Extremely Dangerous Hurricane Paloma (CAT 4) Heading for Cuba- 4PM Update

[magbana]

At a category 4 with sustained winds of 145 mph, this is a doozy of a storm.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT2+shtml/062357.shtml

AT 400 PM EST...2100Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE PALOMA WAS LOCATED
NEAR LATITUDE 20.5 NORTH...LONGITUDE 78.5 WEST OR ABOUT 75 MILES...
120 KM...SOUTH-SOUTHWEST OF CAMAGUEY CUBA AND ABOUT 70 MILES...115
KM...NORTHWEST OF CABO CRUZ. THIS POSITION IS ALSO ABOUT 35
MILES...60 KM...WEST-SOUTHWEST OF SANTA CRUZ DEL SUR CUBA.

PALOMA IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST NEAR 10 MPH...17 KM/HR...AND
THIS GENERAL MOTION IS EXPECTED THROUGH SUNDAY WITH A DECREASE IN
FORWARD SPEED AFTER LANDFALL. ON THE FORECAST TRACK...THE CENTER
OF PALOMA IS EXPECTED TO BE APPROACHING THE COAST OF SOUTH-CENTRAL
CUBA TONIGHT...EMERGE INTO THE ATLANTIC OCEAN LATE SUNDAY...AND BE
NEARING THE CENTRAL BAHAMAS LATE SUNDAY OR ON MONDAY.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE INCREASED TO NEAR 145 MPH...230
KM/HR...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. PALOMA IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS
CATEGORY FOUR HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE. LITTLE CHANGE
IN STRENGTH IS FORECAST UNTIL LANDFALL THEN STEADY WEAKENING SHOULD
OCCUR FOR THE NEXT DAY OR TWO.

HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 30 MILES...45 KM...FROM
THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 115
MILES...185 KM.

THE MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE REPORTED BY AN AIR FORCE RESERVE
HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT IS 952 MB...28.11 INCHES.

POTENTIALLY CATASTROPHIC STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 20 TO 25
FEET...ACCOMPANIED BY LARGE AND DANGEROUS BATTERING WAVES...IS
EXPECTED NEAR AND TO THE EAST OF WHERE THE CENTER OF PALOMA MAKES
LANDFALL ALONG THE SOUTH COAST OF CUBA. STORM SURGE FLOODING IN
THE CAYMAN ISLANDS WILL GRADUALLY SUBSIDE TONIGHT.

PALOMA IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TOTAL RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 5 TO
10 INCHES OVER CENTRAL AND EASTERN CUBA...WITH ISOLATED MAXIMUM
TOTALS OF 20 INCHES POSSIBLE. THESE RAINS MAY PRODUCE LIFE-
THREATENING FLASH FLOODS AND MUDSLIDES. FIVE TO TEN INCHES OF RAIN
ARE POSSIBLE OVER THE CENTRAL BAHAMAS. RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 1
TO 3 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS JAMAICA AND ADDITIONAL RAINFALL
AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS LITTLE CAYMAN AND
CAYMAN BRAC.

REPEATING THE 400 PM EST POSITION...20.5 N...78.5 W. MOVEMENT
TOWARD...NORTHEAST NEAR 10 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...145 MPH.
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...952 MB.

AN INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL HURRICANE
CENTER AT 700 PM EST FOLLOWED BY THE NEXT COMPLETE ADVISORY AT 1000
PM EST.

$$
FORECASTER BLAKE

[magbana]

1. FIDEL: The Third Hurricane

Reflections by comrade Fidel

THE THIRD HURRICANE

It could loose strength but it is already raining in most of the country. It’s raining on farming areas absolutely drenched by the recent rainfalls. The water reservoirs filled up to almost full capacity due to hurricanes Gustav and Ike will be releasing water on cultivated fields and valleys. This already happened at the end of August and early September. This hurricane has been given the misleading name of Paloma.

After countless hours of labor, many crops almost ready for harvesting as well as fuel, seeds, fertilizers, herbicides and the work of the equipment used to urgently grow food will again be lost.

In many places where the families awaited for and received materials to repair their homes, and where they excitedly applauded the workers who were reestablishing electricity so vital to many services, will again partly live through the same experience.

Once again destruction will revisit highways, roads and other works in various provinces of the country.

The latest report from the Meteorology Institute’s National Forecast Center has confirmed the inexorable development of the event. Nevertheless, we should not be discouraged by adversity. Paloma is not covering such an extensive area as Gustav.

Our people should learn from every such event about the consequences of climate change and the ecologic unbalance, which are some of the many problems humanity is facing.

The initial estimates of the economic damages caused by the two previous hurricanes were short of reality. The losses amounted to 8 billions instead of the 5 billions originally announced. This time there will be additional damages.

The cadres who are decidedly and restlessly coming to grips with the problems shall insist on demanding from their compatriots that they respond to these adverse circumstances with hard work in both production and services.

And, if the chief of the empire and leading promoter of the genocidal blockade on our country were to offer again his pious assistance, he would again receive a dignified response: it would certainly be rejected. Our people demand that the blockade is lifted, especially now that humanity has unanimously called for it amidst a financial crisis which is pounding on every developed and developing nation on the Earth.

There are still some who dream of submitting Cuba using the criminal blockade as an instrument of the U.S. foreign policy against our homeland. If that country made the same mistake again it could spend another century implementing that useless policy against Cuba; that is, if the empire could last that long.



Fidel Castro Ruz

November 7, 2008

8:24 p.m.

[amyrose2712]

2. Do you have a link for this?...

I am in NO WAY questioning the validity of this post. I just like to have sources. They are helpful in squashing the propaganda regarding Cuba. Thanks.

[magbana]

4. URL for Fidel's Reflection - "The Third Hurricane"

Sorry, I should have includedtis in the original post.

http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2008/noviembre/sabado8/reflexiones.html

[amyrose2712]

5. Thanks. I appreciate the repost.nt

[Billy Burnett]

6. Fidel Castro is dead. The reflection is fake, as are the recent photos with/by Lula.

Just ask DU's (anti) Cuba experts. :eyes:

[amyrose2712]

7. I wasn't implying that. nt

[Billy Burnett]

8. I know. I was joking around.

Sorry for any confusion created by me. I was being sarcastic about certain DU (anti)Cuba experts who insist that it's true.

:hi:

[amyrose2712]

9. I figured as much but, ya never know around here nt

[Bacchus39]

10. this is propaganda straight from the horse's mouth

its valid.

[Judi Lynn]

3. "Paloma slams into Cuba" - CNN

updated 6 minutes ago
Paloma slams into Cuba



Two men wade through a flooded street
in Camaguey, Cuba, on Saturday.

CAMAGUEY, Cuba (AP) -- A ferocious Hurricane Paloma roared ashore in Cuba on Sunday, downing power lines, flooding the coast and forcing hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate on an island still recovering from two other devastating storms.

Paloma made landfall near Santa Cruz del Sur late Saturday as an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm, but by Sunday morning it had weakened to a tropical storm with winds of 70 mph (110 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Early reports of damage were limited, but Cuban state media said the late-season storm toppled a major communications tower on the southern coast, interrupted electricity and phone service, and sent sea surges of up to 700 meters along the coast.

Forecasters say the Cuban government has discontinued all warnings associated with Paloma.

The storm was expected to continue to lose strength as it slowly moved across Cuba and headed toward the central Bahamas on Monday morning. The storm was expected to unravel and not threaten the southern tip of Florida.

In the central-eastern Cuban province of Camaguey, more than 220,000 people were evacuated from low-lying areas. Another 170,000 people were moved in the eastern province of Las Tunas.

Cuba regularly relocates masses of people to higher ground ahead of tropical storms and hurricanes, preventing major losses of life.

In the city of Camaguey, 79-year-old Rosa Perez waited out the storm at a government shelter with her 83-year-old husband and about 900 others from the town of Santa Cruz del Sur.

More:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/weather/11/09/paloma.ap/index.html