Tag: natural disasters

Terrible news from the Philippines

Now that Typhoon Haiyan has passed over the Philippines and headed west towards Vietnam, the people there have had a chance to begin initial assessments of the damage done, and it doesn’t look good.  One observer has described the scene as “apocalyptic”.  Some areas are so devastated that there is no communication from them at all.   Accurate assessments of casualties at this point are impossible, but it looks as if the loss of life will easily be in the hundreds, if not the thousands.

If you have any ability to help at all, here’s some groups that are assisting with relief efforts: the Philippine Red Cross; the World Food Program; Shelter Box; and Americares.

-Geoff

Possibly the strongest typhoon ever recorded

Wow.  Glad we don’t have a storm like this anywhere near us.

Super Typhoon Haiyan is definitely the strongest storm of 2013, and it may just be one of the strongest ones ever recorded, with sustained winds of 195 miles per hour and gusts of up to 230 mph.  Imagine that.  Good God, an EF5 tornado has winds of 200 plus miles an hour.  And this is a tropical cyclone, causing damage over a much wider area.   They probably won’t even know for a while just everything that it has done.  The size and power of it are just mind-boggling.  Hopefully the loss of life in the Philippines and other places in its path will be minimal.  They seem to have been quite prepared, at least.

I will settle for some cooler weather and rain here, thank you very much.

-Geoff

One hundred thirty years ago today – Krakatoa

The gigantic eruption that made the volcanic island of Krakatau in Indonesia (or commonly in English, Krakatoa) famous down to the present day actually began on August 26th, 1883.  But the final eruption that destroyed most of the island happened on the following day, in a series of four gigantic explosions.  Ultimately the volcano was blamed for more than 36,000 deaths, although some historians and scientists consider that number (estimated by the Dutch authorities, as it was part of the Dutch East Indies at that time) to be much too low.  Krakatoa was the first major volcanic eruption to be studied and measured with modern scientific instruments such as seismographs and barographs.

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Official stats regarding Snowpocalypse

Well, they said this would probably be a historical storm, in regards to the intensity and snowfall amounts, and it looks like that has pretty much held up to the predictions.

It turns out that this storm ranked #5 in the top ten snowstorms in the history of Boston, with an official total of 22.5 inches for Boston.  Here in Cambridge it looks like our “official” total is about 26 inches.

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“That won’t happen.” Well, sometimes it does.

If you count my time in uniform, I have worked in public safety for a while.  I have also worked on business continuity/disaster recovery planning committees.  I am probably more well read on much of the literature than many  public safety officers and government officials.  I take this sort of thing quite seriously, because I know what is possible.  And so when I hear people blow things off, even when experts are trying to tell them to take a particular danger or threat seriously, I get a bit frustrated.

The looming storm this weekend is a great example.

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Why backups are important…

and I am not just talking about backing up your data.  I am talking about having backup plans for emergencies.  And now that some time has passed I can talk about Hurricane Sandy and some of the terrible things that went wrong in New York and New Jersey.

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Finally! A Brimfield Report

We wouldn’t be able to talk about Brimfield if we didn’t talk about the freak June 1, 2011 tornado that ripped through the area last year.  Most of our area watched our TVs in horror as a rather large tornado danced down Rt. 20 through Brimfield and Sturbridge and upended homes, trailers, and historic buildings.

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Fears of a dry summer

Well, it looks like my fears of a drought this spring and/or summer may just be coming true.  Most of the rivers in the state (and in Connecticut and Rhode Island) are far below normal for this time of year, and there is already talk of how this will affect fisheries and agriculture.  I wonder if we will have problems with fires this year.  Hopefully nothing too bad.  Anyway, I need to check on the level of water in my rain barrels before I do any major planting this year.  I still hope to do some herbs in pots if nothing else.

-Geoff

This is why I believe in emergency planning

The big news tonight here in Boston is a fire in the Back Bay that led to power going out in huge swaths of Boston.  Apparently the fire started in a utility building containing two large transformers.  In order to fight the fire, it was necessary to cut power to the transformers.  That has now led to a power blackout in Back Bay, Prudential Center, Copley Square, Chinatown, the Theater District, and Kenmore Square.  They are saying now on TV that they are allowing people to return to their homes but they have no idea when power will be restored to this area.

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