September 22, 2010
Terribly Troubling Times in Haiti
According to YAHOO! news last month:
A U.S.-based think tank is painting a grim picture of the earthquake recovery effort in Haiti, adding its voice to widespread accusations of ineffectual local leadership.
James Dobbins, a former U.S. special envoy to Haiti and director of the RAND International Security and Defense Policy Center said that:
Clearly the scale of the damage was surprising," he said. "We're also somewhat surprised at the Haitian and international response. Not the humanitarian response, which was actually dramatically quick. But the second stage — so little of the rubble has been cleared, and so few of the basic decisions have been made.
Earlier this week Haitian hotel owner and musician Richard Morse reported on Twitter that:
4.4 Earthquake at 11:33 last night (Monday). It rocked my house. I reacted too slowly. Wouldn't have gotten out.
Now two big storms are brewing in the Caribbean and the Eastern Atlantic:
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:
The Atlantic Basin remains on track for an active hurricane season, according to the scheduled seasonal outlook update issued today by NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. With the season’s peak just around the corner – late August through October – the need for preparedness plans is essential.
According to the National Hurricane Center:
THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM LISA WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 18.0 NORTH…LONGITUDE 30.5 WEST. LISA IS MOVING TOWARD THE EAST-NORTHEAST NEAR 5 MPH…7 KM/HR. A SLOW MOTION TOWARD THE EAST AND THEN SOUTH IS EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT DAY OR TWO. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 45 MPH…75 KM/HR…WITH HIGHER GUSTS. SOME SLOW STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS.
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ASSOCIATED WITH A TROPICAL WAVE OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN CARIBBEAN SEA HAVE CHANGED LITTLE IN ORGANIZATION DURING THE PAST SEVERAL HOURS. HOWEVER…ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS APPEAR CONDUCIVE FOR A TROPICAL DEPRESSION TO FORM DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS AS THE SYSTEM MOVES WESTWARD NEAR 15 MPH. THERE IS A MEDIUM CHANCE…50 PERCENT…OF THIS SYSTEM BECOMING A TROPICAL CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS.
Keep a close watch on the National Hurricane Centre active storms page for the next couple of months, and let's hope for the best.
Let's also think about what each of us can personally do to make a difference.
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The "showers and thunderstorms" we mentioned 2 days ago have now evolved into Tropical Storm Matthew.
Matthew is currently moving away from Haiti, but towards Nicaragua and Honduras.
The NHC has now issued a hurricane warning:
Tropical Storm Lisa is roughly 295 miles NW of the Cape Verde Islands, and is forecast to "weaken to a tropical depression over the weekend"
The NHC have downgraded their warnings regarding Tropical Storm Matthew to tropical storm status. You can watch an animated history of their forecasts for Matthew here.
Nontheless Matthew has caused severe problems in Central America. According to the Reuters news agency:
Meanwhile despite yesterday's forecast Lisa has now been upgraded to a fully fledged hurricane, but fortunately she is not currently threatening anyone. Here is her animated forecast history.