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Two top U.S. hurricane forecasters, revered like rock stars in Deep South hurricane country, are quitting the practice because it doesn’t work. William Gray and Phil Klotzbach say a look back shows their past 20 years of forecasts had no value. The two scientists from Colorado State University will still discuss different probabilities as hurricane seasons approach — a much more cautious approach. But the shift signals how far humans are, even with supercomputers, from truly knowing what our weather will do next. Gray, recently joined by Klotzbach, has been known for decades for an annual forecast of how many...

"Why did it take Bea, van Heerden, and Garzino to shed light on this story?The Army Corps of Engineers, as an institution, is not very receptive to criticism, from inside or outside. It dominates the market for engineering certain kinds of projects, mainly to do with water. So the engineering profession is filled with people whose attitude is, "Better not rock the boat." And inside [the corps], it's arguably worse. It exists in a bubble of impunity. Because, as we lay out in the film, Congress likes the corps the way it is, and it doesn't really give it effective...

Tropical Storm Hilary has strengthened in the Pacific south of Mexico and could soon become a hurricane. Hilary's maximum sustained winds Thursday are near 70 mph (110 kph). The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Hilary could become a hurricane later in the day and could become a major hurricane by Saturday.

MIAMI (Reuters) - Hurricane Katia weakened to a tropical storm on Saturday and was forecast to wobble back and forth between hurricane and tropical storm strength far from land in the open Atlantic, forecasters said. > Katia did not threaten land and was out in the Atlantic, about 430 miles east-northeast of the Leeward Islands. It was moving west-northwest on a path that would take it safely west of the mid-Atlantic island of Bermuda on Thursday. Computer models showed it turning north after that and then northeast and away from the East Coast.

Is anyone else worried about, now, Hurricane Katia? Or, being a guy from Baltimore, do I not know anything about hurricanes? This morning seems to have brought bad news...it's strengthening and the track has changed to hitting the US in the mid Atlantic. They say it's very early to forecast but it seems to have a stable track. Seems odd that it would make a 90 or 180 degree turn and not make landfall in the US.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal sent a letter to Jeffery Butler, president and COO of Connecticut Light & Power on Friday urging the company to use whatever means necessary to restore power to the remaining customers left in the dark after Tropical Storm Irene. "As I traveled the state this week meeting with state officials, first responders, mayors, residents and small business owners, I've heard loud and clear the concern that your company did not do enough to prepare or respond, and is not doing enough work now to restore power. I share these concerns. Among the most common complaints are your...

Connecticut State Police have arrested two men accused of attempting to steal electrical wire downed by Tropical Storm Irene in Canterbury. State troopers said that they were notified by concerned citizens that two men were seen rolling up electrical wires brought down during Irene's fierce winds and heavy rain on Gooseneck Hill Road. Responding troopers arrested Gary Malone, 28, of Canterbury, and Paul Sherman, 48, of Plainfield. Malone was charged with larceny, criminal mischief and operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license. Sherman was charged with larceny and criminal mischief. Both are expected to appear in court on Thursday....

On the color-coded power outage map on Connecticut Light & Power's website, southeastern Connecticut Tuesday night was mostly purple and black, the colors representing areas where 61 percent to 100 percent of customers were without electricity. ... In Ledyard, resident Kim Prescott said she was alarmed to see cars drive under wires with large trees hanging precariously on them on busy Route 117. ... "For 800 trucks being out, it seems like you should at least see a few here and there," Prescott said. Prescott said she's driven around her town and others the past few days and sees the...

Residents of the Cosey Beach area of East Haven are dealing with the loss of their beautiful beachfront homes and their property. Now looters are adding to their hardship. Police are lining the streets because looters are trying to steal what they can from these residents who have pretty much lost everything. “People (are) constantly back and forth, back and forth, so we did have to get the police to tell them. I mean they’re going in houses. Yes, there’s a lot of looting,” Bernadette Davies, of East Haven, said.

Two men have been arrested for having a 'lack of common sense' after they tried to paddle down a Philadelphia street in an inflatable raft. The pair, only identified as Pete and Pat, were stopped by police in Manayunk after they were interviewed on local television saying they wanted to have fun and were not concerned about the danger. Minutes after they were interviewed, police stopped the men and took them away in handcuffs. When asked why the men were being arrested, the officers replied: 'for lack of common sense'. No charges were filed against the men.

Almost a dozen New England towns were rendered virtual islands Monday as floodwaters from the remnants of Hurricane Irene reshaped parts of Vermont and upstate New York, turning placid rivers into raging torrents and some streets into treacherous mud bogs. Hundreds of roads remained closed, dozens of bridges were gone and entire towns were cut off from assistance in the worst flooding some areas have seen in a century. A day earlier, Irene dumped up to 11 inches on parts of Vermont and more than 13 inches on some areas of New York — a deluge that quickly overwhelmed waterways,...

<p>The number of power outages in Connecticut keeps climbing, affecting more than 700,000 utility customers.</p> <p>Connecticut Light & Power, a unit of Northeast Utilities System and the state's largest utility, says Tropical Storm Irene knocked out power to about 621,000 customers as of 3:30 p.m. Sunday. That's about half of its customers.</p>

Yes the media does hype stories and weather.Everyone is sick of watching Cantore pick the wrong worst place to report in Hurricanes. I just got off of a generator with minimal things powered since Friday.I am in NC and I am just now catching up to NC/local news.People came back today to no homes whatsoever.The tobacco farmers lost they're crops to a tune of 16 milliom in losses in one county so far. The JOKER Purdue has not toured completely to asseses. There are people right now without water,electric and the temps have returned to very hot and humid.I just...

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Shares of property and casualty insurers rose Monday after the damage from Hurricane Irene appeared to be less than the market had predicted. Complete clarity on loss estimates will not be known for some time, but research firms say based on weaker-than-forecast wind speeds, particularly for the New York metropolitan area, the total loss for the sector is likely less than the initially expected range, which some had been pegging as tens of billions of dollars.

More than 700,000 customers remained in the dark Monday morning after Tropical Storm Irene swept through the state. Officials at Connecticut Light & Power said crews will work around the clock until restoration efforts are complete. During what will likely be a multi-day restoration effort, nearly 75 percent of crews will begin their shift at 7 a.m. to utilize daylight hours. The remaining 25 percent will begin at 3 p.m. and will work through the night. All CL&P employees are also required to take an eight-hour rest period between shifts to ensure safety. "Having a vast majority of crews work...

There was almost palpable disappointment among the TV big guns rolled out for the occasion when Irene was downgraded to a mere 'tropical storm". In New York city, CNN's Anderson Cooper, more usually seen in a tight t-shirt in a famine or war zone, was clad in what one wag dubbed "disaster casual". His face fell and he was briefly silent when a weatherwoman told him that the rain was not going to get any worse. "Wow, because this isn't so bad," he said. "It's an annoying rain but it isn't even a sideways rain."

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is considering his options after the federal government denied his request for emergency aid to help the state clean up from Tropical Storm Hermine, his spokeswoman said. President Barack Obama's administration rejected Perry's Sept. 20 request for a major disaster declaration and about $6.8 million in aid for 13 counties. Last month's storm killed eight people, including seven in Texas, and destroyed nearly 200 homes statewide, according to the governor's request letter. In his letter to Obama, Perry asked for about $2.9 million in federal funds to repair public property and infrastructure in Bell, Blanco, Cameron,...

A huge pecan tree got blown over during Irene. And it fell on our house. Luckily no one was hurt. I can't seem to get a straight answer from the insurance company at this point as to exactly what they will cover. Looking at my policy, it only says they will pay up to $500 for tree "removal" if it is blown over during a storm. That's not much even for a small tree, and this tree is gigantic. However, there's going to have to be a large portion of this tree cut away before the damage can even be...

CULTURE BUZZ The most destructive hurricane to hit New England in the last two hundred years. Making landfall as a Category 3, the Long Island Express (hurricanes weren't named at the time) killed over 600 people and destroyed more than 57,000 homes http://www.buzzfeed.com/donnad/x-photos-from-the-devastating-new-england-hurrican

Okay, we all know Hurricane Irene was hyped to the gills. WHY? Was it slow news? Was it media infatuation with Obama at the helm of FEMA?

The scale of Hurricane Irene, which could cause more extensive damage along the Eastern Seaboard than any storm in decades, is reviving an old question: are hurricanes getting worse because of human-induced climate change? ...But many of them do believe that hurricanes will get more intense as the planet warms, and they see large hurricanes like Irene as a harbinger. While the number of the most intense storms has clearly been rising since the 1970s, researchers have come to differing conclusions about whether that increase can be attributed to human activities. “On a longer time scale, I think — but...

The truth is that the dire warning beforehand suited both politicians and journalists. Just as with the minor earthquake that shook the east coast last week causing no loss of life and virtually no damage, Irene became a huge story because it was where the media lived. For politicians, Irene was a chance to either make amends or appear in control. The White House sent out 25 Irene emails to the press on Saturday alone.

Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul (Texas) continued his criticisms of FEMA claiming that the agency’s approach is “deeply flawed.” "It’s a system of bureaucratic centralized economic planning that is a policy that is deeply flawed," Paul said on Fox News Sunday. He argued that FEMA had “one of the worst reputations for a bureaucracy ever.” “I want to transition us out of this dependency,” said Paul, arguing that people needed to abandon the idea that “FEMA will take care of us and everything will be OK.” While the administration is relying on FEMA to handle the response to Hurricane...

Manteo, N.C. — The Outer Banks are no stranger to a Category 1 hurricane like Irene, which hit Saturday with 85 mph winds and heavy rain. But Irene's eye tracked just west of the Pamlico, Croatan and Albermarle sounds, then crossed the Currituck Sound to go back out to sea. That drew water from the sounds, as well the ocean, west. The water piled up in bays, inlets and rivers on the western side of the sounds. Once the hurricane passed, that water rushed east back, smashing into the barrier islands. "The soundside flooding last night was epic as far...

Well at least this happened on a Sunday and not on a day I had to get to work. Woke up this morning to some heavy rains and winds, all attributed to some storm named Irene that was supposed to blow itself out off the New Jersey coast last night. All in all, the winds weren't any worse than what we get from your typical winter storm but unfortunately some sort of tree or "branch" brought down a power line in my neighborhood, rendering us without any of the modern conveniences. So now I finally get to use that Briggs...

The power companies are already dealing with thousands of outages as Irene moves toward Connecticut Sunday. The storm has been downgraded to a tropical storm, but the impact is being felt by more than half a million people who have no power. More than 531,000 Connecticut Light & Power customers were in the dark early Sunday morning. Winds are too high in some areas for CL&P crews to respond. Connecticut has some of the most heavily-wooded areas in the region, and one of the most wooded power service areas in the country, according to CL&P.Crews will not be able to...

It's a hurricane, not Armageddon. Good grief. A Category 1 storm, you'd think "Irene" was the worst storm America has ever endured.

Hurricane Irene made its second landfall, this one early Sunday in southern New Jersey, as the storm continued its relentless push toward New York City. Though the storm weakened as it moved up the Eastern Seaboard, it continued to funnel storm surge and flood water to the Jersey shore overnight, where the National Hurricane Center said the center of the storm crossed over land near Little Egg Inlet around 5:35 a.m., which is north of Atlantic City. The storm’s maximum sustained winds are estimated to be 75 miles per hour, making it a weak category one hurricane. The hurricane first...

Connecticut's biggest electric company says there's no truth to the rumor it'll cut power at midnight because of Hurricane Irene. Connecticut Light & Power Co. spokesman Mitch Gross says talk of a Saturday night power cut is an "ugly rumor" and it's "absolutely not true." He says the company is seeking to calm people who've been affected by it. Connecticut Light & Power serves 1.2 million customers in 149 of the state's 169 towns. Geographically it covers 80 percent of the state.

Irene may be the first hurricane to hit the East Coast in several years, but in one respect it is like all the others that have come and gone before it: forecasters have had difficulty predicting its strength. Officials with the National Hurricane Center warned Saturday that the storm was still capable of inflicting heavy damage, particularly from flooding, as it slogged toward New Jersey and New York. But they said it had decreased in intensity, with sustained wind speeds of about 80 miles an hour, down 15 miles an hour from 12 hours before. And they acknowledged that they...

Is It Wrong to Link Hurricane Irene to Global Warming?By John Horgan | August 27, 2011 Six years ago, experts waited until after Katrina to start arguing over whether the hurricane was a consequence, at least in part, of global warming. This week, pundits didn’t even wait for Irene to smash into the U.S. to start squabbling over the same question. The green journalist-activist Bill McKibben, who last week was arrested in front of the White House while protesting an Obama administration proposal to build a new oil pipeline, got things started on Thursday. “Irene’s got a middle name, and...

The scale of Hurricane Irene, which could cause more extensive damage along the Eastern Seaboard than any storm in decades, is reviving an old question: are hurricanes getting worse because of human-induced climate change? The short answer from scientists is that they are still trying to figure it out. But many of them do believe that hurricanes will get more intense as the planet warms, and they see large hurricanes like Irene as a harbinger.

On Friday's Early Show, CBS somehow thought it was appropriate to bring on former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin to offer "lessons learned from other hurricanes," as Hurricane Irene bore down on the East Coast. Anchor Chris Wragge not only failed to ask Nagin about his failures in leadership in the lead-up to Hurricane Katrina, but also twice labeled his guest an "expert in the field".

NEW YORK — As Hurricane Irene roars toward the East Coast — home to some of the country's most densely populated cities and costliest waterfront real estate — experts are forecasting a multibillion-dollar disaster. Hurricane Irene is expected to make landfall in North Carolina as a Category 2 storm early Saturday, then move up the Eastern Seaboard, where more than 50 million people from the Carolinas to Massachusetts could be in the path of heavy rain and tropical-force winds. The economic impact of the hurricane largely will depend on factors that include the storm's size, where it makes landfall, and...

Yeah, I know, Hurricanes are rare in the Northeast. But, we've experienced Nor'easters in the past that along with the wind and storm surge, have dropped tons of snow on the area causing billions of dollars in damages.  To say the Northeast is completely unprepared for this type of event is a stretch at best. New York City has flooded in the past and it will flood again in the future, as will any other city that sits ADJACENT TO THE ATLANTIC OCEAN!I'm not saying the evacuations were wrong, they were, in fact, the right thing to do. Hurricanes are unpredictable, but the constant...

Heeding Hurricane Warnings but NOT the Day of the Lord! Location: Somewhere "in an underground bunker" in the heart of the People’s Republic of Socialistic Connecticut. As hurricane “Irene” is crawling along at 12 miles per hour on the way to Connecticut, our state is bracing for this Category - 1 hurricane. To us up here in the north we do not get these kinds of hurricanes. For many; panic, dread and fear of the unknown are gripping the state while others maintain calm. There is not one bottle of water to be found any where along with D –...

I've been watching coverage of Hurricane Irene. Being a resident of Tampa, Florida, I have been through Hurricane Frances and Jean and the close call of Charley. So, like all Floridians I'm personally aware of what a hurricane or tropical storm can do. As I'm typing this I'm listening to reports that Irene is outperforming its category. I've also been perusing websites and that includes Drudge Report. I've had other concerns of late with Mr. Drudge's site recently, but I am alarmed with links that are downplaying expectations. There are a wide variety of links,but this link to Dr. Simon...

No, this wasn’t meant to be a joke. Although many believe the 2005 response to Hurricane Katrina was a colossal failure at every level of government, former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin appeared on MSNBC on Friday to offer preparedness advice for those in Hurricane Irene’s path. Speaking with Martin Bashir, Nagin gave government agencies and their leaders high marks for their preparations. But he said only time will tell if the public follows their instructions.

If you are affected by the storm approaching, please tell us what you have done to prepare for it. And keep us updated as it comes your way.

Up until now (Friday evening) Irene has been very similar to 1985 hurricane Gloria, though a bit weaker. But the level of hype—because of its projected path near all of the I-95 major cities—is similar to that of 26 years ago. -snip- Irene has put on a remarkably similar show. Within the limits of forecasting error, Irene’s projected path makes it was impossible to rule out a major disaster. But, as a dangerous Category 3 storm within two days of land, something similar to what happened to Gloria occurred. Instead of going slightly off course, the power of her winds...

A highly unusual East Coast earthquake and a looming hurricane strike are being blamed for the nation’s economic woes by former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and senior economic adviser to President Obama, Austan Goolsbee. “No other president has had to deal with an earthquake in the nation’s capital,” Goolsbee observed. “And as we have seen, the quake has shaken the very foundations of our government and our way of life. Have you seen the pictures of the cracks in the Washington Monument?” “Right on top of the earthquake we now have a hurricane headed straight for the...

NAGS HEAD, N.C. —Irene became the first hurricane since 2008 to make landfall in the continental United States on Saturday morning when it came ashore just east of Cape Lookout in North Carolina. It was the first stop for a storm that, though weakened to a Category 1, is expected to lumber slowly and soggily up the East Coast, bringing flooding rains to a dozen states. Debris floated along the roads after Hurricane Irene hit Topsail Island in North Carolina on Friday. More Photos » Shingles and pieces of siding began to peel off beach houses in Nags Head, about...

Shutting down the whole city? Evacuating everywhere? "I KNOW BEST. I AM BLOOMBERG"

President Barack Obama holds conference call on Hurricane Irene with FEMA Director Craig Fugate, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Chief of Staff Bill Daley, and John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security, in Chilmark, Mass., Aug. 26, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

EWING, N.J. (AP) -- New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is not amused to see TV reports showing people squeezing in a little more beach time before evacuating because of Hurricane Irene. He had strong words for them at a news conference on Friday, saying: "Get the hell off the beach in Asbury Park."

In hurricane Irene bull's eye, coastal North Carolina bracesBy Patrik Jonsson | Christian Science Monitor – 15 hrs ago **SNIP** North Carolina declared a state of emergency Thursday, opening access to federal assets to help government agencies respond to the disaster. To help with a potentially disastrous aftermath, the government has stationed mountains of supplies, including water and generators, at Fort Bragg, one of the country's largest military installations. In North Carolina, an emergency declaration also means concealed weapons carry permits are invalid for the duration – another grim reminder of the potential of a storm to cause civil unrest.

A friend from my parish called, wondering if there was any policy about Mass and bad weather, or if any of the three dioceses in our region had issued a statement on Hurricane Irene.Here’s what I found. All three have statements on their websites from their respective bishops.From Nicholas DiMarzio in Brooklyn: “In light of the serious threat posed by Hurricane Irene, which is due to hit our area over the weekend, I urge the faithful of the Diocese of Brooklyn to use caution and prepare for this dangerous storm.It goes without saying that for those areas of the...

Just went through a 5.9 earthquake. We who live along the Potomac River are on flood watch. The Libyans can't find Moammar Gaddhafi and, more important, don't have any idea how to run the country even if they do. And, Hurricane Irene is taking dead aim at the Eastern coast of the United States. I tweeted yesterday: Alexandria VA: Earthquake, Potomac flooding, now a hurricane? Not going to the Safeway for milk & bread. I'm looking for Mezuzahs. Seriously. Weekly jobless claims were above projections but those data were lost in the swirl of the announcements that Steve Jobs was...

In 2006 Senator Chuck Schumer went after Allstate insurance for canceling homeowners policies in NY.

Beaufort, N.C. Against predictions, hurricane Irene lost strength Friday afternoon, now registering as a weakening Category 2 hurricane with little chance of revival before it hits North Carolina on Saturday. While Irene's wind speeds dropped to about 100 miles per hour, the risks for inland flooding remained high, with the storm expected to drop as many as 8 inches of rain on water-logged parts of the mid-Atlantic and New England. “With its eyewall collapsed and just 24 more hours over water before landfall, it is unlikely Irene will have time to build a new eyewall and intensify,” writes meteorologist Jeff...