Well, my ENT appt for today was cancelled “due to an urgency” and rescheduled for Weds the 22nd at 4:30pm. They had moved my original appt up from the 20th. Too bad I didn’t keep it.
Free Webinar! Tuesday, October 21st 5:00-6:30pm ET
Join us for a timely and thought-provoking conversation with Geeta Anand,’89 Editor-in-Chief of VTDigger and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, as she explores the critical role of independent journalism in an era of misinformation, political polarization, and rapid technological change.
Here you go, Catreona. Here's what caused the flooding in Alaska...
Catch up: What’s going on in Alaska? Meteorologists Bob Henson and Dr. Jeff Masters report:
What’s happening? With the isolation of winter approaching quickly, relief efforts are in high gear across two remote Native Alaskan towns in far southwest Alaska after a devastating storm surge plowed into the coast on Sunday, October 12. The water was pushed inland by fierce onshore winds associated with the remnants of Typhoon Halong, which had gained new life as a powerful nontropical system that raced across the Bering Sea.
More than 1,500 people have been forced from their homes, most of them in the towns of Kipnuk and Kwigillingok, according to The Associated Press.
Much of the region’s cellphone service was down, The New York Times reported. There is no road access to the area from other parts of Alaska, so residents have been forced to seek shelter where they can. Some have been flown to the larger city of Bethel, while many others have been improvising, including hundreds at school shelters.
Why was the storm so bad? Halong was a powerful typhoon that peaked well south of Japan on October 8 as the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane. Halong weakened quickly, its winds down to Cat 1 strength by October 9 as it recurved eastward before reaching the Japanese coast. By October 10, Halong was declared post-tropical.
Over the next several days, a strong upper-level jet curving around an intense upper low in the western Bering Sea caught the remnants of Halong and pivoted them in a huge loop, first eastward and then northward, reaching the Bering Sea by October 12 and coming ashore near Nome. The dynamical influence of the upper low, together with unusually warm sea surface temperatures over the far North Pacific, helped the remnants of Halong to restrengthen.
Why didn’t people evacuate before the storm? Forecast models had predicted the post-Halong cyclone to track considerably farther away from the Alaska coast than it actually did. The storm’s track and intensity weren’t clear until less than 36 hours before its impacts, which didn’t allow enough time for evacuation in many areas, explained Alaskan weather expert Rick Thoman. As Thoman also notes, a major reduction in weather balloon launches since February over much of this region – a consequence of National Weather Service budget cuts – might have affected the forecast quality, although it will take further digging to assess this.
Why didn’t the area have better flood defenses? It’s been known for years that the Native Alaskan communities of coastal southwest Alaska, and Kipnuk in particular, are at increasing risk for storm surge damage.
Work to bolster Kipnuk’s flood defenses, related to a $20 million grant from the EPA’s Community Change Grants program, was to begin this summer. The grants are part of the EPA’s Environmental and Climate Justice Program, established in 2022 as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. The Track I grants, which funded the Kipnuk flood protection, are for environmental and climate justice projects that benefit disadvantaged communities through a variety of strategies related to climate change adaptation. However, as reported by The New York Times, the grant to bolster Kipnuk’s flood defenses was rescinded by the EPA in May.
Saturday is No Kings Day and I will be turning out for a protest in the Ballard district. The No Kings coalition claims that there are more than 2,500 protests planned across the country, in the largest cities and in small towns, and in all 50 states. It is part of a distributed model where people protest in their own communities rather than traveling to large urban hubs to show that discontent with Trump exists in all corners of the US. No Kings also cites the results of a study that shows that if 3.5 percent of the population turns out for protests, the regime will fall. In the states, that percentage equals 11 million people. It probably will rain. -- nordy
Indiana University orders school paper to cease print edition and fires director of student media Guardian: Indiana University has ordered its student-run newspaper, the Indiana Daily Student (IDS), to cease printing new editions and fired the school’s director of student media, who also served as the paper’s adviser, according to multiple reports. Students at the school are criticizing these moves as censorship. The university’s directive to halt print editions came just hours after Jim Rodenbush, the school’s director of student media, was terminated, according to a letter from IDS editors. -- nordy
I must confirm the warning in the title of the below-linked article. The photos and info are horrific. But I feel strongly that it's important to share the article. The world needs to see Israel's war crimes and atrocities.
Well, my ENT appt for today was cancelled “due to an urgency” and rescheduled for Weds the 22nd at 4:30pm. They had moved my original appt up from the 20th. Too bad I didn’t keep it.
ReplyDeleteEnvironment news: Vermont joins lawsuit against Trump for cutting $7 billion in solar funds
ReplyDeleteVery good.
DeleteFree Webinar!
ReplyDeleteTuesday, October 21st 5:00-6:30pm ET
Join us for a timely and thought-provoking conversation with Geeta Anand,’89 Editor-in-Chief of VTDigger and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, as she explores the critical role of independent journalism in an era of misinformation, political polarization, and rapid technological change.
Reporting Without Borders: The Role of Journalism Today
Here you go, Catreona. Here's what caused the flooding in Alaska...
ReplyDeleteCatch up: What’s going on in Alaska?
Meteorologists Bob Henson and Dr. Jeff Masters report:
What’s happening? With the isolation of winter approaching quickly, relief efforts are in high gear across two remote Native Alaskan towns in far southwest Alaska after a devastating storm surge plowed into the coast on Sunday, October 12. The water was pushed inland by fierce onshore winds associated with the remnants of Typhoon Halong, which had gained new life as a powerful nontropical system that raced across the Bering Sea.
More than 1,500 people have been forced from their homes, most of them in the towns of Kipnuk and Kwigillingok, according to The Associated Press.
Much of the region’s cellphone service was down, The New York Times reported. There is no road access to the area from other parts of Alaska, so residents have been forced to seek shelter where they can. Some have been flown to the larger city of Bethel, while many others have been improvising, including hundreds at school shelters.
Why was the storm so bad? Halong was a powerful typhoon that peaked well south of Japan on October 8 as the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane. Halong weakened quickly, its winds down to Cat 1 strength by October 9 as it recurved eastward before reaching the Japanese coast. By October 10, Halong was declared post-tropical.
Over the next several days, a strong upper-level jet curving around an intense upper low in the western Bering Sea caught the remnants of Halong and pivoted them in a huge loop, first eastward and then northward, reaching the Bering Sea by October 12 and coming ashore near Nome. The dynamical influence of the upper low, together with unusually warm sea surface temperatures over the far North Pacific, helped the remnants of Halong to restrengthen.
Why didn’t people evacuate before the storm? Forecast models had predicted the post-Halong cyclone to track considerably farther away from the Alaska coast than it actually did. The storm’s track and intensity weren’t clear until less than 36 hours before its impacts, which didn’t allow enough time for evacuation in many areas, explained Alaskan weather expert Rick Thoman. As Thoman also notes, a major reduction in weather balloon launches since February over much of this region – a consequence of National Weather Service budget cuts – might have affected the forecast quality, although it will take further digging to assess this.
Why didn’t the area have better flood defenses? It’s been known for years that the Native Alaskan communities of coastal southwest Alaska, and Kipnuk in particular, are at increasing risk for storm surge damage.
Work to bolster Kipnuk’s flood defenses, related to a $20 million grant from the EPA’s Community Change Grants program, was to begin this summer. The grants are part of the EPA’s Environmental and Climate Justice Program, established in 2022 as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. The Track I grants, which funded the Kipnuk flood protection, are for environmental and climate justice projects that benefit disadvantaged communities through a variety of strategies related to climate change adaptation. However, as reported by The New York Times, the grant to bolster Kipnuk’s flood defenses was rescinded by the EPA in May.
Thanks, Listener.
DeletePlease pardon my French, but it expresses a heartfelt sentiment. Fuck Trump!
Not me! I don't find him in the least attractive. [grin]
DeleteLMAO
DeleteOh, my goodness, thanks so much for that laugh, W.A. You really do have a wicked sense of humor.
Saturday is No Kings Day and I will be turning out for a protest in the Ballard district. The No Kings coalition claims that there are more than 2,500 protests planned across the country, in the largest cities and in small towns, and in all 50 states. It is part of a distributed model where people protest in their own communities rather than traveling to large urban hubs to show that discontent with Trump exists in all corners of the US.
ReplyDeleteNo Kings also cites the results of a study that shows that if 3.5 percent of the population turns out for protests, the regime will fall. In the states, that percentage equals 11 million people.
It probably will rain. -- nordy
Make your protest sign by decorating an umbrella!
DeleteI bet at least 20 million of us come out and protest!
Indiana University orders school paper to cease print edition and fires director of student media
ReplyDeleteGuardian: Indiana University has ordered its student-run newspaper, the Indiana Daily Student (IDS), to cease printing new editions and fired the school’s director of student media, who also served as the paper’s adviser, according to multiple reports. Students at the school are criticizing these moves as censorship.
The university’s directive to halt print editions came just hours after Jim Rodenbush, the school’s director of student media, was terminated, according to a letter from IDS editors. -- nordy
The rot is creeping in everywhere.
DeleteYES!! Vermont has prevailed! Even the other Republicans wanted him to resign!
ReplyDeleteOrleans County senator resigns following leaked racist group chat
Excellent!
DeletePresumably, there'll be a special election to fill the rat's seat? Maybe a Progressive can get in.
I must confirm the warning in the title of the below-linked article. The photos and info are horrific. But I feel strongly that it's important to share the article. The world needs to see Israel's war crimes and atrocities.
ReplyDelete🚨🚨WARNING: I am going to show you what Israel did to the Palestinians they kidnapped. This should be ALL OVER THE MAINSTREAM NEWS. If the roles were reversed it would be. - Click