2008 Preliminary Hurricane Forecast

2008 Atlantic Seasonal Hurricane Forecast ::

The Tropical Meteorology Project - "We foresee a well above-average Atlantic basin tropical cyclone season in 2008," 8 hurricanes (average is 5.9) and 15 named storms (average is 9.6), with 4 INTENSE (Category 3-4-5) hurricanes.

As the hurricane season approaches and as I have watched what the weather has been doing to the whole country these past few months, I cannot help but worry. Everything just seems out of order these days. It seems like destruction is upon us whether it's gas prices, food prices, record rainfall, record snowfall, baseball-size hail, tornadoes, fire storms, blizzards in May, droughts, or floods all along the Mississippi River and elsewhere. Thus, I am worrying.

In 2005, records were set:
* Named storms: 28; previous record: 21 in 1933
* Hurricanes: 15; previous record: 12 in 1969
* Major hurricanes hitting the U.S.: Four (Dennis, Katrina, Rita and Wilma); previous record: Three, most recently in 2004
* Hurricanes of Category 5 intensity (greater than 155 mph): Four (Emily, Katrina, Rita and Wilma); previous record: Two in 1960 and 1961 - A Season of Firsts

In 2006, we had 9 named storms of which 5 were hurricanes, but NO U.S. landfalls. An above-average number of storms was called for and thanks to El Nino, the predictions fell short.

In 2007, we had 15 named storms - 6 hurricanes of which 2 were major, and 1 landfall in the U.S. An above-average number of storms was predicted, but didn't happen. 2007 Hurricane Season Recap - Some great stats from The Weather Channel.

As we in Mississippi know, it only takes ONE to ruin your day and this is echoed by National Hurricane Center spokesman Dennis Feltgen, "It doesn't matter what the numbers are," which refers to the center's mantra that it takes only one powerful storm to make it a bad season.

2008 Atlantic Storm Names

Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal, Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gustav, Hanna, Ike. Josephine, Kyle, Laura, Marco, Nana, Omar, Paloma, Rene,
Sally, Teddy, Vicky, Wilfred.

DUMP THE PUMPS ! Hearing in Vicksburg

GULF RESTORATION NETWORK ACTION ALERT



The infamous Yazoo Pumps plot would destroy over 200,000 acres of wetlands if allowed to come into being. With the DEAD ZONE growing in the Gulf and now the Mississippi River cresting from heavy rains in the Mid-West, we cannot afford to lose our wetland areas.

THANKS to the Healthy Gulf organization and to all the people out there who have made their voices heard, huge strides have been achieved towards protecting the natural heritage of the Mississippi Delta, BUT THE VETO IS NOT A DONE DEAL.

To end the threat once and for all the EPA needs to hear that you support it's efforts. Visit the Yazoo Pumps Blog to learn more.

Also, please visit GRN for a lot of really good information and links. The wetlands and future generations of people and wildlife will love you for caring.

MEMA WASTING MONEY ON "TEST"

Lowe's Katrina Cottages available in different plans.


According to a recent article in the Mississippi Press, MEMA is conducting a TEST to see "if the cottages are better solutions than FEMA trailers."

A $280 million federal grant will cover the cost of this "test." A test is almost laughable, if it wasn't so sad because it is wasteful and non-productive. MEMA just needs to talk with those who suffered or still continue to suffer the confines of a trailer and the mold and toxic formaldehyde issues with those trailers.

What has happened to logic and common sense? This country has wasted and squandered more money in the past 8-year administration than is humanly possible to imagine! That $280 million would house a lot of people in cottages! Just get on with solving the problems and stop messing around!

Mississippi Cottage


Mississippi Cottage built in Ocean Springs as a model home.

JACKSON CO. RETHINKS MEMA COTTAGES, ZONING

This MS Cottage, located in Waveland, replaced a FEMA trailer just a few months ago. The people who live in this one are extremely happy with it.
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The Jackson County Board of Supervisors has indicated that it just might rethink the issue of MEMA Cottages as permanent housing.

As I see it, this is a very smart move. It's logical and reasonable. It's practical and it will provide much more realistic housing for those who still suffer those intolerable FEMA trailers that are FINALLY ACKNOWLEDGED TO BE TOXIC!

The Mississippi Cottages are modular built homes. The fact that they are portable should not dissuade officials or neighborhoods from allowing them to become a real housing solution. The cottages are built to withstand winds up to 150 mph. That's pretty tough. They are also energy efficient, don't produce mold, and are built to housing code standards whereas plumbing and electrical are concerned.

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"In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery?" – Saint Augustine

WHAT'S UP WITH BARBOUR? – His Latest SCHEME

In a Clarion Ledger article for Feb. 7th., our illustrious Gov. Barbour wants to DIVERT $$$ FROM KATRINA GRANT FUNDS to help DESIGN ROADS for a TOYOTA plant in North Mississippi !!! WHAT ????

What will Barbour think of next !! I never cease to be amazed and discombobulated over what it is that these politicians and friends of politicians can come up with! Diverting money from Katrina aid for N. MS ROADS??? I live in N. MS (just got back from the coast) and that is ridiculous! Why did the money not have "strings" attached to it that would ultimately benefit those who need it MOST-- Katrina's devastated people??? Instead, it appears that the "strings" were put in place to do exactly what Barbour thought he could get away with -- such as building 3 new casinos (like we need any more of those) and up to 3,000 hotel rooms??? with HUD money ???!!! Hey, maybe those without homes could live in those fancy hotel rooms to come. . .

As for the road situation, I can tell you that Hwy. 78 from Holly Springs to Memphis is a pathetic piece of crap!! It's BEEN a piece of crap for a long while now. It needed a make-over, but what does the state do? Tries to "fix" or "patch" it by tearing up sections in the right lanes from Holly Springs to Memphis and back by turning holes into continuous bumps. It is so bouncy and noisy that I refuse to drive in the right lanes - it makes my stomach hurt. That road is a disgrace to people coming into our state, but diverting money from Katrina funds is WRONG!!! Where's your head Barbour? Your got Toyota here, now make Toyota pay for the d.... roads!!!

THE THING ABOUT IT IS . . .

Dream For Sale. Live Oaks in fog on Front Beach in Ocean Springs.


Below this post you can see that I have posted a few images of Waveland – "south of the tracks."

The thing about it is, that those images are indeed a few. And those "few" are like breath and air within fog.

Look at the pictures. Multiply those by hundreds, and by hundreds again. And then multiply those by blocks, more blocks, neighborhoods, and more neighborhoods.

Then add to that equation the idea of miles x miles to get square miles. Picture in your head, if you can, the whole coast of Mississippi and then go inland all the way to Hattiesburg, Laurel, and Meridian. Even though the damage was not as severe the further inland you go, does not negate that damage was done and can still be seen to this very day. We have miles and miles of downed trees and standing dead trees along the highways from the coast to Meridian. The scars are deep and imbedded in the earth.

There are still "blue roofs" in Laurel. Some houses will never be repaired or rebuilt. Some people will never have their homes back, or the lives that they knew.

I am still dumbfounded by the depth and breadth of Katrina's destructive power. Everytime I visit the coast, I become speechless for days after. The massive change to the Gulf Coast's environment is sickening.

POSTCARDS FROM DESTRUCTION – Waveland, MS

CROSSING THE INFAMOUS RAILROAD - WAVELAND - FEB. 2008

CSX railroad tracks at Waveland Ave. - The CSX railroad extends from border to border along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and were the benchmark of total devastation. "South of the tracks" was the marker phrase used by everyone who tried to describe what had happened to neighborhoods and business districts on that side of the tracks.

Waveland Ave. – formerly a tree lined street that formed a neighborhood.


Waveland Ave. – Mississippi Cottage (on right) replaces FEMA trailers, but it is still temprary housing. House on left is raised per FEMA Flood Map requirements.


Waveland Ave. Landscape


Caught in Time Warp. Some recovery is in process, but all in general is slow. FEMA trailer in front of house and Mississippi Cottage in foreground.


At Day's End. A half block from the beach, sunset on Oak Blvd. is a continuous reminder of the breadth of destruction to the environment. Here, as elsewhere, pine trees were once thick and together with massive Live Oaks, provided cooling shade in summer and continuous green in winter. Now there are dead and dying trees all along the coast. Some Live Oaks continue to cling to life with only a few of their branches. Most pines along the beach area look like decimated sticks in the ruined earth.

FEMA SLOWS COAST'S REBUILD + The $600 MILLION MAN - A DEBACLE

Moody's Court - a beautiful past.


Still in Katrina daze. Entrance to St. Michael's. This face expresses best my feelings about the recovery/rebuilding issues that have not been dealt with in a timely, respectful, and caring manner by the powers that be.


Well, well, well, what else did we really expect from FEMA? It's been 2 years and 5 months since Katrina obliterated the Gulf Coast and less than 1/4th. of the 10,833 public rebuilding projects are finished. Given the fact that FEMA was initially headed up by an idiot who was given the job by another idiot who moved the agency into the so-called "homeland security" department, what else, indeed, should we expect? It's all a joke, and a very bad one. It's a bad dream I wish we all could wake up from.

For one thing, FEMA's little penny counters are haggling with Long Beach Mayor Billy Skellie about paying for the overtime that the fire and police departments had to work in those initial days and weeks after Katrina hit. Pathetic! FEMA isn't "satisfied" with the first responders' time sheets. Now let me see. . . umm, there's someone over there in a tree waiting for help and there is a body on a rooftop which is smashed on the ground and we have no communications, or food, or water, and the offices were gutted and filled with someone else's debris. . . umm where did I put my time sheet? And I can't find a pencil. Ahh, FEMA.

On top of that, many people are in limbo. People are still in trailers . . . with formaldehyde !!! For Pete's sake! Now that's a real pretty picture of America and what we are "supposed" to stand for. Seems to me most of the people running this country, and those who vote them in again and again just don't give a flying rat's ass about anything but themselves, money, and Iraq.

Then you have our illustrious Gov. Barbour who diverts $600 million from the HUD grant monies for AFFORDABLE HOUSING to expand the port at Gulfport! WHAT???

This expansion will encompass 210-acres which will include a new shipping terminal and channel (to be expected I imagine), BUT it will also include "three new casinos and as many as 3,000 hotel rooms." Now it seems to me, since there was separate money to rebuild the lost bridges, there should have been money in a separate package for repairing the port. And especially so if it included, of all things, casinos and hotels! You tell me why HUD money should pay for casinos and hotels?? I'm waiting . . .

To no avail, Maxine Waters, D-Calif., urged HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson to oppose the diversion plan (thank you Rep. Waters). However, Jackson said there was "specific congressional language" that kept him from denying Barbour's request. Word is, that ain't especially true. Waters stated her concern: "I am suspicious that Barbour receives favored treatment with this administration. He kind of gets his way." Duh! NSS!!

In my humble opinion, this is an outrage! But then again, "what's good for business ___" you fill in the blanks, I'm too ill over it all. I need to clear my head of this debacle so I'm going to the coast to Mardi Gras and . . . laissez bon temps roulez . . . until I return to blog again. Oh, and I won't be staying in a condo or casino!
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Some Tiny FEMA Stats to mull over –
Rebuilding on the Mississippi Gulf Coast:

Total large projects: 2,564

Total large projects closed: 731

Total small projects: 8,269

Total small projects closed: 1,693

Total projects: 10,833

Total closed: 2,424

Source: FEMA

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Clarion Ledger - FEMA Slowing Coast Building


$600 Million Dollar Port Deal


Clarion Ledger

St. Michael's Catholic Church, gutted by Katrina. Beach Blvd., Biloxi – Nov. 2007.

UPCOMING TOWN HALL MEETING

Wiggins Town Hall Meeting

Mon., Feb. 11, 2008
6:00-7:30 p.m.
Wiggins Senior Citizens Center (So. Magnolia St.)
Wiggins, MS
1-800-273-4363 for more information

This is an open forum for South Mississippians to bring their concerns, suggestions, opinions, and complaints to Gene's attention.
Caseworkers from Gene's local offices will be there to help constituents with any problems they may be having with federal agencies, including the VA, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the Social Security Administration.




click map for larger, printable image.