My younger brother and his family live in Del Mar, Florida, on the east coast. They have evacuated to Orlando. My older sister lives in the Florida Panhandle. She and her husband are sitting tight.
So first, Hurricane Harvey blasts my hometown Houston. Thankfully, my family was safe.
Now Irma, targeting all of Florida. I offer prayers and best wishes for everyone in the path of Irma.
This is a time when we are grateful that the government exists to coordinate emergency services and disaster relief.
Without descending into the political pit, it is worth noting that Trump proposed deep cuts to FEMA, the National weather Service, and federal flood insurance programs.
Harvey and Irma remind us that government must help those in need.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Absolutely wish the best to the folks who are in the path of this meteorological beast. Bush also weakened FEMA, it’s a GOP thing. The parties aren’t really 100% alike on many specific issues that do matter (SCOTUS, science, social issues, the environment). Sure, I wish Bernie were president and that we had a very progressive viable 3rd party but it’s not happening any time soon. In the general election, I will vote for the less crazy party.
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Joe,
AGREE!!!!
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Thanks, Yvonne.
All these horrible hurricanes bring back memories of Bush’s first FEMA director, Joe Allbaugh, the guy with that severe hyper military hair cut. He wanted to privatize everything in sight and turn it over to private for-profit companies. FEMA was placed under the Department of Homeland Security in 2003. Allbaugh stepped down and appointed his college buddy Michael Brown who had no experience for his “leadership” role in FEMA. Later Allbaugh ran the presidential campaigns of Giuliani and Rick Perry. Allbaugh, who was working as interim director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections since January 2016, was not immediately qualified to take a permanent position as director, according to state law. The state lawmakers amended the statute to remove a portion of the job qualifications requiring the prison director to have at least five years of corrections experience. God knows what hellish havoc Allbaugh will impose on the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.
Michael Brown currently hosts a radio talk show on 630 KHOW in Denver, Colorado. Gee, do you think it might be a right wing talk show?
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In 2005, about 12 nations went in to New Orleans, and offered their help and aid. I was deeply touched, to see this generosity. I am anxious to see, if any foreign help arrives, to assist the people in Texas and Florida. My prayers are with my fellow Americans.
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I don’t want to turn this post of prayer into a political back and forth, but I must say that disaster aid, like public education, is a public responsibility not a private or foreign voluntary choice. …Batten down the hatches and be well, Gulf.
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Well said, LCT.
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I grew up and Florida. The names and the memories of places are as personal for me as they are for many others.
But there is something else that matters a whole lot, and it is the predictive power of the weather science and images that favor informed judgments about what to do and when.
The NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER is part of the work of the NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION (NOAA) within the United States Department of Commerce. NOAA plays a dual role as an operational home for research sensors developed by NASA and as a user of NASA products.
“NOAA is an agency that enriches life through science. Our reach goes from the surface of the sun to the depths of the ocean floor as we work to keep citizens informed of the changing environment around them.”
From daily weather forecasts, severe storm warnings, and climate monitoring to fisheries management, coastal restoration and supporting marine commerce, NOAA’s products and services support economic vitality and affect more than one-third of America’s gross domestic product. NOAA’s dedicated scientists use cutting-edge research and high-tech instrumentation to provide citizens, planners, emergency managers and other decision makers with reliable information they need when they need it.”
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/irma-atlantic-ocean
The images of weather that we take for granted today are elaborations of satellite technology developed 45 years ago, known first as the Earth Resources Satellite then Landsat. The “picturing making” satellite was equipped with the first Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). I know this because it is part of family history. My brother worked on the Multi-spectral scanner (MSS), a sensor that was carried on the first 6 Landsat satellites. It produces images of the Earth that cover an area of about 34,000 square kilometers (about 13,000 square miles) with a resolution of about 80 meters (260 feet). The MSS, which acquires data in both visible and infrared wavelengths, employs an oscillating mirror to scan the Earth beneath the spacecraft.
For Fiscal Year 18, Trump requested a 16% budget cut for NOAA but higher cuts for specific programs: 49% for Oceans, Coastal and Great Lakes research; 29% for Research Supercomputing: 25% for Weather and Air Chemistry Research, and 19% for Climate Research. The House budget bills cut NOAA overall by 13%, the Senate bill by 2%.
I certainly hope that the double whammy of Harvey and Irma, with Jose a possible follow-on will make a difference is how the House and Senate think about the work of NOAA and NASA, and how dependent FEMA and millions of people are on climate science.
More dertails are at https://www.aip.org/fyi/2017/senate-spending-bill-spreads-cuts-evenly-between-nsf-nasa-nist-noaa
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The science is amazing But if it tracked off of the coast by a 100 miles . They would have dismissed the largest Cape Verde Cat 5 hurricane on record.
They are pushing .
“Harvey is the first major hurricane to make landfall in almost 12 years”
Yeah sure Sandi wasn’t a major hurricane . Only 1100 miles in diameter . Causing damage up and down the coast . But when it made land fall it was barley a cat 1. Of Course the fact that it was October 29th and the North East !!!!!!.
The year before Irene 500 miles in diameter .
They wont learn.
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How might Irma impact the charter schools in her path?
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I will light candles today for your family….Billy
Billy R. Reagan
Former superintendent of schools, Houston ISD
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Thank you, Billy
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My sister in Austin TX has two of her Houston friends staying with her — they evacuated after the hurricane. My sister’s 2 grandchildren are still in Houston and I know they are breathing those toxic petrochemicals. I also have a sister in FL in the path of Irma; she left today and went to stay with her daughter for the duration of the storm; she is 91. I imagine it must be hard to leave knowing that if and when you get back there might be nothing left of your home…. but at least she was able to get out — probably on one of the last planes leaving FL for New England. My brother’s great-grandson is in medical school on the island of Saba and he was able to contact his mom in CA that he was ok after the storm and they were awaiting electricity to be returned… I don’t know the condition of the college buildings.
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