Thread by @leahmcelrath

Many focus on hurricane wind speed and eye placement - which are important - but most hurricane-related deaths occur from storm surge and inland flooding.

#Florence is projected to hit land as a major hurricane and then SIT. It’s a worst-case flooding scenario similar to Harvey.

The most dangerous side of a hurricane is the “dirty” side, aka the one subjected to the most rainfall.

North of the equator, that is the NE side of a hurricane.

Because of these storms’ counterclockwise rotation, moisture from the ocean is cycled onto land as rain.

With #Florence, models of its size and potential placement show the storm to have a “dirty” side that encompasses DC, major military installations on the Virginia coast, and the entire Chesapeake Bay region.

It extends well all the way up the highly-populated New Jersey coast.

#Florence isn’t just another hurricane. It is poised to become a major threat to critical infrastructure and even national security.

Potentially historic flooding affecting power, major highways (including the I-95 corridor), access to food and water for millions of people, etc.

Please don’t @ me with any more jokes. I know dark humor is a coping mechanism, but this is not a funny situation.

People are going to die. Infrastructure sustaining millions of people is likely to be destroyed and will take an unknowable amount of time to be restored.
#Florence

If the potential infrastructure damage and loss of life from #Florence doesn’t raise alarms, consider how Trump and the opportunistic GOP might use a catastrophe such as this to consolidate power.

Midterms are two months away.

I talked above about how the NE side is the “dirty” side of a hurricane (one above the equator).

Check out the right, upper quadrant below:’

#Florence

https://twitter.com/cnn/status/1039159138125791232

See all the red/orange on the right side of the model below?

That’s projected wind bringing moisture in the form of rain onto land.

Now imagine it making landfall and sitting in place for days: possibly multiple FEET of rain.

#Florence is a HUGE storm.

I didn’t anticipate spending the final third of my life defending democracy and being a hurricane educator. But here we are.

Charleston, SC, to upper NJ, needs to prepare to be possibly without water, food, or power for at least a week and far longer for immediate coastal areas.

As I said, #Florence is a HUGE storm. And two *additional* storms are chasing its tail.

This is #HurricaneFlorence as seen from space. Note its size in comparison to the curvature of planet Earth:

https://twitter.com/astro_ricky/status/1039143995392307205

#BREAKING

#Florence was just declared a Category 4 hurricane.

#HurricaneFlorence

h/t @EricHolthaus

#Florence potentially the strongest storm to hit the mid-Atlantic in 60 years.

But, again: inland and coastal *flooding* from #HurricaneFlorence is not category dependent and potentially threatens the DC area, the entire Chesapeake Basin, and even NJ.

https://twitter.com/aynrandpaulryan/status/1039187013230940160

Good thread by @billmckibben with suggestions for ways you can help NOW:

#Florence
#HurricaneFlorence

https://twitter.com/billmckibben/status/1039185955796615168

U.S. military repositioning ships and submarines in advance of #Florence:

h/t @hlessig and @steffanwatkins

#HurricaneFlorence

#Florence from today’s satellite images, followed in the Atlantic by named storms #Isaac and #Helene:

#HurricaneFlorence

If you’re wondering what these #Florence imagery phenomena are, they’re called “convective outbursts” and indicate a very healthy storm.
#HurricaneFlorence is not likely to dissipate before landfall.

P.S. “Convective Outburst” would be a great band name.)

https://twitter.com/jpkassell/status/1039214529727672320

Areas that will be affected by #Florence have already had above-normal rainfall for the past two months.

That means the ground is saturated, which increases coastal and inland flooding risks.

Saturated ground also leads to more tree falls, which lead to more power outages.

Flooding risk for Washington, DC, area is high.

Also, due to ground saturation, tree-fall risk and resulting damage, road blockages, and power outages are also high.

#Florence
#HurricaneFlorence

https://twitter.com/nws_baltwash/status/1039263469227397120