Hurricanes and weather as 4D battles

[Ca.]

Palinurus, are you coming across any reports of chemical spraying on Sint Maarten? The U.S. Air Force is spraying Eastern Texas for " Mosquitoes'?

Moreover, when I read about this spraying a couple of days ago it was also mentioned that the chemicals used in the USA are not allowed within the EU.

BUG WARS
Swarmed with mosquitoes after Harvey, Texas calls in the US Air Force
September 13, 2017
https://qz.com/1075935/swarmed-with-mosquitoes-after-harvey-texas-calls-in-the-us-air-force/
Snip:

The Air Force is using naled, which is in the organophosphate category of insecticides, and though widely used in the US, is banned in the EU. The EU decided to ban naled {1} in 2012 out of concern for human health. “The scenarios evaluated in the human health risk assessment as well as in the environmental risk assessment showed a potential and unacceptable risk,” the European Commission wrote in its decision {2}.

American health officials disagree. Both the Centers for Disease Control and the US Environmental Protection Agency stand behind naled, saying the small amount of the insecticide sprayed from planes doesn’t expose people enough to pose a health concern.

Low Level C-130 Spraying Mosquitoes (2013)

http://<iframe width="560" height="...=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

{1}
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2012:126:0012:0012:EN:PDF

{2}
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2012:126:0012:0012:EN:PDF

Added: Mar 18, 2014
Aerial Spray Training
_https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yihne_SnFEM

 

[Palinurus]

Thank you c.a. for providing these specifics.

Latest news updates from the Netherlands:

https://nltimes.nl/2017/09/15/national-fundraising-action-sint-maarten-kicks
https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2017/09/red-cross-appeal-kicks-off-with-national-day-for-sint-maarten/

https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2017/09/tv-campaign-raises-e13-3m-for-sint-maarten-relief-fund/

 

[Palinurus]

Latest Dutch news update:

https://nltimes.nl/2017/09/18/dutch-soldiers-nothing-post-hurricane-looting-sint-maarten-pm
https://nltimes.nl/2017/09/18/criticism-dutch-soldiers-sint-maarten-complete-nonsense-dutch-commander-minister

https://nltimes.nl/2017/09/18/hurricane-maria-pass-dutch-islands-strong-winds-rain-still-expected

 

[angelburst29]

Russia's far East has a Typhoon warning ...

According to Russia's emergency services, Primorsky Territory in the Russian Far East will experience heavy rainfall and high winds as typhoon Talim reaches the country's Pacific coast.

Typhoon Talim to Descend on Russia's Primorsky Territory Monday
https://sputniknews.com/russia/201709171057460683-typhoon-russia-primorsky-territory/

Russia's Primorsky Territory in the country's Far East will experience heavy rainfall and high winds as typhoon Talim makes its way to the Russian coast, heading from Japan, a local office of the Ministry of Emergencies warned Sunday.

"The east of Primorsky territory.. will experience rains, heavy in some areas… during the daytime on September 18 and the night of September 19, due to typhoon Talim. The wind on the eastern coast will speed up to 17-22 meters per second (38-49 mph)," the Ministry said.

Waves ravaging the coasts of the Kuril Islands may be as high as 9 meters (29.5 feet) on Monday afternoon, while Sakhalin Island may see 13-16 foot waves from Monday afternoon through Tuesday midday.

According to the Emergencies Ministry, facilities located on the shore risk mild flooding and some damage. Local residents and visitors are advised against approaching the sea.

 

[Palinurus]

Archiving latest SOTT entry (Jim Wyss, Miami Herald):

https://www.sott.net/article/362264-Irma-aftermath-St-Martin-residents-are-now-struggling-just-to-survive

<snip>
On Friday night, Yvanna and Theodore DeWeever - a young married couple - had collapsed onto the deck chairs of Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas that has been running missions of mercy, helping evacuate people from hard-hit Caribbean islands to Puerto Rico.

The couple, both natives of the Dutch side of the island, St. Maarten, said the chaos after the storm was almost as terrifying as the hurricane itself. The hotel where they took shelter was overrun by thieves who tried to break open doors with bricks. People were held up at gunpoint in the lobby, they said.

But what led them to leave the island is the hope that they might be more useful abroad. They're both teachers on an island that no longer has schools. They're hoping to make their way to Toronto and find jobs that will support those staying behind.

"We miss our families, and we've been crying," Theodore said, as the ship's speakers pumped out soft-rock music. "If some of us don't get out, to help from outside, how are we ever going to rebuild?"

In the initial days after the storm, it was unclear if rebuilding was even an option. There were reports and rumors that the desalinization plant and water-storage tanks - keys to life on the island - had been obliterated.

But locals said the plant is working and some tanks remained undamaged. Municipal water, and even some power, has been restored in a few neighborhoods. An influx of Royal Netherlands Marines - distributing drinking water and emergency food rations - has also helped restore order to the island.

But St. Martin's economic lifeblood, tourism, doesn't seem like it will be pumping anytime soon. Streets remain choked with garbage, and hotels and rental properties have been cracked open like dollhouses with their facades removed. At the badly damaged Sonesta Hotel, in St. Maarten, the management was giving away all the furniture - and it was unclear if and when it would be replaced. A parking lot full of dozens of rental cars had been reduced to orderly rows of burned-out hulks.

continued...

 

[Windmill knight]

Hurricane Maria hits Dominica as category five storm, following the path of Irma.

https://www.sott.net/article/362304-Hurricane-Maria-hits-Dominica-as-category-five-storm

Hurricane Maria, strengthened to a "potentially catastrophic" category five storm, has torn into the Caribbean island of Dominica with sustained winds of 260km/h (160mph).

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit posted on Facebook that his roof had been torn off and he was "at the complete mercy of the hurricane".

He said his house had flooded, later adding that he had been rescued.

Dominica's airport and ports have been closed.

Maria is moving roughly along the same track as Irma, the hurricane that devastated the region this month.

The nearby island of Martinique has declared a maximum-level alert while another French island, Guadeloupe, ordered evacuations.

Hurricane warnings are also in place for:

Puerto Rico: The US territory expects Maria to make landfall as a category three on Tuesday. It escaped the worst of Irma and has been an important hub for getting relief to islands more badly affected. Governor Ricardo Rossello urged islanders to seek refuge
US Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands: Both island chains suffered severe damage from Irma and President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency for the US territories on Monday. British authorities fear debris left behind by Irma could be whipped up by the new storm and pose an extra threat.

Warnings are also in effect for St Kitts and Nevis, Montserrat and St Lucia while hurricane watches are in place for St Martin, Saba, St Eustatius and Anguilla.

Some of these islands are still recovering after being hit by Hurricane Irma - another category five hurricane which left at least 37 people dead and caused billions of dollars' worth of damage.

The islands bearing the brunt of Maria are part of the Leeward Islands chain and include Antigua and Barbuda. The latter was evacuated after being devastated by Irma.

The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) increased the strength of Maria in just a few hours on Monday from a category two storm, to a category four and then to category five - the highest level.

Forecasters warned that heavy rainfall caused by the hurricane "could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides".

Dominica is a former British colony with a population of 72,000 about half way between Guadeloupe and Martinique. The eye of the hurricane made landfall there at 21:00 local time (01:00 GMT Tuesday), the NHC reported.

All ports and airports are closed and residents near the coast have been ordered to go to authorised shelters.

Curtis Matthew, a journalist based in the capital, Roseau, told the BBC that conditions went "very bad, rapidly".

"We are not able to even see properly what is happening on the road. The winds are very, very strong, we can hear the noise on the outside. We still don't know what the impact is going to be when this is all over. But what I can say it does not look good for Dominica as we speak," he said.

Martinique raised its alert status to "violet", the highest level, and ordered its population to seek shelter.

In Guadeloupe, schools, businesses and government buildings have all been closed and severe flooding is predicted. The French government has ordered low-lying areas on the islands to be evacuated, AFP reports.

The British government said more than 1,300 troops were staying put in the region and an additional military team had been deployed to the British Virgin Islands where entire neighbourhoods were flattened by Irma.

Virgin boss Richard Branson, who has a home in the Virgin Islands, has been tweeting ahead of the Maria's predicted arrival, warning people to stay safe.

Irma also hit the US, where several dozen deaths were linked to the hurricane. Nearly 6.9 million homes were left without power in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama.

A second hurricane, Jose, is also active in the Atlantic, with maximum sustained winds of 90mph.

The centre of Jose was about 265 miles east-south-east of Cape Hatteras in North Carolina, the NHC said in its advisory at 18:00 GMT on Monday.

 

[Palinurus]

http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2017/09/dutch-foreign-minister-asks-for-un-help-in-sint-maarten-relief-effort/

Dutch foreign minister asks for UN help in Sint Maarten relief effort

September 19, 2017

Foreign minister Bert Koenders has asked the United Nations to help with the relief effort on hurricane-hit Caribbean island Sint Maarten.

Speaking at the UN meeting in New York, Koenders said that the hurricane had caused enormous damage on the island. ‘Repairing the damage will be a massive task,’ he said. ‘I therefore call on the UN to be generous in making financial resources and expertise available to help with the rebuilding of Sint Maarten.’

Koenders also met foreign ministers from Britain and France and has had talks with several individual UN agencies. He urged the UN to act ‘quickly and flexibly’. ‘At times like these there is no time for bureaucracy,’ the minister said.

Agencies

Several UN agencies are already active in the region and €12m has been allocated for the relief effort by the UN development program and humanitarian aid agency, the foreign ministry said (in Dutch).

Koenders has also called on the UN to establish the position of special representative for climate and safety to focus on the problems being brought about by climate change.

The minister said small Caribbean countries will be increasingly vulnerable to powerful hurricanes and that a special representative would be able to help them prepare.

Fund

According to Trouw, the Netherlands is creating a multi-million euro fund to finance the reconstruction of the island. The fund will provide loans under very strict conditions to ensure maximum monitoring.

Sources in The Hague and on Sint Maarten told the paper that the fund may be as high as €260m but that the final amount will be decided in the coming weeks.

The fund will not be controlled by the island’s autonomous government but by a newly created body under the authority of the Netherlands.

 

[Ca.]

NWS San Juan, Puerto Rico Interview
Published on Sep 19, 2017
(09/19/2017) – NWS San Juan gives the latest updates on Hurricane Maria

http://<iframe width="560" height="...=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Drone Footage of Sint Maarten Captures Destruction After Hurricane Irma
Published on Sep 18, 2017
_https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ejCRdF7oCs
(09/16/2017) – Drone footage posted over the weekend captures the extent of destruction wrought by Hurricane Irma on the Caribbean Island of Sint Maartin on September 6 2017

Hurricane Maria bears down on Puerto Rico
Published on Sep 19, 2017
_https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DfQGqZjArI
As Hurricane Maria moves through the Caribbean, the storm is leaving islands in its path devastated - and now, Maria is expected to slam Puerto Rico on Wednesday. David Begnaud is in San Juan, Puerto Rico with the latest on how residents are preparing.

9-20-2017 Hurricane Maria high winds cause power flashes throughout San Juan (1:14)

http://<iframe width="560" height="...=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

NOAA's GOES-16 Offers Close Look at Maria's Eye (0:14)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjcvbqXAGaw

NOAA's #GOES16 captured this 1-minute visible imagery of Hurricane #Maria's eye this afternoon, September 19, 2017.

 

[Palinurus]

Hurricane Maria brings only limited extra damages to Dutch Caribbean islands:

https://nltimes.nl/2017/09/20/hurricane-marias-damages-limited-dutch-islands

[...]
Maria moved passed Sint Maarten further south than Hurricane Irma did. Hurricane Maria caused some very high waves around the harbor, according to local residents. "We had some winds and rain too. But compared to Irma, this was a breeze", Gordon Snow, editor of newspaper The Daily Herlad, said to Curacao radio station Paradise FM. Damages on the island still need to be assessed, but so far they seem to be limited.

Saba and Sint Eustatius also seem to have been largely spared. Dave Levenstone from The Bottom on Saba says that the island was plagued by heavy rain and hard winds for hours, but the worst was over around 7:00 pm, local time, according to NU.nl.

 

[Palinurus]

Dutch news update: https://nltimes.nl/2017/09/21/25-sint-maarten-residents-seek-shelter-netherlands


Other news: Remarkable difference in luck (or protection from up on high) for two billionaires.

http://www.americanow.com/story/society/2017/09/14/trumps-st-martin-estate-survives-hurricane-destruction-photo

Trump's St. Martin Estate Survives Hurricane Destruction (Photo)

September 14, 2017 by Brendan Kelly

After Hurricane Irma ravaged the Caribbean island of St. Martin, local residents looked to a $17 million estate owned by President Donald Trump and were shocked by what they saw.

Trump's Chateau des Palmiers on Plum Bay beach in St. Martin managed to survive the devastation of Hurricane Irma without so much as a single roof tile damaged.

Jack Fleishman, who lives in California and co-owns Villa Mille Fleurs next to Trump's St. Martin estate, snapped a photo of the president's property following the hurricane. He was shocked to see the lack of damage in contrast to rest of the island, including his own property.

According to USA Today, roughly 95 percent of St. Martin was destroyed when Hurricane Irma passed through the island on Sept. 6. The massive storm took out million-dollar homes and hotels, as well as homes owned by those with lower incomes.

The hurricane reportedly was responsible for nine people dying on the island.

Fleishman said that it is still a mystery how Trump's estate managed to avoid any damage in the storm while nearby properties were completely destroyed.

Meanwhile, British billionaire Richard Branson shared photos of the destruction of his private island in the British Virgin Islands. He and his staff took shelter in a concrete wine cellar during the storm.

"We felt the full force of the strongest hurricane ever in the Atlantic Ocean," Branson wrote. "But we are very fortunate to have a strong clear built into Necker's Great House and were very lucky all of our teams who stayed on Island during the storm are safe and well."

Branson is currently raising money for disaster recovery efforts for the British Virgin Islands.

"Our thoughts are with all the people and regions hit by Hurricane Irma, and all those in the US communities currently facing the storm," Branson added, according to Mad World News. "What makes the Virgin Islands unique is its isolated location -- every island has been devastated, so there is no support to come from nearby. We must get more help to the islands to rebuild homes and infrastructure and restore power, clean water and food supplies."

Readers shared their thoughts on the story on the Mad World News Facebook page.

"This is the difference between a builder who will have a place designed and built to withstand the climate changes and not fly by night builders who care less about the homes being stable," one reader commented.

"Remember, President Trump was a builder," another user wrote. "He must've done right sparing no cost. And also believe God is guiding our President. And the millions of us praying for him. .has given him his strength and love and protection. Praising and Thanking God, but I believe he has good in store for all of us."

Sources: USA Today, Mad World News, Mad World News/Facebook / Featured Image: Pixabay / Embedded Images: Jack Fleishman via USA Today, Twitter via USA Today

 

[Yupo]

Good point about Trump being a builder. My grandfather was a builder and coastal building inspector in early 1970s (Onslow County, NC). They got rid of him pretty fast for his high structural standards. Cheap and easy is how most coastal homes are constructed. I'd feel safe in the house he build down there, having watched how it was constructed. In no other beach house would I try riding out a storm.

 

[Palinurus]

Latest Dutch updates:

https://nltimes.nl/2017/09/22/rebuilding-sint-maarten-will-cost-hundreds-millions-euros-minister

By Janene Pieters on September 22, 2017 - 09:18

Rebuilding Sint Maarten after the devastation Hurricane Irma left behind, will cost hundreds of millions of euros at least, Minister Ronald Plasterk of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations said in the Tweede Kamer on Thursday. From next week Friday, the Dutch government will work on starting an aid fund for the island, NU.nl reports.

Exactly how much money will go into that fund, and where that money will come from, is not clear yet. It will also not become clear in the coming weeks. The new government must look at that, Plasterk said. The Netherlands will work on this with the other countries in the Kingdom - Sint Maarten, Aruba and Curacao. Plasterk thinks it's good that "all countries in the Kingdom" are visibly involved in helping Sint Maarten.

Plasterk also said it is important to make very sure that the aid fund is properly organized, so that the fund has final responsibility for granting credits, making decisions and giving orders.

[...]

The municipality of Amsterdam announced that it is donating 850 thousand euros for reconstruction on Sint Maarten - the first municipality to give such a large amount, according to NU.nl. "We're giving about one euro per inhabitant", a spokesperson for the municipality said.

During a national fundraising day for the island last week, the municipality of Dronten also donated about a euro per inhabitant, amounting to 40 thousand euros, according to NOS' live blog of the event. The Wadden islands together donated 10 thousand euros.

https://nltimes.nl/2017/09/21/journalists-launch-fundraiser-help-colleagues-hurricane-irma-hit-islands

By Janene Pieters on September 21, 2017 - 16:50

The Association of Caribbean Mediaworkers (ACM) launched a wide effort to raise funds for their colleagues on the Caribbean islands that were hit by Hurricane Irma. Part of that effort is a crowdfunding campaign in the Netherlands, primarily focused on bringing aid and equipment to journalists on the Dutch island of Sint Maarten, which was hit hardest by the Category 5 hurricane on September 6th.

According to Wesley Gibbins, president of the ACM, the campaign "is the least we can do at a time like this to ensure there are functioning media operatives in the islands most affected by the hurricane", he said in a press release. As the fundraiser continues, assessments are underway on the affected islands, to see what equipment and other things are needed for journalists on the islands to do their jobs.

Marvin Hokstam, former journalist for Sint Maarten's The Daily Herald and currently running the AFRO Magazine in Amsterdam, is planning fundraising activities in the Netherlands and Europe for journalists on Sint Maarten, which forms part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. With YouToday, a foundation that focuses on diversity in Dutch media, he launched a crowdfunding campaign focused on raising at least 10 thousand euros for media workers in the Caribbean.

"There's fellow journalists I know back home in Sint Maarten who have lost everything during Irma. Their homes, cars, cameras and so on are gone, but these people are out there already bringing updates and news to their communities", Hokstam said. "They're doing what journalists do best in these situations, placing the story first. But of course, as we often also do, without thinking of themselves."

continued...

 

[Palinurus]

The world's second largest radio telescope in Aricebo on Puerto Rico has been badly damaged by hurricane Maria.

The telescope is widely known since it featured in at least two movies: Golden Eye (1995) and Contact (1997).

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/09/arecibo-hurricane-maria/540600/
https://www.space.com/38242-arecibo-observatory-hurricane-maria-damage.html

Initial Dutch source:
https://www.volkskrant.nl/wetenschap/wereldberoemde-telescoop-uit-james-bondfilm-fors-beschadigd-door-orkaan-maria~a4518145

 

[angelburst29]

WASHINGTON – The Defense Department has dispatched about 2,600 troops to aid Hurricane Maria victims in the U.S. Virgin Islands and in Puerto Rico, where access to power and communications remained severely limited five days after the Category 4 storm struck the U.S. territory.

Military conducting multiple operations to help Hurricane Maria-struck Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands September 25, 2017
https://www.stripes.com/news/military-conducting-multiple-operations-to-help-hurricane-maria-struck-puerto-rico-virgin-islands-1.489496#.WcrJ_f6WwdV

The military has focused primarily on conducting search and rescue operations, delivering life-sustaining supplies and providing generators and fuel to power critical infrastructure such as water treatment facilities and hospitals, Army Col. Rob Manning, a Pentagon spokesman, said Monday.

Military units were also conducting route and airfield clearance in Puerto Rico, Manning said. Marines and sailors from the USS Kearsarge, a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship now in the Caribbean Sea, were deployed Sunday on the island for the mission. Meanwhile, Puerto Rico National Guard members were conducting similar clearance operations while also helping evacuate victims and installing temporary communications infrastructure.

Helicopter-borne troops from the Kearsarge have conducted eight medical evacuation missions this week and delivered about 22,200 pounds of supplies and cargo to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, Manning said. The Kearsarge was initially deployed to respond to Hurricane Harvey when the storm struck the Texas coast in late August. The ship has since been used to respond to Hurricane Irma and Maria.

The Pentagon on Monday also deployed eight UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from Fort Campbell in Kentucky to San Juan to help officials in Puerto Rico distribute goods across the island, Manning said. Officials have estimated it will be months before power is restored to some parts of the island
that is home to 3.4 million people.

Army Corps of Engineers personnel on Monday were helping inspect the Guajataca Dam, a critical levee in Puerto Rico’s northwest corner that is in danger of breaking, Manning said. Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló on Friday ordered 70,000 inhabitants near the dam to evacuate.

The military has pledged to provide as much help as the federal government asks of it in response to Maria and the two earlier storms that ravaged parts of Texas, Louisiana, Florida and the Caribbean.

Thousands of U.S. troops remain committed to operations in Texas and Florida in response to Harvey and Irma, but the relief efforts have not stretched the Pentagon too thin, Manning said Monday.

“We have the capability to do exactly what we’re doing, and we’re going to do all we can for the people of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean in the wake of these disastrous storms,” he said. “This is a long-term effort. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, and [the Defense Department] will continue to support them as long as support is needed.”

 

[Ca.]

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