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chegitz guevara
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Ft. Lauderdale, FL Communist Party of Apolyton
Jun 2000
time: 00:24
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Subject: Hurricane Season
It's hurricane season, best to be prepared.
We have entered the hurricane season. Every day for the next several months, you'll turn on the TV to see a weather person pointing to some radar blob out in the Atlantic Ocean and making two basic meteorological points:
(1) There is no need to panic.
(2) We could all be killed.
Yes, hurricane season is an exciting time to be in Florida. If you're new to the area, you're probably wondering what you need to do to prepare for the possibility that we'll get hit by "the big one." Based on our experiences, we recommend that you follow this simple three-step hurricane preparedness plan:
STEP 1: Buy enough food and bottled water to last your family for at least three days
STEP 2: Put these supplies into your car.
STEP 3: Drive to Nebraska and remain there until Halloween.
Unfortunately, statistics show that most people will not follow this sensible plan. Most people will foolishly stay here in Florida. We'll start with one of the most important hurricane preparedness items:
HOMEOWNERS' INSURANCE:
If you own a home, you must have hurricane insurance. Fortunately, this insurance is cheap and easy to get, as long as your home meets two basic requirements:
(1) It is reasonably well-built, and
(2) It is located in Nebraska.
Unfortunately, if your home is located in Florida, or any other area that might actually be hit by a hurricane, most insurance companies would prefer not to sell you hurricane insurance, because then they might be required to pay YOU money, and that is certainly not why they got into the insurance business in the first place. So you'll have to scrounge around for an insurance company, which will charge you an annual premium roughly equal to the replacement value of your house. At any moment, this company can drop you like used dental floss. Since Hurricane Andrew, most Floridians have had an estimated 27 different home-insurance companies. This week, I'm covered by the Bob and Big Stan Insurance Company, under a policy which states that, in addition to my premium, Bob and Big Stan are entitled, on demand, to my kidneys.
SHUTTERS:
Your house should have hurricane shutters on all the windows, all the doors, and -- if it's a major hurricane -- all the toilets. There are several types of shutters, with advantages and disadvantages:
Plywood shutters: The advantage is that, because you make them yourself, they're cheap. The disadvantage is that, because you make them yourself, they will fall off.
Sheet-metal shutters: The advantage is that these work well, once you get them all up. The disadvantage is that once you get them all up, your hands will be useless bleeding stumps, and it will be December.
Roll-down shutters: The advantages are that they're very easy to use, and will definitely protect your house. The disadvantage is that you will have to sell your house to pay for them.
Hurricane-proof windows: These are the newest wrinkle in hurricane protection: They look like ordinary windows, but they can withstand hurricane winds! You can be sure of this, because the salesman says so. He lives in Nebraska.
HURRICANE PROOFING YOUR PROPERTY:
As the hurricane approaches, check your yard for movable objects like barbecue grills, planters, patio furniture, visiting relatives, etc... You should, as a precaution, throw these items into your swimming pool (if you don't have a swimming pool, you should have one built immediately). Otherwise, the hurricane winds will turn these objects into deadly missiles.
EVACUATION ROUTE:
If you live in a low-lying area, you should have an evacuation route planned out. (To determine whether you live in a low-lying area, look at your driver's license; if it says "Florida," you live in a low-lying area). The purpose of having an evacuation route is to avoid being trapped in your home when a major storm hits. Instead, you will be trapped in a gigantic traffic jam several miles from your home, along with two hundred thousand other evacuees. So, as a bonus, you will not be lonely.
HURRICANE SUPPLIES:
If you don't evacuate, you will need a mess of supplies. Do not buy them now! Florida tradition requires that you wait until the last possible minute, then go to the supermarket and get into vicious fights with strangers over who gets the last can of SPAM. In addition to food and water, you will need the following supplies:
23 flashlights. At least $167 worth of batteries that, when the power goes off, turn out to be the wrong size for the flashlights.
Bleach. (No, I don't know what the bleach is for. NOBODY knows what the bleach is for, but it's traditional, so GET some!)
55 gallon drum of underarm deodorant.
A big knife that you can strap to your leg. (This will be useless in a hurricane, but it looks cool.)
A large quantity of raw chicken, to placate the alligators. (Ask anybody who went through Andrew; after the hurricane, there WILL be irate alligators.)
$35,000 in cash or diamonds so that, after the hurricane passes, you can buy a generator from a man with no discernible teeth.
Of course these are just basic precautions. As the hurricane draws near, it is vitally important that you keep abreast of the situation by turning on your television and watching TV reporters in rain slickers standing right next to the ocean and tell you over and over how vitally important it is for everybody to stay away from the ocean.
Good luck, and remember: It's great living in Paradise.
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Sava
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GO GO GO!
Mar 2001
time: 23:24
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quote:
Originally posted by Winston
Welcome to our fine society, Az! Membership is free of charge, but you have to commit yourself to always keep looking for new ways in which things can be blamed on Bush.
There are, and I cannot stress this too strongly, still far too many things NOT blamed on President Bush. I mean, I can sometimes go for days without encountering things blamed on Bush, and quite frankly I'm sick of it.
Blame on!  |
Yeah the president should never be blamed for things like lying about a cassus belli, looting the treasury, giving tax cuts to the rich while piling up massive deficits, weak economic policies, non-existent health care and abysmal education policies... hell, all this blame on bush is lies! 
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The Mad Monk
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of Ice Cream
Mar 2000
time: 23:24
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quote:
Eyewitness: Hurricane Ivan
Most Grenadians are still cut off from the outside world
Several days after Hurricane Ivan slammed into Grenada, accounts of the disaster by people who lived through it are just beginning to emerge.
Few have access to the outside world, because the storm brought down virtually all telephone lines.
One of the first visitors to the devastated island was Trinidadian leader Patrick Manning.
He described the scene, telling the BBC's Caribbean service: "When dogs interfere with garbage bags and strew the contents all over the place - that's what Grenada looks like.
"Galvanised sheeting spread over the land, no trees have leaves, many houses are gone... to see a building with a roof is a very rare sight."
'Terrifying'
Russ Fielden, who owns a hotel on the island, described what it was like in the midst of the tempest.
"It was absolutely terrifying. The winds were gusting over 150mph (240km/h) and just tearing off roofs," he told the BBC World Service's World Today programme.
"It lifted a container close to our house and rolled it over and over and, fortunately, it didn't hit the house but came very close to it.
I stared death in the face - what could be more scary than that?
Dawn Brown, housewife
"Trees were uprooted. There's not a single leaf on a tree, most of the boughs have gone off trees. But 90% of the houses on the island have no roofs and, out of that 90%, probably 50% of the homes have been totally destroyed.
"The hospital roof blew off, the stadium blew over and it's a big concrete stadium and it actually blew over, on the ground, flattened.
"The airport control tower fell over, so the infrastructure of the island has totally collapsed. There's no water in the pipes, there's no food, there's nowhere to cook the food, there's no electricity - and we're very fortunate to have this telephone line. We're not quite sure why it's working, but there it is."
Howling gales
Associated Press correspondent Ian James in the capital, St George's, painted a similar picture, reporting that house after house appeared shredded by whipping winds.
He said the bare trees gave a brownish tinge to hills strewn with debris.
A local resident, 30-year-old housewife Dawn Brown, related her frightening experience of Hurricane Ivan's destructive power.
She told AP that at the height of the storm, she and her children had run from room to room as the winds ripped off sections of their roof.
Finally, she said, there was no roof left and the family resorted to hiding under a mattress amid howling gales.
"I stared death in the face," she said. "What could be more scary than that?"
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3644428.stm
It has been reported that Fidel Castro has announced that Cuba will refuse all disaster relief coming from the United States.
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MalevolentLight
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High Above
Jul 1999
time: 00:24
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I live in palm harbor which is North western Pinellas county. According to the track it shows the eye going just off shore of us. Say goodbye to Tampa.
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The Mad Monk
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of Ice Cream
Mar 2000
time: 23:24
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quote:
Cubans are
ill-prepared for Ivan
Island braces for the worst, but few can afford to protect themselves
By Mary Murray
Producer
NBC News
Updated: 1:51 p.m. ET Sept. 10, 2004
HAVANA - Cubans called it the “one-two punch.” After Hurricane Charley battered the island less than a month ago, decimating 70,000 homes and racking up a billion dollars in damage, Ivan was fast approaching on Friday, packing deadly Category 4 winds and rain.
Cuban Civil Defense authorities have divided up the island in red and yellow zones, the colors signifying different phases of alert and response.
Evacuations began Friday in six eastern provinces, placed on red or full alert.
Some 100,000 people have fled their homes and authorities expect to order the evacuation of up to half a million people before the monster storm makes landfall sometime on Sunday. Thousands of cattle are being evacuated as well.
The western provinces of Pinar del Rio and Havana, including the capital city, are on yellow alert where residents of low-lying areas are being told their evacuation order could be issued with just a few hours notice.
Over 300,000 boarding school students were sent home early so that authorities could convert their schools into government-run shelters. Many of these schools are large enough to house as many as 5,000 people.
Radio Reloj, the island’s all-news radio station, is broadcasting around-the-clock emergency hurricane updates from Cuba’s National Meteorological Institute and orders from the Army’s Civil Defense unit.
Castro: 'Remain calm'
Despite the gravity of this storm, Fidel Castro appeared on national television late Thursday, straining to remain optimistic. He urged people to “remain calm and disciplined.”
The Cuban president added, “The number one thing is to protect lives. We’ll work out the rest. It may take time but we will recover.”
As Castro showed maps downloaded off the U.S. government’s National Weather Service internet web site, he voiced every Cuban’s biggest fear: Ivan would sweep across Havana, the vulnerable Cuban capital.
No money for hurricane proofing
The historic city of 2 million people is not prepared for a hurricane.
Unlike the scenes in Florida, only 90 miles away, there are no big hardware stores stocking emergency supplies, no special steel shutters or planks of disposable plywood.
Instead, some glass windows have a few strips of masking tape that will do little to shield anyone from a shattering wind. Most windows are made of wood.
This is the Caribbean and a country of poor people. Homes here are open — normally to catch the slightest breeze to offset the tropical heat. Roofs are weak, many buildings crumbling.
No one is flocking to the grocery store or gas stations. In general, people don’t have the cash reserves to stock up on groceries, nor is there a variety of goods available.
For example, car batteries are the most sought-after consumer product at the moment. But they are only available on the black market at double the normal price.
While a small generator locally costs as much as $900 — a fortune for your average Cuban — innovative people power their homes with $50 car batteries. But they sold out after Hurricane Charley smashed into the island’s power grid and shut off the lights. Some southern coastal towns are still without power.
No one doubts that a direct hit on Havana will cause the maximum damage, especially if Ivan stalls over the city.
Dr. José Rubiera, the island’s top meteorologist and an expert at predicting hurricanes, described the storm as “relentless.”
He fears he will pummel Cuba for as long as 12 hours, leaving tens of thousands homeless.
Mary Murray is an NBC News producer based in Havana.
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http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5962187/
quote:
FACING THE IMMINENT ARRIVAL OF HURRICANE IVAN
More discipline than ever to preserve human lives
• Fidel instructs the population on TV Roundtable program
JOSE A. DE LA OSA—Granma daily staff writer—
SPEAKING a few hours before a hurricane of serious intensity reaches our country, President Fidel Castro called on the population to demonstrate more discipline than ever before in order to preserve life and health, and to follow to the foot of the letter directions from the Civil Defense so as to avoid loss of human life, given that everything else can be reconstructed.
"What cannot be restored are human lives," he emphasized, "but with our energy we will confront and resolve the adversities." He also talked of the need to protect storehouses, food reserves and school equipment, confirming that the island is prepared and nobody should be disheartened whatever the hurricane destroys.
Fidel was participating yesterday in the third TV Roundtable focusing on the exceptional education program of the Revolution.
Commenting on the characteristics of Hurricane Ivan, at 9:30 p.m. yesterday Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale of five, the Cuban president compared it with the effects of an atomic attack given its ample radius of material destruction. But after it has passed, he assured, a whole people will be working on reconstruction.
"We are better prepared than anyone to confront this atmospheric phenomenon, as would be the case in a war," he affirmed. "For that reason, the key at this point is discipline and strict fulfillment of Civil Defense instructions, because we have to imagine things that have never been seen."
He reiterated that the most important thing is to preserve human lives and stated that there are sufficient reserves to confront a hurricane like this one, or even a military aggression.
He observed that those responsible for intensifying the economic blockade of Cuba will be very happy, given they are unable to destroy the Revolution, so "roll on a cyclone," and the bigger the better in order to make the educational experience of the Revolution to "disappear from the map."
The Cuban leader stressed that he was announcing in advance that no aid will be accepted from those unleashing cruel economic warfare on our country. "Let them save themselves the hypocrisy of offering aid to Cuba," he stated.
"We have confidence in the peoples," he added, "that they will recognize the barbarities being committed by our enemies. And so, blockaded and with all the new measures against our country, we are going to defend and preserve life, health and food, even if innumerable banana plantations are swept away.
He recalled that after the last cyclone hit Cuba the U.S. government offered the ridiculous sum of $50,000 of humanitarian aid. "And we didn’t accept it. The only thing we can allow is a total end to the blockade and the economic aggression of our country! We are going to demonstrate that we are capable of resisting this hurricane as well, and others if they arrive, and how we can reconstruct the country with our own resources."
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http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2004/se...10/38ivan2.html
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smacksim
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Deputy Chairman of the Council of Lords of Gaia
Feb 2004
time: 00:24
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I know, it's a weird thing, and contradicts the written statements. I do have to admit that I've seen some of the Noaa loops change in the last frame before, only to later be corrected, but who knows?
I did some more research and the PM of Jamaica declared a Public Emergency for the whole country around 2:00 PM today. 500,000 people were told to move to high ground and shelter, but only 5,000 are reported in public shelters. Everyone is staying in their houses to prevent looters. IMO, there will be many deaths from this, if it really did continue moving inland (unlike the noaa loop shows). Their last major hit was in 1988 and a local said that (Cat 3) storm was already dwarfed by Ivan's rain, waves, and flooding. Hell, there was flooding at 2:00 PM, while Ivan didn't even arrive in full force till midnight. It's going to be really bad and there's little to do about it now.
The Jamaican govt. opened an account with Wachovia bank for donations. The article I read just published the account number, but that seems a little sketchy to me. They are going to need a lot of help. I suppose the best thing would be to start calling US govt. to request we send aid immediately. A British ship is already on the way.
Oh, Grenada is refusing all supplies and help until they quell the looting and/or find the 75 escaped prisoners....ooops. But 100 carribian soldiers from 5 nations showed up to help put the smackdown on the looting....
-S
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10-09-2004 19:14
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