson of Texas. There has also been a treaty signed many years ago to prevent countries from using the technology against each other (not that its been successful). Here are links so that you can see the truth of the bills trying to be passed, and read more about the treaty. Please do take some time and read the full text of the bills, and not just the 3 or 4 sentences on the initial page.
The US Government also holds many patents in this area. Here are few links to get you started. If you read through them, you’ll understand some of what they talk about.
Here is just some of the strange sites that are caused by this technology in the sky:
Here’s a tornado in Mass that was not even nationally reported:
Wasn't that the plot to a James Bond film?
The site keeps taking out my links, but I am attempting to by pass that:
visit:
geoengineeringwatch.org
agriculturaldefensecoalition.org
sunshine-project.org
govtrack.us/congress/bills/109/s517
govtrack.us/congress/bills/109/hr2995
sourcewatch.org
(see also Weather Modification Research and Technology Transfer Authorization Act of 2005)
Research US patents
1338343 – April 27, 1920 – Process And Apparatus For The Production of Intense Artificial Clouds, Fogs, or Mists
1619183 – March 1, 1927 – Process of Producing Smoke Clouds From Moving Aircraft
1631753 – June 7, 1927 – Electric Heater – Referenced in 3990987
1665267 – April 10, 1928 – Process of Producing Artificial Fogs
1892132 – December 27, 1932 – Atomizing Attachment For Airplane Engine Exhausts
1928963 – October 3, 1933 – Electrical System And Method
1957075 – May 1, 1934 – Airplane Spray Equipment
2097581 – November 2, 1937 – Electric Stream Generator – Referenced in 3990987
2409201 – October 15, 1946 – Smoke Producing Mixture
2476171 – July 18, 1945 – Smoke Screen Generator
2480967 – September 6, 1949 – Aerial Discharge Device
2550324 – April 24, 1951 – Process For Controlling Weather
2510867 – October 9, 1951 – Method of Crystal Formation and Precipitation
2582678 – June 15, 1952 – Material Disseminating Apparatus For Airplanes
2591988 – April 8, 1952 – Production of TiO2 Pigments – Referenced in 3899144
2614083 – October 14, 1952 – Metal Chloride Screening Smoke Mixture
2633455 – March 31, 1953 – Smoke Generator
2688069 – August 31, 1954 – Steam Generator – Referenced in 3990987
2721495 – October 25, 1955 – Method And Apparatus For Detecting Minute Crystal Forming Particles Suspended in a Gaseous Atmosphere
2730402 – January 10, 1956 – Controllable Dispersal Device
2801322 – July 30, 1957 – Decomposition Chamber for Monopropellant Fuel – Referenced in 3990987
2881335 – April 7, 1959 – Generation of Electrical Fields
2908442 – October 13, 1959 – Method For Dispersing Natural Atmospheric Fogs And Clouds
2986360 – May 30, 1962 – Aerial Insecticide Dusting Device
2963975 – December 13, 1960 – Cloud Seeding Carbon Dioxide Bullet
3126155 – March 24, 1964 – Silver Iodide Cloud Seeding Generator – Referenced in 3990987
3127107 – March 31, 1964 – Generation of Ice-Nucleating Crystals
3131131 – April 28, 1964 – Electrostatic Mixing in Microbial Conversions
3174150 – March 16, 1965 – Self-Focusing Antenna System
3234357 – February 8, 1966 – Electrically Heated Smoke Producing Device
3274035 – September 20, 1966 – Metallic Composition For Production of Hydroscopic Smoke
3300721 – January 24, 1967 – Means For Communication Through a Layer of Ionized Gases
3313487 – April 11, 1967 – Cloud Seeding Apparatus
Now, google:
weather modification
Scalar weapons (both on google and You-Tube, and watch some of the strange cloud anomalies in various countries)
Why must you write 'Editorials'---------"Boring!!!!!!!!!"
Nobody reads any post longer than 8 lines becasue it is like you say BORING!!!!!!!!!
Why is there so much hate out there, you are talking about hurting people that don't wish you no harm. And as for GOD! He doesn't wish to harm people either. GROW UP PEOPLE AND LEARN TO CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER.
I live in FL and I don't wish any of us harm, weather I like them or not. You all make me sick
I would like to refer you to the 'Old Testament'------God acted out there like a real vicious SOB!!
Hatred is here to stay, unless we hve a second civil war.
I recall the last one had the south begging at the end.
Perhaps they need a reminder.
William - Some nut case judge down in Texas is preparing for civil war should President Obama be re-elected. He's asking local officials to give him more enforcement officers now who have military training just in case.
This is very interesting-------------I am waiting to see what leverage all these right wing 'Jesus Freaks' have with "God."
Florida is a swing state and has been the "host" to many of mother nature's worst. I don't think god (should she truely exist) is expressing an opinion one way or the other.
Sam----I am only confronting those out there who think that God (if he/she exists) always expresses an opinion!!
If it does hit Tampa, and hopefully it won't, Obama should ask "Heck of a job Brownie" to head FEMA response activities. But only if the GOP is in town for the convention and delegates are trapped in the convention hall.
Issac or not the evil big wind will blow from the GOP no matter what.
Cat 1, no worries. Sorry democRATS.
I wonder if the Christians will still think it is Jesus and his retribution when it slams into Mobile?
Irony and religion always seem to go hand in hand.
Will 'Isaac' accomplish what so many of you are scared sh*tless to do?
It's hard to believe you younger generations just sit on your asses while you are being robbed blind and turned into serfs.
Has the United States become the largest 'POULTRY FARM' on the face of the Earth?
Something must be wrong with you. Do you think that taking for granted all we have done for Haiti is something that you can complain to us about. You are greedy. It was we Americans that donated time and money from our pockets for Haitians after that Earthquake. You have no place to say what we have a personal freedom to say.
Hurricane Isaac and Republicans...perfect together!
This just in from FUX News. Obama caused the hurricane to shift course so it will hit Tampa.
Well the Evangelicals ought to take this as a warning from God that they are going down the wrong path. Just like how God's pissed at Haiti for making a deal with the devil, don'tcha know... ;-)
HE sent them an earthquake, but they have not taken heed.
Maybe it's just me, but instead of arguing about politics maybe we should pray for all the states that could possibly be impacted. Last time I check we are all part of one Nation and are not enemies!! This fussing over something sooo small as a tropical storm and politics is what's wrong with the world today!! Here is something to think about "...and in the morning,'today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the time. Matthew 16:3"
I much agree with this. Any storm will affect the South somewhere. Just wish it would go affect somewhere else or maybe we can get the government to bring the Midwestern States down here. I would gladly exchaged my state's location if possisble for some dry weather. It has rained everyday for 2 months except for maybe a day or three. It is already getting to be a swamp.
Why are the people of Haiti still living in tents after the MILLIONS and MILLIONS of dollars that was pour into that country....WHERE'S ALL OF THAT MONEY????
Great question, the world has given Haiti at least a QUAD-ZILLION dollars in the past 40 years...Tell me please somebody, who is stacking those dollars up because it sure ain't reaching the people.
...how come Haitians can't do anything for themselves when they are in Haiti but when they come to the US they open businesses, drive cabs, work hard, buy houses and land and send plenty of money back to Haiti? My foot doctor is even Haitian for goodness sakes, but when they are in Haiti they seem to sit around waiting for handouts. Why is this?
Why are they able to get jobs over US citizens? Oh, they must have Mexican cousins.
They seem to find jobs when they get here but they don't do &^%$ when they are in Haiti except plead to the press that they need help, the sad part is that when the help does come they don't even get it. The Haitian Government shoves it in their pockets.
The right now projective path is identical to Hurricane Frederick in 1979. Hurricane Frederick slammed Mobile Bay and followed a path up US 45 destroying many rural areas including the next biggest town North of Mobile, which would be Waynesboro, Mississippi.
"Florida Residents told to prepare now"? Really? I live in South Florida and no one told me to do shi#. (Is sh*t really still a curse word?) I am on the internet and in front of a TV more hours that is recommended every day, and that message has not come across. Now, if Belkys were to say it, I'd get myself some bottled water and batteries.
What is that other storm's name behind Issac. Maybe it will blow the Democratic Convention out of Charlotte and leave Charlotte's people alone. This was no offense to anyone person who has plans to attend the Demo Convention. I just don't think that people ought to confuse politics with these hurricanes. If you have not ever been in a hurricane, you should not talk.
Katrina survivor, 2005.
ooohhhhh......I'm all scared!!!! I hope Mittens can float on all that hot air!!!!!!
GA GA ...Goo....Goo
I can assure you a hurricane does not care who gets in its way. It's not Democrat, or Reublican - it's an Independent!
The mindset of poverty and hate in Haiti has been going on for hundreds of years and has nothing to do with the earthquake. It is the worst third world country in the western hemisphere and all the money we give to the people will not change that. As long as they bring more children into the world than the people can provide for, they will never improve the education opportunities, the living conditions, and the medical care in that country. The flimsy shelters, the lack of sanitation, and the poverty is not a problem money can solve when they keep overpopulating their fragile environment.
Oh my GOD!! This is the last thing Haiti needs right now. I am praying for the safety of my people.
Hopefully you can answer my question. The Dominican Republic sits on that same island. Why do they not have the problems Haiti has?
If any one cares about reality...we hit -16 trillion tonight. In four more years if the current Administration remains true to form it will be -20 or we change something. Now what could that be? I know, another 20 million illegal aliens sucking the system dry, no that won't do it. Increase our dependence on foreign oil instead of using our own, no that won't work either. Raise taxes on business (after all they did not build it any way) to the point they can not afford to hire anyone, no that won't work. Ah come on, there has to be something we can change to turn this deficit around and get out of debt by the time our grandchildren have children.
the rich people that pay no taxes are sucking the systems dry.