Hurricane - Blog Posts

Peterick💚 I don't even know if this can put a smile back on my face. Today I've been called sad. I've been told that I need to grow up and that my quietness and shyness is all an act. Also fob are now a pop group and I shouldn't be offended if someone calls their new music the worst thing they've ever heard. This is all from a so called friend of mine. Well thanks for making me feel fricking great about myself. Hope you feel good about yourself. This same girl thinks she's the only one with problems. Dude when I was 3 years old I had freaking cancer.

Not my meme but figured I'd share for those about to ride out the storm

feeling very frustrated about the ways people are talking about hurricane Milton. lots of needless, borderline fear mongering language with very little actual helpful information.

information about Milton that might ACTUALLY be helpful:

Hurricane Milton is shaping up to be the third strongest hurricane ever recorded.

Make sure you have an evacuation plan if the order is given or if you've already been told to leave.

WUSF

County-by-county evacuations for Hurricane Milton

Hurricane Milton is triggering evacuations in counties along Florida's west coast. Here is a list of orders and shelter information.

there is also a code for free Ubers to evacuate effected counties, as well as shuttles from evacuating counties to nearby storm shelters

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Use this code for free Uber rides to shelters in evacuating Florida counties

If you are in one of the Florida counties under a state of emergency due to Hurricane Milton, use this code to get a free Uber ride to a she

ABC Action News Tampa Bay (WFTS)

Hurricane evacuation shuttle will be available Tuesday for residents in evacuation zones

Residents needing transportation to a shelter can use a shuttle service, according to the Florida Division of Emergency Management

Prepare/secure your home

WESH

Where to find sandbags in Central Florida ahead of Milton

Find sandbag locations to prepare for the heavy rain.

Sarasota Magazine

Ahead of Milton, Sarasota and Manatee Counties Open More Sandbag Locations

Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall on Wednesday. Here's where to get sandbags if you need them.

Find your nearest shelter and be prepared to leave

If you want to stay in the loop about the hurricane, WESH 2 News has ongoing coverage ad-free on YouTube.

YouTube

Tracking Milton: Live coverage as hurricane heads for Florida

As Hurricane Milton churns in the Gulf of Mexico and threatens Florida's coast, the National Hurricane Center says it is closely monitoring

General resources/information:

fema.gov

3622

Please for the love of God stop preying on people's fears and causing panic. Know what resources are available to you and how to access them. If you approach this hurricane carefully YOU WILL BE OKAY!!!!! YOUR LIFE DOES NOT HAVE TO BE RUINED!!!

Please link other resources you find or think other people might find useful!

People seeing this please support them and share this!!!!

I can't donate anything but I really hope you guys are able to get the money that you need and that you guys are able to stay as safe as possible!! <333

TWO DISABLED PEOPLE NEED HELP AFTER HURRICANE HELENE

hi, i dont like making these posts, but at this time im genuinely at such a loss that i dont know what to do.

helene ripped through where me and my partner live and we arent doing good and we need help.

i work a $15/hr job but i cant work more than 20hrs a week due to my disability, and this is only enough to pay my share of rent and sort of feed us and our animals.

my partners job got absolutely fucking decimated. he worked for a small business dog boarding kennel and it flooded. all of the dogs are safe but the kennel is in no state to be working at and is not safe or useable for animals or people. the bridge to the road its on is also completely gone and we have no idea when it will be rebuilt.

we were mostly relying on my partners income, and due to our local walmart being shut down our only options are more expensive/higher end grocery stores. he also needs to make rent. neither of us can take being separated after all of this and we no longer have the money to move out or get a separate vehicle as we were planning.

for the record. we are no where near rich. we already struggled to make ends meet. his car was going to be a free(ish) handmedown from his mom but without his high paying job he cant afford car insurance, and now his only option is a 10/h job and that just isnt enough.

he cannot make rent, i dont know if i can afford to care for our cats. we wernt planned for this to happen because a fucking hurricane in the mountains shouldve been impossible.

commission my partner directly here: https://www.tumblr.com/showf4ll-media/763189903486042112/these-were-the-damages-done

Tumblr

Showf4ll Media

These were the damages done 👍

you can support me by watching and sharing this video as it is fully monetized, as well as the other monetized content on my channel. if i can make just $50 off this video ill have enough built up ad revenue from a year+ for google to release my money (they release at $100):

i hesitate to ask for direct donations but anything helps. at the moment we have people who can feed us but we need rent money.

if i decide to ask for direct donations it would be to pay off about $300 worth of vet bill debt but i dont know how to set that up and i dont know exact amounts, etc

i cant take commissions right now because between work and all of this i cant manage that ontop of everything. i have a few characters for sale so if youre interested in that you can find them here:

https://toyhou.se/28354700.huge-purge-eo-on-most-of-th

thank you.

feeling very frustrated about the ways people are talking about hurricane Milton. lots of needless, borderline fear mongering language with very little actual helpful information.

information about Milton that might ACTUALLY be helpful:

Hurricane Milton is shaping up to be the third strongest hurricane ever recorded.

Make sure you have an evacuation plan if the order is given or if you've already been told to leave.

WUSF

County-by-county evacuations for Hurricane Milton

Hurricane Milton is triggering evacuations in counties along Florida's west coast. Here is a list of orders and shelter information.

there is also a code for free Ubers to evacuate effected counties, as well as shuttles from evacuating counties to nearby storm shelters

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Use this code for free Uber rides to shelters in evacuating Florida counties

If you are in one of the Florida counties under a state of emergency due to Hurricane Milton, use this code to get a free Uber ride to a she

ABC Action News Tampa Bay (WFTS)

Hurricane evacuation shuttle will be available Tuesday for residents in evacuation zones

Residents needing transportation to a shelter can use a shuttle service, according to the Florida Division of Emergency Management

Prepare/secure your home

WESH

Where to find sandbags in Central Florida ahead of Milton

Find sandbag locations to prepare for the heavy rain.

Sarasota Magazine

Ahead of Milton, Sarasota and Manatee Counties Open More Sandbag Locations

Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall on Wednesday. Here's where to get sandbags if you need them.

Find your nearest shelter and be prepared to leave

If you want to stay in the loop about the hurricane, WESH 2 News has ongoing coverage ad-free on YouTube.

YouTube

Tracking Milton: Live coverage as hurricane heads for Florida

As Hurricane Milton churns in the Gulf of Mexico and threatens Florida's coast, the National Hurricane Center says it is closely monitoring

General resources/information:

fema.gov

3622

Please for the love of God stop preying on people's fears and causing panic. Know what resources are available to you and how to access them. If you approach this hurricane carefully YOU WILL BE OKAY!!!!! YOUR LIFE DOES NOT HAVE TO BE RUINED!!!

Please link other resources you find or think other people might find useful!

You can thank Sandy

"You can thank Sandy"  A friend got a marketing E-mail for some webinar saying that due to an overwhelming demand from people affected by Hurricane Sandy the discount registration period was being extended. The E-mail opened with large, bold type "You can thank Sandy." Shortly thereafter, he received another E-mail from that company apologizing for the insensitive tone of the first E-mail. E-mail #2 also added that appropriate steps were taken to make sure this would never happen again.  I have to say that I didn't find the Sandy reference insensitive and I certainly hope that appropriate steps doesn't mean that someone lost a job. How do other people feel about this? Given that the current Noreaster is being referred to as Son of Sandy is anyone really offended?

A tornado did come close to our house, took out a couple huge oak trees, did some fence and boat damage, but most importantly, my wife's ass is 100%!

We're safe. Thanks for everyone asking.

One Hot Year after Another

Globally, 2020 was the hottest year on record, effectively tying 2016, the previous record. Overall, Earth’s average temperature has risen more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit since the 1880s.

Temperatures are increasing due to human activities, specifically emissions of greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide and methane. 

Heat and the energy it carries are what drive our planet: winds, weather, droughts, floods, and more are expressions of heat. The right amount of heat is even one of the things that makes life on Earth possible. But too much heat is changing the way our planet’s systems act.

My World’s on Fire

Higher temperatures drive longer, more intense fire seasons. As rain and snowfall patterns change, some regions are getting drier and more vulnerable to damage, setting the stage for more fires.

2020 saw several record-breaking fires, both in Australia in the beginning of the year, and in the western U.S. through northern summer and fall. Smoke from fires in both regions reached so high into the atmosphere that it formed clouds and continues to travel around the globe today.

In the Siberian Arctic, unusually high temperatures helped drive at least 19 fires in the region. More than half of them were burning peat soil -- decomposed organic materials -- that stores a lot of carbon. Peat fires release vast amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, potentially leading to even more warming.

The Water’s Getting Warm

It wasn’t just fire seasons setting records. 2020 had more named tropical storms in the Atlantic and more storms making landfall in the U.S. than any hurricane season on record.

Hurricanes rely on warm ocean water as fuel, and this year, the Atlantic provided. 30 named storms weren’t the only things that made this year’s hurricane season notable.

Storms like Eta, Delta, and Iota quickly changed from smaller, weaker tropical storms into more destructive hurricanes. This rapid intensification is complicated, but it’s likely that warmer, more humid weather -- a result of climate change -- helps drive it.

The Ice Is Getting Thin

Add enough heat, and even the biggest chunk of ice will melt. That’s true whether we’re talking about the ice cubes in your glass or the vast sheets of ice at our planet’s poles. Right now, the Arctic region is warming about three times faster than the rest of our planet, which has some major effects both locally and globally.

This year, Arctic sea ice hit a near-record low. Sea ice is actually made of frozen ocean water, and it grows and thaws with the seasons, typically reaching an annual minimum extent in September.

Warmer ocean water led to more ice melting this year, and 2020’s annual minimum extent continued a long trend of shrinking Arctic sea ice extent.

A Long Trend

We study Earth and how it’s changing from the ground, the sky, and space. Using data from sensors all around the planet, we calculate the global average temperature, working with our partners at NOAA.

Many other organizations also track global temperature using their own instruments and methods, and they all match remarkably well. The last seven years were the hottest seven years on record. Earth is getting warmer.

We also study the effects of increasing temperatures, like the melting sea ice and longer fire seasons mentioned above. Additionally, we can study the cause of climate change from space, with a bird’s eye view of increasing carbon in the atmosphere.

The planet is changing because of human activities. We’re working together with other agencies to monitor changes and understand what this means for people in the future.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.

A Tiny Satellite Studies Stormy Layers

The gif above shows data taken by an experimental weather satellite of Hurricane Dorian on September 3, 2019. TEMPEST-D, a NASA CubeSat, reveals rain bands in four layers of the storm by taking the data in four different radio frequencies. The multiple vertical layers show where the most warm, wet air within the hurricane is rising high into the atmosphere. Pink, red and yellow show the areas of heaviest rainfall, while the least intense areas of rainfall are in green and blue.

How does an Earth satellite the size of a cereal box help NASA monitor storms? 

The goal of the TEMPEST-D (Temporal Experiment for Storms and Tropical Systems Demonstration) mission is to demonstrate the performance of a CubeSat designed to study precipitation events on a global scale.

If TEMPEST-D can successfully track storms like Dorian, the technology demonstration could lead to a train of small satellites that work together to track storms around the world. By measuring the evolution of clouds from the moment of the start of precipitation, a TEMPEST constellation mission, collecting multiple data points over short periods of time, would improve our understanding of cloud processes and help to clear up one of the largest sources of uncertainty in climate models. Knowledge of clouds, cloud processes and precipitation is essential to our understanding of climate change.

What is a CubeSat, anyway? And what’s the U for?

CubeSats are small, modular, customizable vessels for satellites. They come in single units a little larger than a rubix cube - 10cmx10cmx10cm - that can be stacked in multiple different configurations. One CubeSat is 1U. A CubeSat like TEMPEST-D, which is a 6U, has, you guessed it, six CubeSat units in it.

Pictured above is a full-size mockup of MarCO, a 6U CubeSat that recently went to Mars with the Insight mission. They really are about the size of a cereal box!

We are using CubeSats to test new technologies and push the boundaries of Earth Science in ways never before imagined. CubeSats are much less expensive to produce than traditional satellites; in multiples they could improve our global storm coverage and forecasting data.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

Hurricanes Have No Place to Hide, Thanks to Better Satellite Forecasts

If you’ve ever looked at a hurricane forecast, you’re probably familiar with “cones of uncertainty,” the funnel-shaped maps showing a hurricane’s predicted path. Thirty years ago, a hurricane forecast five days before it made landfall might have a cone of uncertainty covering most of the East Coast. The result? A great deal of uncertainty about who should evacuate, where it was safe to go, and where to station emergency responders and their equipment.

Over the years, hurricane forecasters have succeeded in shrinking the cone of uncertainty for hurricane tracks, with the help of data from satellites. Polar-orbiting satellites, which fly nearly directly above the North and South Poles, are especially important in helping cut down on forecast error.

The orbiting electronic eyeballs key to these improvements: the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) fleet. A collaborative effort between NOAA and NASA, the satellites circle Earth, taking crucial measurements that inform the global, regional and specialized forecast models that have been so critical to hurricane track forecasts.

The forecast successes keep rolling in. From Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria in 2017 through Hurricanes Florence and Michael in 2018, improved forecasts helped manage coastlines, which translated into countless lives and property saved. In September 2018, with the help of this data, forecasters knew a week ahead of time where and when Hurricane Florence would hit. Early warnings were precise enough that emergency planners could order evacuations in time — with minimal road clogging.  The evacuations that did not have to take place, where residents remained safe from the hurricane’s fury, were equally valuable.

The satellite benefits come even after the storms make landfall. Using satellite data, scientists and forecasters monitor flooding and even power outages. Satellite imagery helped track power outages in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria and in the Key West area after Hurricane Irma, which gave relief workers information about where the power grid was restored – and which regions still lacked electricity. 

Flood maps showed the huge extent of flooding from Hurricane Harvey and were used for weeks after the storm to monitor changes and speed up recovery decisions and the deployment of aid and relief teams.

As the 2019 Atlantic hurricane season kicks off, the JPSS satellites, NOAA-20 and Suomi-NPP, are ready to track hurricanes and tropical cyclones as they form, intensify and travel across the ocean – our eyes in the sky for severe storms. 

For more about JPSS, follow @JPSSProgram on Twitter and facebook.com/JPSS.Program, or @NOAASatellites on Twitter and facebook.com/NOAASatellites.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.

Weathering the Storm with our Global Precipitation Measurement Mission

How much rain falls in a hurricane? How much snow falls in a nor’easter? What even is a nor’easter? These are the sorts of questions answered by our Global Precipitation Measurement Mission, or GPM.

GPM measures precipitation: Rain, snow, sleet, freezing rain, hail, ice pellets. It tells meteorologists the volume, intensity and location of the precipitation that falls in weather systems, helping them improve their forecasting, gather information about extreme weather and better understand Earth’s energy and water cycles.

And putting all that together, one of GPM’s specialties is measuring storms.

GPM is marking its fifth birthday this year, and to celebrate, we’re looking back on some severe storms that the mission measured in its first five years.

1. The Nor’easter of 2018

A nor’easter is a swirling storm with strong northeasterly winds and often lots of snow. In January 2018, the mission’s main satellite, the Core Observatory, flew over the East Coast in time to capture the development of a nor’easter. The storm dumped 18 inches of snow in parts of New England and unleashed winds up to 80 miles per hour!

2. Hurricane Harvey 

Hurricane Harvey came to a virtual halt over eastern Texas in August 2017, producing the largest rain event in U.S. history. Harvey dropped up to 5 feet of rain, causing $125 billion in damage. The Core Observatory passed over the storm several times, using its radar and microwave instruments to capture the devastating deluge.

3. Typhoon Vongfong

In October 2014, GPM flew over one of its very first Category 5 typhoons – tropical storms with wind speeds faster than 157 miles per hour. The storm was Typhoon Vongfong, which caused $48 million in damage in Japan, the Philippines and Taiwan. We were able to see both the pattern and the intensity of Vongfong’s rain, which let meteorologists know the storm’s structure and how it might behave.

4. Near Real-Time Global Precipitation Calculations

The Core Observatory isn’t GPM’s only satellite! A dozen other satellites from different countries and government agencies come together to share their microwave measurements with the Core Observatory. Together, they are called the GPM Constellation, and they create one of its most impressive products, IMERG.

IMERG stands for “Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM,” and it uses the info from all the satellites in the Constellation to calculate global precipitation in near real time. In other words, we can see where it’s raining anywhere in the world, practically live.

5. Hurricane Ophelia

Hurricane Ophelia hit Ireland and the United Kingdom in October 2017, pounding them with winds up to 115 miles per hour, reddening the skies with dust from the Sahara Desert and causing more than $79 million in damages. Several satellites from the Constellation passed over Ophelia, watching this mid-latitude weather system develop into a Category 3 hurricane – the easternmost Category 3 storm in the satellite era (since 1970).

From the softest snow to the fiercest hurricanes, GPM is keeping a weather eye open for precipitation around the world. And we’re on cloud nine about that.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

10 Ground-breaking Earth Satellite Images from 2018

In 2018, our satellites captured beautiful imagery from throughout the solar system and beyond. However, some of our favorite visualizations are of this very planet. While this list is by no means exhaustive, it does capture some Earth satellite images from this year that are both visually striking as well as scientifically informative. This list also represents a broad variety of Earth’s features, as well as satellite instrumentation. Take a journey with our eyes in the sky!

10. Hurricane Florence

Before making landfall, Hurricane Florence churned in the Atlantic for a full two weeks — making it among the longest-lived cyclones of the 2018 season. When it finally did hit land on Sep. 14, the storm devastated the southeastern U.S. coast with intense winds, torrential rains and severe flooding.

This natural-color image was acquired by MODIS on the Terra Satellite on Sep. 12, 2018. 

Images like this, as well as other satellite information, were used to anticipate the impact of the storm. Our Disasters Program created flood proxy maps that were shared with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Guard to estimate how many and which communities would be most affected by the storm, in order to help prepare recovery efforts ahead of time.

9. Australia’s Lake Eyre Basin

The Lake Eyre Basin covers one-sixth of Australia and is one of the world’s largest internally draining river systems. However, the rivers supported by this system are ephemeral, meaning that they only run for short periods of time following unpredictable rain — the rest of the time, the Basin is a dry, arid desert.

However, when the heavy rain comes, the basin erupts in an explosion of green. In this false-color image captured by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 on Apr. 25, 2018, you can see how the vegetation completely envelops the spaces where the water has receded. (Flood water is indicated by light blue, and vegetation is indicated by light green.)

Satellites are an excellent tool for tracking greening events that are followed by flooding. These events offer opportunities for predictive tools as well as recreation.

8. Alaska’s Chukchi Sea 

A Monet painting comes to life as the Chukchi Sea swirls with microscopic marine algae.

This image was captured off the Alaskan coast by OLI on Landsat 8 on Jun. 18, 2018. After the Arctic sea ice breaks up each spring, the nutrient-rich Bering Sea water mixes with the nutrient-poor Alaskan coastal water. Each type of water brings with it a different type of phytoplankton and the surface waters have just enough light for the algae to populate and flourish. The result is these mesmerizing patterns of turquoise and green.

This image represents one piece of much larger, incredibly complex ecosystem. While one would not normally associate the breaking up of sea ice with phytoplankton blooms, it is an intricate process of the phytoplankton life cycle. The size of the blooms have varied greatly from year to year, and experts are unsure why. Images like these can help scientists track the development of these blooms and link it to other environmental changes.

7. Hawaii’s Kilauea 

Sometimes fresh lava is best viewed in infrared.

This false-color image of Kilauea, captured by OLI on Landsat 8 on May 23, 2018, shows the infrared signal emitted by lava flowing toward the sea. The purple areas surrounding the glowing lava are clouds lit from below, indicating that this image was taken through a break in the clouds.

The Puʻu ʻŌʻō Kupaianaha eruption has been continuously spewing red-hot lava since 1983, making it the longest eruption at Kilauea in recorded history. However, new fissures opened up this year that forced many to evacuate the area. Hawaii’s largest lake evaporated in hours and hundreds of homes were destroyed in Vacationland and Kapoho. 

Imagery, seismometers and ground-based instruments were used to track the underground movement of magma. Infrared imagery can be incredibly helpful in disasters like this when you to view data that cannot be observed with the naked eye. 

6. California’s Woolsey Burn Scar

Nothing quite encapsulates the destruction of a wildfire like a photo from outer space.

This image of the Woolsey Fire aftermath in Southern California was captured on Nov. 18, 2018 by the Advanced Spaceborned Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on the Terra satellite. This false-color infrared image has been enhanced to clearly show the burned vegetation (indicated by brown) and the vegetation that survived unscathed (indicated by green).

The Woolsey Fire clearly left its mark, with almost 152 square miles (394 square km) and 88% of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area badly burned. Images like this one can assist fire managers in the area plan for recovery. 

5. Bangladesh’s Padma River

As the years go by, the Padma River grows and shrinks, twists and turns. It never has a fixed shape, and as a result, thousands of people must regularly adapt to the constant changes in the river’s 75-mile (130-km) shoreline.

This image captured on Jan. 20, 2018 by OLI on Landsat 8 depicts one of the major rivers of Bangladesh. For thirty years, scientists have been tracking the erosion of the river with satellite imagery. Combinations of shortwave infrared, near infrared, and visible light are used to detect differences year-to-year in width, depth, and shape of the river. Sometimes the river splits off, but then rejoins again later. These patterns are created by the river carrying and depositing sediment, shaping the curves of the path of water.

Monitoring the Padma River is going to become especially important as a new bridge development project advances in the Char Janajat area. Although the bridge will most certainly help shorten travel times for citizens, nobody is quite sure how the river erosion might affect the construction and vice versa. 

4. Alaska’s Yakutat Glacier 

It’s hard to believe that Harlequin Lake was once all dry land — but it only started to form once Yakutat Glacier started melting. The lake appeared at the beginning of the twentieth century, and has been growing rapidly ever since.

In this hauntingly beautiful image, captured on Sep. 21 2018 by OLI on Landsat 8, the effect of climate change is apparent — especially when compared to earlier images of the region.

Unless the climate warming starts to reverse very soon — which scientists consider very unlikely — Yakutat could be gone as soon as 2070.

3. South Africa’s Theewaterskloof

Cape Town is a seaside city planted on the tip of South Africa. It’s a city known for its beaches and biodiversity — it also almost became known as the first major city to officially run out of water.

This image of Cape Town’s largest reservoir — Theewaterskloof — was acquired on Jul. 9th, 2018 by OLI on Landsat 8. By the time this photo was taken, the city’s main reservoirs stood at 55%. This was a huge increase from where it stood just six months earlier: just 13%.

The severe water shortage in the region started in 2015, only to become more threatening after three successive and unusually dry years. The entire city was preparing for Day Zero — the day the tap water would be shut off.  

Despite forecasts that Day Zero would arrive in April, a combination of heavier rains and local conservation efforts restored the majority of the reservoir. 

2. Aerosol Earth

Aerosols are all around us. From the smoke from a fire, to the dust in the wind to the salt in sea spray — these solid particles and liquid droplets are always swirling in our atmosphere, oftentimes unseen.

The Goddard Earth Observing System Forward Processing (GEOS FP) model uses mathematical equations to model what is happening in our atmosphere. The inputs for its equations — temperature, moisture, wind, etc. — come from our satellites and ground sensors.

This visualization was compiled on Aug. 24, 2018 — obviously a busy day for aerosols in our atmosphere. Swirls of sea salt (indicated by blue) reveal typhoons Soulik and Cimaron heading straight towards South Korea and Japan. A haze of black carbon (indicated by red) suffuse from agricultural burning in Africa and large wildfires in North America. And clouds of dust (indicated by purple) float off the Sahara desert.

1. Camp Fire

With nearly a hundred fatalities, hundreds of thousands of acres burned and billions of dollars of damage, the world watched in horror as Camp Fire grew to become the most destructive California wildfire in recorded history.

This image was captured on Nov. 8, 2018 by OLI on Landsat 8 on the same day Camp Fire ignited. It consolidates both visible light and shortwave-infrared light in order to highlight the active fire. Strong winds and dry conditions literally fanned the flames and spread this wildfire like a rash. 

This image has not only become the iconic portrait for Camp Fire, it is also sobering representation of how quickly a fire can grow out of control in a short amount of time. Even from space, you can almost smell the massive plumes of smoke and feel the heat of the fires.

Whether you realize it or not, our Earth satellite missions are collecting data everyday in order to monitor environmental changes and prepare for natural disasters.  If your interest is piqued by this list, head over to the Earth Observatory. The Earth Observatory updates daily with fresh, new content — brought to you by none other than our eyes in the sky. 

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

NASA Science Show & Tell

This week, we’re at one of the biggest science conferences in the country, where our scientists are presenting new results from our missions and projects. It’s called the American Geophysical Union’s Fall Meeting.

Here are a few of the things we shared this week...

The Sun

A few months into its seven-year mission, Parker Solar Probe has already flown far closer to the Sun than any spacecraft has ever gone. The data from this visit to the Sun has just started to come back to Earth, and scientists are hard at work on their analysis.

Parker Solar Probe sent us this new view of the Sun’s outer atmosphere, the corona. The image was taken by the mission’s WISPR instrument on Nov. 8, 2018, and shows a coronal streamer seen over the east limb of the Sun. Coronal streamers are structures of solar material within the Sun's atmosphere, the corona, that usually overlie regions of increased solar activity. The fine structure of the streamer is very clear, with at least two rays visible. Parker Solar Probe was about 16.9 million miles from the Sun's surface when this image was taken. The bright object near the center of the image is Mercury, and the dark spots are a result of background correction.

Hurricane Maria

Using a satellite view of human lights, our scientists watched the lights go out in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. They could see the slow return of electricity to the island, and track how rural and mountainous regions took longer to regain power.

In the spring, a team of scientists flew a plane over Puerto Rico’s forests, using a laser instrument to measure how trees were damaged and how the overall structure of the forests had changed.

Earth’s Ice

Our scientists who study Antarctica saw some surprising changes to East Antarctica. Until now, most of the continent’s melting has been on the peninsula and West Antarctica, but our scientists have seen glaciers in East Antarctica lose lots of ice in the last few years.

Our ICESat-2 team showed some of their brand new data. From the changing height of Antarctic ice to lagoons off the coast of Mexico, the little satellite has spent its first few months measuring our planet in 3D. The laser pulses even see individual ocean waves, in this graph.

Scientists are using our satellite data to track Adélie penguin populations, by using an unusual proxy -- pictures of their poop! Penguins are too small to be seen by satellites, but they can see large amounts of their poop (which is pink!) and use that as a proxy for penguin populations.

Asteroid Bennu

Our OSIRIS-REx mission recently arrived at its destination, asteroid Bennu. On approach, data from the spacecraft’s spectrometers revealed chemical signatures of water trapped in clay minerals.  While Bennu itself is too small to have ever hosted liquid water, the finding indicates that liquid water was present at some time on Bennu’s parent body, a much larger asteroid.

We also released a new, detailed shape model of Bennu, which is very similar to our ground-based observations of Bennu’s shape. This is a boon to ground-based radar astronomy since this is our first validation of the accuracy of the method for an asteroid! One change from the original shape model is the size of the large boulder near Bennu’s south pole, nicknamed “Benben.” The boulder is much bigger than we thought and overall, the quantity of boulders on the surface is higher than expected. Now the team will make further observations at closer ranges to more accurately assess where a sample can be taken on Bennu to later be returned to Earth.

Jupiter

The Juno mission celebrated it’s 16th science pass of #Jupiter, marking the halfway point in data collection of the prime mission. Over the second half of the prime mission — science flybys 17 through 32 — the spacecraft will split the difference, flying exactly halfway between each previous orbit. This will provide coverage of the planet every 11.25 degrees of longitude, providing a more detailed picture of what makes the whole of Jupiter tick.

Mars

The Mars 2020 team had a workshop to discuss the newly announced landing site for our next rover on the Red Planet. The landing site...Jezero Crater! The goal of Mars 2020 is to learn whether life ever existed on Mars. It's too cold and dry for life to exist on the Martian surface today. But after Jezero Crater formed billions of years ago, water filled it to form a deep lake about the same size as Lake Tahoe. Eventually, as Mars' climate changed, Lake Jezero dried up. And surface water disappeared from the planet.

Interstellar Space

Humanity now has two interstellar ambassadors. On Nov. 5, 2018, our Voyager 2 spacecraft left the heliosphere — the bubble of the Sun’s magnetic influence formed by the solar wind. It’s only the second-ever human-made object to enter interstellar space, following its twin, Voyager 1, that left the heliosphere in 2012.

Scientists are especially excited to keep receiving data from Voyager 2, because — unlike Voyager 1 — its plasma science instrument is still working. That means we’ll learn brand-new information about what fills the space between the stars.

Learn more about NASA Science at science.nasa.gov. 

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The Darkness that Followed Hurricane Michael

Earlier this month, the southeastern United States was struck by Hurricane Michael. After the category 4 storm made landfall on Oct. 10, 2018, Hurricane Michael proceeded to knock out power for at least 2.5 million customers across Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. 

In this data visualization, you can clearly see where the lights were taken out in Panama City, Florida. A team of our scientists from Goddard Space Flight Center processed and corrected the raw data to filter out stray light from the Moon, fires, airglow, and any other sources that are not electric lights. They also removed atmosphere interference from dust, haze, and clouds. 

In the visualization above, you can see a natural view of the night lights—and a step of the filtering process in an effort to clean up some of the cloud cover. The line through the middle is the path Hurricane Michael took. 

Although the damage was severe, tens of thousands of electric power industry workers from all over the country—and even Canada—worked together to restore power to the affected areas. Most of the power was restored by Oct. 15, but some people still need to wait a little longer for the power grids to be rebuilt. Read more here. 

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Keeping an Eye on Hurricane Florence

What do hurricanes look like from space? It depends on how you look! We have satellites, cameras and instruments all working together to give us the big picture of storms like Florence.

As the International Space Station passed over Hurricane Florence, astronauts and cameras on board got a look down into the hurricane’s eye.

Our Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission sees storms all around the planet by measuring rainfall. These measurements come from a constellation of satellites working together, including some from our partner organizations like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

On Sept. 7, our GPM core observatory satellite flew over Florence, capturing a 3D image as the storm’s clouds started to break apart before reforming.

Other NOAA satellites, like GOES, gather high-resolution, detailed views of hurricanes, letting us peek into the eye of the storm.

Zooming out a bit, the Suomi-NPP satellite helps us track Hurricane Florence, and the following tropical storms, as they move closer to landfall or dissipate over the ocean.

From farther away (a million miles from Earth!), the EPIC instrument on NOAA’s DSCOVR satellite captured images of all three of these storms as they moved closer to North America.

We use our space-based and airborne instruments to provide innovative data on hurricanes to advance scientists’ understanding of these storms. You can follow our latest views of Hurricane Florence here and get the latest forecast from NOAA’s National Hurricane Center here.

5 Things: How Hurricanes Have Changed Puerto Rico’s Forests

In September 2017, Hurricanes Irma and Maria hit Puerto Rico, knocking out critical infrastructure and ransacking the island’s forests. In April and May 2018, a team of our scientists took to the air to take three-dimensional images of Puerto Rico’s forests using Goddard’s Lidar, Hyperspectral, and Thermal Imager (G-LIHT), which uses light in the form of a pulsed laser. By comparing images of the same forests taken by the team before and after the storm, scientists will be able to use those data to study how hurricanes change these important ecosystems.

Here are five ways scientists say the hurricanes have changed Puerto Rico’s forests since making landfall eight months ago:

1. The Canopy Is Bare

One word defines the post-hurricane forest canopy in El Yunque National Forest: Open.

“The trees have been stripped clean,” said NASA Goddard Earth scientist and G-LiHT co-investigator Doug Morton. He was there a year ago, months before the hurricanes would ravage the area. When he returned to the forest in April 2018 to gather measurements of trees on the ground to complement the airborne campaign’s lidar work, he could now see from the mountainside downtown San Juan, which is 45-minutes away by car.

And no canopy means no shade. “Where once maybe a few flecks of sunlight reached the forest floor, now the ground is saturated in light,” Morton said, adding that such a change could have profound consequences for the overall forest ecosystem. For example, some tree seedlings that thrive on a cool forest floor may whither now that daytime temperatures are as much as 4 degrees Celsius (7 degrees Fahrenheit) hotter than they were before the hurricane. Meanwhile, as we shall see, other plants and animals stand to benefit from such changes.

“Who are the winners and losers in this post-hurricane forest ecosystem, and how will that play out in the long run? Those are two of the key questions,” said Morton.

2. Palms Are on the Rise

One species that’s basking in all that sunlight is the Sierra Palm, said Maria Uriarte, a professor of ecology at Columbia University who has researched El Yunque National Forest for 15 years. “Before, the palms were squeezed in with the other trees in the canopy and fighting for sunlight, and now they’re up there mostly by themselves,” she said. “They’re fruiting like crazy right now.”

The secret to their survival: Biomechanics.

“The palm generally doesn’t break because it’s got a flexible stem—it’s got so much play,” Uriarte said. “For the most part, during a storm it sways back and forth and loses its fronds and has a bad hair day and then it’s back to normal.” By contrast, neighboring trees with very dense, strong wood, like the Tabonuco, were snapped in half or completely uprooted by the force of the hurricane winds.

“Palm trees are going to be a major component of the canopy of this forest for the next decade or so,” added Doug Morton. “They’ll help to facilitate recovery by providing some shade and protection as well as structure for both flora and fauna.”

3. Vines Are Creeping Opportunists

Rising noticeably from the post-Hurricane forest floor of El Yunque National Forest are woody vines called lianas. Rooted in the ground, their goal, Morton says, is to climb onto host trees and compete for sunlight at the top. That, combined with the fact that their weight tends to slow tree productivity potential, means they are literally a drag on the forest canopy. As lianas can wind their way around several trees, regions with more of these vines tend to have larger groupings of trees that get pulled down together.

“There’s some indication that vines may be more competitive in a warmer, drier, and more carbon dioxide-rich world,” Morton said. “That’s a hypothesis we’re interested in exploring.”

4. Endangered Parrot Populations Have Taken a Hit

The endangered Iguaca is the last living native parrot species of Puerto Rico. The island’s two Iguaca aviaries have reported a substantial number of deaths in the wild due to the hurricanes. In the forests of Río Abajo, in western central Puerto Rico, about 100 of the roughly 140 wild parrots survived; in El Yunque National Forest in the eastern part of the island, only three of the 53 to 56 wild parrots are known to have pulled through.

“It was a huge blow,” said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Tom White, a parrot biologist stationed at the aviary in El Yunque, which took the brunt of Hurricane Maria’s Category 5 winds. Some of the parrots died from injuries received during the storm, while others likely died from increased predation from hawks because there were no longer canopies for them to hide in. The rest succumbed to starvation. The Iguaca subsists on flowers, fruits, seeds, and leaves derived from more than 60 species—but for several months following the storm, the forest was completely defoliated.

Despite the setback, White said he’s optimistic that the Iguaca will rebound. In Río Abajo, the number of wild Iguaca are enough that they should rebound on their own; in El Yunque there are about 227 birds at the aviary—a strong number for continued breeding and eventual release into the forest once conditions improve enough. “One of their main fruit comes from the sierra palm, and they’re now flowering and starting to produce again,” White noted. “It’s probably going to take about another year for things to level out, but the forest is gritty.”

5. Lizards and Frogs: A Mixed Response

When Hurricane Maria stripped the leaves off of trees, changes in the forest microclimate instantly transformed the living conditions for lizards and frogs. Species have reacted differently to the event based on the conditions they are adapted to, said herpetologist Neftali Ríos-López, an associate professor at the University of Puerto Rico-Humacao Campus.

For example, some lizard species are naturally suited to the forest canopy, which is warmer and drier. “After the hurricane, those conditions, which were once exclusive to the canopy, have now been extended down to the forest floor,” Ríos-Lopez said. “As a result, these lizards start displacing and substituting animals that were adapted to the once cooler conditions on the forest floor.”

Likewise, among frog species the red-eyed coquí, with its resistance to temperature and humidity fluctuations and its ability to handle dehydration better than other coquí species, has benefited from the warmer, drier conditions in the forests after the storm. Traditionally a grassland species, they are expanding from the lowlands to the mid- and even high parts of the mountains, Ríos-Lopez said. “Physiologically, what was a disadvantage for that species when the whole island was forested now finds itself in a positive position.” Conversely, forest-acclimated coquí frog species have declined.

That said, as the forests recover, so will many of the species whose numbers have dwindled following the storms. “It will take many years, decades, I would guess,” Ríos-Lopez said.

Our scientists are working with partners from universities and government to use G-LiHT airborne data to inform ground research on forest and other ecosystems not only in Puerto Rico but also throughout the world. To follow their campaigns and keep up with the latest news, find them here: https://gliht.gsfc.nasa.gov.

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We're using our unique vantage point in space to provide observations and data of Hurricane Irma and other tropical storms. Hurricanes Irma and Jose are seen here in a 12-hour long infrared loop. Scientists monitor storms in infrared to closely monitor clouds and storm intensity. We continue to provide satellite imagery for these storms, tracking its trajectory, force and precipitation to inform forecasters at the National Hurricane Center.

As these storms continue their westward drive in the coming days, they will be passing over waters that are warmer than 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit)—hot enough to sustain a category 5 storm. Warm oceans, along with low wind shear, are two key ingredients that fuel and sustain hurricanes. Get the latest imagery and data from us at www.nasa.gov/hurricane For information on making preparations for Hurricanes, visit the FEMA website at: ready.gov/hurricanes. Credit: NASA-SPoRT/NOAA 

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How Do Hurricanes Form?

Hurricanes are the most violent storms on Earth. People call these storms by other names, such as typhoons or cyclones, depending on where they occur.

The scientific term for ALL of these storms is tropical cyclone. Only tropical cyclones that form over the Atlantic Ocean or eastern and central Pacific Ocean are called “hurricanes.”

Whatever they are called, tropical cyclones all form the same way.

Tropical cyclones are like giant engines that use warm, moist air as fuel. That is why they form only over warm ocean waters near the equator. This warm, moist air rises and condenses to form clouds and storms.

As this warmer, moister air rises, there's less air left near the Earth's surface. Essentially, as this warm air rises, this causes an area of lower air pressure below.

This starts the 'engine' of the storm. To fill in the low pressure area, air from surrounding areas with higher air pressure pushes in. That “new” air near the Earth's surface also gets heated by the warm ocean water so it also gets warmer and moister and then it rises.

As the warm air continues to rise, the surrounding air swirls in to take its place. The whole system of clouds and wind spins and grows, fed by the ocean’s heat and water evaporating from the surface.

As the storm system rotates faster and faster, an eye forms in the center. It is vey calm and clear in the eye, with very low air pressure.

Tropical cyclones usually weaken when they hit land, because they are no longer being “fed” by the energy from the warm ocean waters. However, when they move inland, they can drop many inches of rain causing flooding as well as wind damage before they die out completely. 

There are five types, or categories, of hurricanes. The scale of categories is called the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale and they are based on wind speed.

How Does NASA Study Hurricanes?

Our satellites gather information from space that are made into pictures. Some satellite instruments measure cloud and ocean temperatures. Others measure the height of clouds and how fast rain is falling. Still others measure the speed and direction of winds.

We also fly airplanes into and above hurricanes. The instruments aboard planes gather details about the storm. Some parts are too dangerous for people to fly into. To study these parts, we use airplanes that operate without people. 

Learn more about this and other questions by exploring NASA Space Place and the NASA/NOAA SciJinks that offer explanations of science topics for school kids.

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Credits: NASA Space Place & NASA/NOAA SciJinks

All Eyes on Harvey

Our Earth-observing satellites, along with the cameras and crew of the International Space Station, are keeping a watchful eye over Hurricane Harvey as it churns in the Gulf of Mexico. When Hurricane Harvey blows ashore over coastal Texas on Friday night, it will likely be the first major hurricane to make landfall in the United States since 2005.

Above is a view of Harvey from NOAA's GOES-East satellite captured on Aug. 25 at 10:07 a.m. EDT (1407 UTC) clearly showing the storm’s eye as Harvey nears landfall in the southeastern coast of Texas. As Hurricane Harvey continued to strengthen, we analyzed the storm’s rainfall, cloud heights and cloud top temperatures. 

Above, the Global Precipitation Mission (GPM) core observatory satellite flew almost directly above intensifying Hurricane Harvey on August 24, 2017 at 6:30 p.m. EDT (2230 UTC) and we used the Microwave Imager instrument to peer through dense storm clouds to reveal the location of intense rainfall bands near the center of the hurricane. 

And from the International Space Station, cameras were pointed towards Harvey as the orbiting laboratory passed overhead 250 miles above the Earth. The video above includes views from the space station recorded on August 24, 2017 at 6:15 p.m. Eastern Time.

The National Hurricane Center expects Harvey to be a category 3 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale—with winds higher than 111 miles (179 kilometers) per hour—when it makes landfall. It will likely produce a storm surge of 6 to 12 feet (2 to 4 meters) and drop between 15 and 25 inches (38 and 63 centimeters) of rain in some areas—enough to produce life-threatening flash floods.

For updated forecasts, visit the National Hurricane Center.  Ensure you are prepared for Hurricanes. Get tips and more at  FEMA’s Ready site. Get the latest updates from NASA satellites by visiting our Hurricane site.

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Studying Storms from Air and Space

Technology we’ve developed is helping study the movement of storms.  

From satellites that can slice through a hurricane with 3-D vision to computer models of gale force winds, scientists now have unprecedented ways of viewing extreme weather.

This August, we’re sending an unmanned aircraft called a Global Hawk to study hurricanes. This mission is called the “East Pacific Origins and Characteristics of Hurricanes,” or EPOCH. It will fly over developing tropical storms to investigate how they progress and intensify. 

The three instruments aboard this Global Hawk aircraft will map out 3-D patterns of temperature, pressure, humidity, precipitation and wind speed as well as the role of the East Pacific Ocean in global cyclone formation. These measurements will help scientists better understand the processes that control storm intensity and the role of the East Pacific Ocean in global cyclone formation.

To better understand hurricane formation and intensity, scientists also utilize models and other observations.

Satellites such as our Global Precipitation Measurement Mission, or GPM, and computer models can analyze key stages of storm intensification.  

In September 2016, GPM captured Hurricane Matthew’s development from a Category 1 to Category 5 hurricane in less than 24 hours.  

Extreme rainfall was seen in several stages of the storm, causing significant flooding and landslides when it passed by Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

By combining model and observed data, scientists can analyze storms like never before. They can also better understand how hurricanes and other powerful storms can potentially impact society.

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Soaring through the skies! This view looks from the window of our F-18 support aircraft during a 2016 Orbital ATK air-launch of its Pegasus rocket. 

The CYGNSS mission, led by the University of Michigan, will use eight micro-satellite observatories to measure wind speeds over Earth’s oceans, increasing the ability of scientists to understand and predict hurricanes. 

CYGNSS launched at 8:37 a.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2016 from our Kennedy Space Center in Florida. CYGNSS launched aboard an Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket, deployed from Orbital’s “Stargazer” L-1011 carrier aircraft.

Pegasus is a winged, three-stage solid propellant rocket that can launch a satellite into low Earth orbit. How does it work? Great question!

After takeoff, the aircraft (which looks like a commercial airplane..but with some special quirks) flies to about 39,000 feet over the ocean and releases the rocket. 

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GOES-R: The Future of Forecasting

What is GOES-R?

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R Series (GOES-R) is the nation’s next generation of geostationary weather satellites. It is the first of four satellites to be launched for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The GOES-R satellite will provide advanced imaging with increased spatial resolution and faster coverage for more accurate forecasts, real-time mapping of lightning activity and improved monitoring of solar activity. For the first time, GOES-R will be able to monitor the Earth in near real-time.

Once in geostationary orbit (the orbit around the Earth’s equator), it will provide images of weather patterns and severe storms across the continental U.S. as regularly as every five minutes. Images of smaller, more detailed areas, where storm activity is present, will be taken as frequently as every 30 seconds.

These images can be used to aid in formulating regular forecasts, term forecasting, such as seasonal predictions and drought outlooks.

In addition, the satellite will constantly monitor space weather conditions, such as solar flares, to provide advance notice of potential communication and navigation disruptions.

The satellite will also assist researchers in understanding the interactions between land, oceans, the atmosphere and climate.

What will GOES-R Do?

Improve hurricane tracking and intensity forecasts

Increase thunderstorm and tornado warning lead time

Give earlier warning of ground lightning strike hazards

Improve detection of heavy rainfall and flash flooding risks

Improve air quality warnings and alerts

Give better fire detection and intensity estimation

Improve solar flare warnings for communications and navigation disruptions

Give more accurate monitoring of energetic particles responsible for radiation hazards to humans and spacecraft

Improve monitoring of space weather to get better geomagnetic storm forecasting.

The better we can predict what’s coming, the better we can prepare.

Launch Activities!

The GOES-R satellite is targeted for a launch on Saturday, Nov. 19, aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. 

The one-hour launch window opens at 5:42 p.m. EST. Liftoff will occur from our Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Join us leading up to launch by tuning in during the following times:

Thursday, Nov. 17 Prelaunch News Conference - 1 p.m. EST Watch HERE

GOES-R Mission Briefing - 2 p.m. EST Watch HERE

Friday, Nov. 18 GOES-R Social Presentations – 1:30 p.m. EST Watch HERE

Saturday, Nov. 19 NASA Edge Prelaunch Program – 3:45 p.m. EST Watch HERE

Launch Coverage & Commentary – 4:45 p.m. EST Watch HERE

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NASA Does Hurricanes

When you think of NASA, you probably think of space. Which makes sense, because space is a huge part of what we do. That being said, here at NASA we are also involved in many other research areas, and even play a role in hurricane weather forecasting.

Our satellites, computer modeling, instruments, aircraft and field missions all contribute to a mix of information used by scientists to get a better understanding of these storms. Aspects of storms from rainfall rates to surface wind speed are all analyzed to help identify the potential for storm formation or intensification.

Currently, our satellites are passing overhead as Hurricane Joaquin (above) travels through the Atlantic Ocean. Our Global Precipitation Measurement, or GPM Core satellite captured images and rainfall rates of the storm. GPM showed a large area of very intense rain, which indicates that large amounts of heat are being released into the storm’s center. This fuels the circulation and provides the means for its intensification.

Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 80 mph and additional strengthening is expected. Joaquin could become a major hurricane during the next few days.

In 2016, we’re launching the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS), which is a constellation of eight small satellites. With this launch, we will be able to better understand the rapid intensification of hurricanes, and improve hurricane intensity forecasts.

In addition to our satellite technology, we also conduct field missions to study hurricanes. In our most recent field mission, we investigated the process that underlie hurricane formation and intensity change in the Atlantic Ocean basin.

THE WATER IS RISING 

The winds are picking up and people picking their things.... Here we go again but those who stay are not ready to go wherever her winds blow them I know you cant say nobody told them but you can say nobody showed them the way

It figures.... the rich in this city don’t give a damn about thousands of poor niggas

The winds are picking up but for most there's nowhere to go just get on their knees and hope they don't wind up wherever the winds blow

Left deserted without help with the only comforting words of "you have been warned" but the poor in this city are strong we should make it out of whoever decides to weather the storm

we should be safe now we can see the sky now we can go outside now that the winds have died down... but the waters are rising

and the streets begin to overflow those who find a way out still have nowhere to go

There is a thin line between determination and desperation in times of despair it’s almost as if the waters are purging us but who is to decide whose soul will be spared?

I SHOULD BE THE ONE TO SAVE MY PEOPLE I SHOULD HAVE PLAYED MY PART! I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE LISTENED WHEN GOD TOLD ME TO BUILD THAT ARC but i didn't now i know for certain its hopeless I watch my people flee in a mass exodus with no sign of Moses WHO WILL SPLIT THE SEA? WHO WILL DECIDE WHO WILL BE CHOSEN? don't leave it up to me my words are mere echoes LET MY PEOPLE GO! but nobody is listening

It figures the rich in this city don't give a dam ABOUT THOUSANDS OF SCREAMING NIGGAS

THE WATERS ARE RISING and so are the number of victims we cant call on God because he is the one who did this along with tampered-with levee systems GRANDMA SAY GOT DON’T GIVE YOU MORE THAN YOU CAN TAKE AND DADDY SAY GOD DON’T MAKE NO MISTAKES but i know government officials do and i know what happens when THOUSANDS OF SCREAMING NIGGAS ARENT LISTENED TO

What a sight for sore eyes to witness such a painful changing of the seasons the magic curtain has been pulled away now that the waters are receding

and the crowd gasps as they watch the stranded struggle for purpose how government officials really feel about the black social class has finally surfaced

It figures the rich in this city don't give a damn about thousands of dead niggas

Refugees in the same country we pay taxes to live in

THE WATERS ARE RECEDING the cleansing is fleeting the christening is one genuflection away from being completed.

Do you smell that? smells like thousands of dead niggas a city flooded by the same rivers that were used to carry slave ships and forced to swallow dead niggas

You should have know that overboard thrown slaves would not be digested well now the old man river has taken his revenge and he’s making sure you hear the story he has to tell

The slaves kept turning and turning under the sea due to their restless souls until they picked up enough winds to blow them back on the ones who stole them is how the story was told

The winds that blew off the coast of Africa across the Atlantic followed that same middle passage to remind these southern states of their damage

They blew apart those same ports that were used to auction off families on and blew down those same trees that were used to hang niggas on

And as the waters recede back into the river we see government officials still don't give a damn about thousands of dead niggas.

Hurricane on Saturn's North Pole.

Space Scene

NASA probe spies giant hurricane on Saturn

The Great Red Spot on Jupiter gets smaller by 580 miles per year

To those who decided to stick it out

To those who have decided to stick out through Irma down here, good luck. Remember to stay safe and to stay smart. We don't need to loose anymore people to this storm.