Dennis most intense June/July Hurricane in Recorded History. 155mph

[Maddy McCall]

"The 8:30am EDT hurricane hunter flight just found a central pressure of 938 mb and winds at 10,000 feet of 155 mph, which means Dennis has recovered from its eyewall replacement cycle, and is now intensifying again. The eye is a healthy 15 miles in diameter, and it is unlikely that another eyewall replacement cycle will happen before the storm hits Cuba tonight. Cuba will probably see Dennis at its peak--and this could very well mean Category 5.

"Dennis is now the most intense June or July hurricane on record, beating out Hurricane Audrey of June 1957, which was a Category 4 storm with 145 mph winds and a central pressure of 946 mb at its peak. Audrey killed 390 people in Texas and Louisiana when it came ashore, making it the sixth most deadly U.S. hurricane on record.

"Today will be the worst day in Cuba's modern history. Dennis is a worst-case hurricane following a worst-case path for the island. The storm is already punishing Cuba as it moves parallel to the island, subjecting much of the island to hurricane force winds and rainfall totals of 10 - 15 inches, and destroying much of the rich sugar cane fields and other crops. The situation will get much worse tonight when the storm makes landfall, pushing a storm surge of 20 feet or higher onto a long section of the coast. Dennis will pass near Havana, the most heavily populated part of the island. Although loss of life will be low thanks to Cuba's excellent civil defense system, the destruction of buildings will probably be the worst in Cuba's history. Building collapses are common in Cuba without having hurricane winds battering the cities. Dennis will damage or destroy hundreds of thousands of buildings, leaving a large percentage of Cuba's population homeless. Lack of fresh water and electricity will be serious problems, and Cuba's political stability could well be threatened by the scope of what is likely to be its greatest disaster in modern history."

(from a meteorologist's blog at www.wunderground.com)

IMAGES

Computer models show that the track is shifting to the West again:
(Expect NHC's track cone to shift westward, too, later.)





Satellite Image; you can see the ocean through the eye:

[Kathy in Cambridge]

1. Oh how scary!

:scared:

Stay safe down there! :hug:

[GOPisEvil]

2. Aiyeee!

Y'all take care. Be safe.

[Deja Q]

3. It's God's punishment for making Florida look like a big wang!

And gay men made it look that way!

So did Clinton; now we know why he sent money to all of florida's "ecology protection" groups! :wow:

[Maddy McCall]

4. Looks like the Mississippi Gulf Coast is landfall now.

Maybe it's God's punishment for all dem Casinos down thar. :D

[ClintonTyree]

5. Global warming is flawed Science...

and we need to do a LOT more studying before we can make any concrete plans. Science just cannot be trusted! :sarcasm:

[Maddy McCall]

7. Image showing temps in Carribean and Gulf

[Shell Beau]

6. Now we have to sit here and anticipate!

[Maddy McCall]

8. I'm cleaning the house. Nervous energy.

Our town and the sister city is flooded with Louisiana people. No hotels available. I imagine we'll start opening shelters tomorrow.

Has your area started opening shelters for coastal folks?

[Shell Beau]

10. I heard all of our hotels are booked. I am sure the shelters

are getting prepared. I think some may have to go as far north as Memphis.

[yankeeinlouisiana]

13. I'm nervously cleaning the house too!

We'll decide later on this afternoon if we're going to leave or not. I want to see first where this thing might go.

Take care everyone!

:scared:

[Shell Beau]

14. I hope all is well down in N.O.!

[NawlinsNed]

36. We've had 14 inches of rain in the last week...

8 from Cindy, 3 more today, and 3 from various other days. Our drainage is superb in my neighborhood.. our pumps do some kind of astronomical figure... the only way we flood is if everywhere else floods... but the ground is TOTALLY saturated right now. Everyone in my neighborhood has already boarded their windows.

On the bright side, though, my lawn has never looked better. :)

[eyepaddle]

9. Whoa, this is gonna get ugly (uglier?)

When I lived in Louisiana and worked offshore I .liked Hurricanes/tropical storms. We'd get evacuated from the rigs and everybody could get together on land and get royally liquored up. Usually there would be very few of your friends on land at any given time.

When I was down there none of them looked anywhere CLOSE to being this muscular though.

Good luck Maddy,

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[GOPisEvil]

12. Now that's uncalled for.

[Shell Beau]

15. Thank you b/c I am included in those red states!

[Shell Beau]

16. Surely you jest?

[GOPisEvil]

17. No, he doesn't.

We've had this discussion before.

[Shell Beau]

18. Wow! Now that was a nice thing for him to say!

:sarcasm:

[Maddy McCall]

24. He makes himself look like a buffoon with such comments, since...

the fucker LIVES IN A RED STATE.

Why would anyone want to turn a thread keeping DUers updated on the hurricane into a flame war??? Unreal.

[Shell Beau]

35. Maybe that is why he hasn't answered any of us.

[Misunderestimator]

19. Someone always has to make this lame joke...

:eyes:

[Shell Beau]

20. From what I heard, it isn't really a joke! I hope they were kidding!

[Misunderestimator]

21. All I know is that I heard this same sad stuff last year...

when I was living in Florida... and it's OOOOOLLLLLDDDDD and tired and rude and insensitive... I hope he was kidding too.

[Shell Beau]

22. Florida gets it rough every year with the hurricanes!

It is an insensitive thing to say. Kidding or not!

[Maddy McCall]

23. You live in a red state. I'd never wish tragedy on you.

Your callous remarks, to the very people at DU who showed you compassion when you first joined, are well noted.

[sasquatch]

34. It's not meant towards DUers, just the people that vote for Bush

[flvegan]

27. Yeah? And when the rethugs that make these states red transplant into

the blue states because of hurricanes, whaddya think is gonna happen? Genius.

[SaintLouisBlues]

30. Are those the same red states where 45% voted for Kerry,

or do you mean the blue states that voted 45% for Shrub?

[Karenina]

33. Unacceptable.

Go away.

[barb162]

25. Geez, it sounds like Cuba is gonna get totally nailed badly

[Maddy McCall]

26. I was very impressed that the meteorologist acknowledged that Cuba...

has an excellent civil defense. :thumbsup:

[barb162]

28. I bet only concrete withstands a 150mph wind

if you are in the gulf area, may I ask why you aren't leaving?

[Maddy McCall]

29. I'm north of New Orleans. If it hits the LA coast, we'll get much of the

wind and rain. No doubt our antiquated power lines will be the first thing to go.

[NawlinsNed]

37. There are houses that can withstand that kind of wind

Especially the older homes made from cypress. That stuff is hard as nails and lasts forever... long after everything else rots off it, those frames still stand and usually get taken down to be reused in other homes. In the yard next to my grandparents', there's a tree with a large part of an early mmodel Ford embedded in it.

I'm taking pictures of all my stuff and grabbing all my receipts for insurance purposes, taking all my important documents, removing the hard drives from my PC, and grabbing my cd cases. I'm also covering electrical components with garbage bags. It doesn't take long to get out of the projected path of Dennis from where I sit. What's important is that you avoid the center winds. Other than that, it's just another miserable, windy, wet day without power.

[madrchsod]

31. anyone notice something strange in the eye of the storm?

http://www.enterprisemission.com/hurricane1.htm
Hyperdimensional Hurricanes, Part One: The Mystery

[TK421]

32. That looks positively evil

:scared: