Irma's Coming!

[Skeptic Ginger]

I hadn't really thought about them checking records of those at the shelter but if I went with my 9yo daughter I'd like to think convicted child sex offenders are weeded out, with or without any warrants. They know they arent allowed and it's a violation (isn't it?) so perhaps they find somewhere else to go.

Got any sources reporting child molesters are a problem in disaster shelters?

Seems like an odd concern.

 

[Sherkeu]

Got any sources reporting child molesters are a problem in disaster shelters?

Seems like an odd concern.

Nope. Like I said, I had not thought about it. That we do not hear of it likely means it isn't an issue. However, if I were checking for something, that would be high on my list, not warrants for crimes as yet unproven.

 

[Darat]

Got any sources reporting child molesters are a problem in disaster shelters?

Seems like an odd concern.

Given the number of kids there with their family and family friends it means quite a few child abusers in the shelters. If this is a genuine and actual concern perhaps they need to separate kids from their families in the shelters?

 

[jimbob]

There's a lot of room between "anyone with a warrant will be arrested if they come to a shelter" and "free room and board for rapists."

Yes.

Not checking papers at that time is the right thing to do. It'll be ineffective and cause delays. As well as discouraging people who might only hav failed to pay a fine (in Ferguson these were often pretty much trumped-up charges, and a way of revenue collection).

 

[Foolmewunz]

Yes.

Not checking papers at that time is the right thing to do. It'll be ineffective and cause delays. As well as discouraging people who might only hav failed to pay a fine (in Ferguson these were often pretty much trumped-up charges, and a way of revenue collection).

Agreed. If you're really (he isn't) worried about a criminal element in the shelters, the fifteen LEOs you'll have pushing papers and looking up warrants would be better deployed simply patrolling the shelters and frisking for weapons.

The linked-to WaPo article above cites the same problems. The majority of warrants in the country are for not paying fines or not showing for your hearing where they were going to tell you to pay said fine plus court costs. Dog The Bounty Hunter ain't chasing down misdemeanor scofflaws. They only get caught when they do some minor infraction, again.

This is just a clown posturing for the voters. Y'all do know what color those people coming up are likely to be, right?

 

[quadraginta]

As I mentioned, I have family in the Fort Lauderdale area, that includes two daughters, their husbands, some grandkids, and they're not leaving either. I really really hope everybody down there comes through this okay. Evacuating seems to me to be a tough call. Where do you go? The whole state seems to be at risk, so do you have to evacuate outside Florida? To where?

Georgia isn't looking too promising right now, and South Carolina seems kinda chancy as well.

Our local news (Raleigh, NC station) yesterday did a short piece on a motel off I-95 in Lumberton, NC which was already filled with Irma refugees.

The rooms which weren't still occupied by Matthew victims from last fall who still had no home to return to, that is.

 

[Stacko]

Filing this under "things which are not helpful in this situation."

Florida Sheriff Plans to Check for Warrants at Hurricane Shelters

Don't worry, it gets worse:

In Florida, no law shields workers from being fired for evacuating.

In Florida, a right-to-work state with a long history of evacuations from hurricanes and other natural disasters, there is no blanket law protecting fleeing employees from dismissal for job abandonment, said Ben Yormak, a Bonita Springs employment lawyer.

“Florida just doesn’t have a specific law that says if there’s a hurricane, you’ve got to let people go,” Yormak said.

...

Some employees — first responders, emergency room doctors, utility workers — are essential to the public and likely have few opportunities to leave. Government and nonprofit employees also likely have fewer protections, Yormak said.

 

[newyorkguy]

I have family in South Florida and none are evacuating. The waiting is the worst part, for now anyway. The storm hit parts of Cuba last night, after intensifying back to Cat 5 status. Hurricanes gain strength as they travel over water, don't they? That's what worries me about the storm approaching the Keys and South Florida, that it may be a Cat 5 when it makes landfall.

Hurricane Irma smashed into Cuba and the Bahamas as it drove toward Florida on Saturday after hitting the eastern Caribbean with its devastatingly high winds, killing at least 23 people and leaving catastrophic destruction in its wake. It made landfall on Cuba late on Friday night, regaining its maximum intensity as a Category 5 storm, striking the Camaguey Archipelago with 160 mph (260 kph) winds. Link

 

[quadraginta]

By the way, what's Katia? By the naming convention it should be behind Jose, but maps are showing it as being in front of Irma.

Katia formed after Jose was named.

Katia is a bit unusual in that we are used to the newsworthy storms at this point in the hurricane season tending to form in the eastern Atlantic and moving west toward the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.

Not only did Katia reach named storm status after Jose, it also formed in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, so it didn't take a spot in the line of storms we are used to seeing on the news this time of year.

It is a line crasher. A queue jumper.

Very rude.

 

[quadraginta]

Yeah but it's in Mexico and it's mostly rapists down there, so...

And murderers. Don't forget murderers.

Although some of them might be good people.

...

...


I suppose.

 

[Sherkeu]

Looks like Irma's track has moved west again.
From the expected timeline, the SW area near Naples will get the worst side of the storm approaching them as they hit high tide ...4pm tomorrow.

 

[William Parcher]

Hurricanes gain strength as they travel over water, don't they?

Yes, it is warm ocean water which generates the energy by way of evaporation. Irma will leave Cuba and then be over warm ocean before entering Florida, but there is not much ocean between those lands. Right now it is at Cat 4, down from 5. Irma could regain 5 before reaching Florida, or remain steady at 4.

If Irma were to continue tracking westward (beyond predictions) the eye may entirely miss Florida and build strength to Cat 5 as it moves through the Gulf towards New Orleans.

 

[Darth Rotor]

Not only did Katia reach named storm status after Jose, it also formed in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, so it didn't take a spot in the line of storms we are used to seeing on the news this time of year. It is a line crasher. A queue jumper. Very rude.

Concur.

And murderers. Don't forget murderers. Although some of them might be good people.

The good mix with the bad, as in most places, and a lot of people crossing our border are from south of Mexico. Their first challenge is to cross through the very unforgiving, albeit corrupt, Mexican system.

As to Hurricane's gaining strength over water: over warm water, yes.
That's how Harvey got to be such a beast. It's called 'the chimney effect' and happens when the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico (or other warm body of water) feed energy into the system via evaporated warm water. If Irma heads a bit further west, she'll have an energy sump of the Western Gulf of Mexico to feed her and make her strong and healthy. Good news for Irma's self esteem, bad news for human beings in Florida and the northern gulf coast.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Nope. Like I said, I had not thought about it. That we do not hear of it likely means it isn't an issue. However, if I were checking for something, that would be high on my list, not warrants for crimes as yet unproven.

Oh, I misunderstood you to be saying checking for warrants was a good idea. My apologies.

In that case, it makes some sense, but I just don't think a shelter is the place a molester is going to be acting on their urges.

 

[Sherkeu]

Do Irma and Jose affect each other at their current distance?

If Irma keeps moving west, does it give Jose room to move as well? Is there a push/pull thing that can happen?

 

[NoahFence]

Do Irma and Jose affect each other at their current distance?

If Irma keeps moving west, does it give Jose room to move as well? Is there a push/pull thing that can happen?

The NHC has Jose turning north, then southeast. Seems after its done with St. Maarten and the northern leewards, it's going to annoy the fishes.

 

[newyorkguy]

My daughter in South Florida spoke with my wife this morning. In the Miami area they are already getting rain squalls and winds gusting to about 50 mph. They have boarded up all their windows, stocked in supplies (they paid $20 a pack for bottled water that is usually about $12) and are ready to ride it out.

Weather Channel says the storm was downgraded to Cat 3 as it moved over Cuba but is expected to pick up strength as it heads over open water to Florida -- the water temperature in the Straits of Florida is very warm at this time of year, 90 degrees -- and intensify back to a Cat 4 storm. The storm is expected to hit somewhat west of dead center on South Florida. The Miami area will still see winds gusting over 100 mph and upwards of 18-24 inches of rain over an approximately 30 hour period.

.

 

[GlennB]

I'm just wondering how several million (I'm reading 6.3m) are being evacuated from the most endangered parts of Florida while such a thing was deemed impossible for the Houston area.

The strength, the length of the warning, the predictability of the storm's path, the local geography?

 

[Arcade22]

I'm just wondering how several million (I'm reading 6.3m) are being evacuated from the most endangered parts of Florida while such a thing was deemed impossible for the Houston area.

The strength, the length of the warning, the predictability of the storm's path, the local geography?

Moreover since they are calling on everyone to evacuate then i presume they have actually set up simple but sufficient lodging for evacuees to reside in until it becomes feasible to return, right?

I mean they aren't actually calling on everyone to escape on their own without any assistance, right? Considering that it's quite likely many cannot afford such expenses it would be tantamount to leaving those people to their fate, although it would also explain why so many poor people cannot afford nor see any reason to evacuate.

Edit: I mean they must at least have organized buss transportation that move people out free of charge, right?

 

[Darth Rotor]

Nope. The bus drivers need to evacuate too.