Hurricane Harbor: Another Offshore Low Forms by SFL Slides up Coast ...Gale Center in N ATL. Snow in MidEast Complicating Area Impacted by 7.8 Earthquake in Turkey Where Hours Matter in Recovery.

Since this is basically by design a "tropical" blog let me say that the storm that dropped huge amounts of rain over the South Florida area during the peak of the "dry season" resembled a developing tropical system on radar and on the ground. Understand this is the height of the DRY SEASON when everyone makes outdoor festivals (Book Fairs, Art Shows, Weddings, Concerts, Parties) it is basically Miami's June in that you expect to get perfect weather and yet as South Florida is in the tropics surrounded by water and the quirky wiles of Mother Nature often those plans are thrown a wet, messy wrench. Rarely though do this look that good on radar and satellite imagery. More so models take this system up into the Atlantic FAST as a wild Gale Center that will kick up the surf and wave heights for ships at sea and beach towns along the East Coast.

The no name storm set records.

This is the 2nd no name storm this winter.

A pattern is setting up that needs to be watched...

..as we get closer to Pre Season activity.

Strange days... models BOTH agree.

Big Gale Center ... Subtropical like.

You gotta wonder when models agree.

February 2023...

Last night a horrific 7.8 Quake hit Turkey

A very deadly earthquake.

Yes, this part of Turkey gets hit often by earthquakes, but rarely does it have a 7.8 and as this area the terraine can be wicked the cities are very densely populated. Brick construction is popular there, you can read the article linked below that explains the problem when tall brick buildings meet a strong earthquake. Fault lines abound in this region, one goes down and traces Saudi Arabia infact as you can see below. Red Sea Fault Zone meets other fault zones. One afterschock after another compounds the horrible tragedy.

An excellent book to read both on Geopolitics and Cultural Geography is linked to below. The chapter on that part of the world is incredible. Both Turkey and the Ukraine are a "trans" region that connect one culture, one country to another brigding continents and cultures. "The Revenge of Geography" is the name of the book by Robert D. Kaplan, but it also tells the tale of what sort of natural disasters you will have in any given place you might end up traveling to or living. Wyoming may bring you snow totals you cannot imagine in a Winter Storm yet they don't have hurricanes in Wyoming and in Miami you may live there for 20 years and not get a bad hurricane, but live there 21 years and you may get that historic Category 5 Hurricane! Live by a dangerous earthquake fault and you will feel tremors and wonder when the big one will happen and eventually that fault will snap, crackle and pop in it's own fashion be it deep or shallow as the one that happened in Turkey and shallow and long is like a bomb slowly going off just below your feet! Last night in the middle of the night while many were sleeping that fault in Turkey snapped and buildings collapsed into piles of rubble and dead people or people hoping to be rescued somehow by someone.

To compliate matters........it's snowing...

Complicates the rush to rescue anyone....

..and add weight to the crumbled structures.

Not good.

Snow should be a blessing but in this case it's not.

Strong weather.

So I went to Arutz Sheva (an Israeli News Source) that is Drudge like in getting news out fast, first and there is extensive coverage of the deadly earthquake just to Israel's North... in fact that fault that connects to this quake and runs South through Lebanon towrds Israel and the Red Sea. Many are worried what nearby faults could shake as the whole region is impacted by a 7.8 earthquake! I found out that Winter Storm Barbara is raging in the area. Who knew?

Apparently they name Winter Storms in Israel!

The whole region was hit hard by this strong winter storm.

In this case at the worst possible time.

Ignore early death estimates...

As I said in this tweet....

...beware of early death estimates.

This can likely go above 5,000 people dead.

As horrific as it gets.

It could go way higher in fact but seriously hope not.

I don't even want to say the number in my head :(

Nothing bugs me more than when people rush to tweet out "no deaths reported" after a 6.9 earthquake in a large city when you know the death toll will be high, but hey someone has to rush in and jump the trigger to get click bait. And, some people are nonstop updating every hour when the death toll has increased as if that's the final number. Trying to figure out the final death toll is like chasing a runaway train barefoot. It will for sure eclipse the death total from Hurricane Maria that killed thousands in the Caribbean. As always I'll take a hurricane over an earthquake any day. And more annoying some people are using old footage from Champlain Towers North collapsing saying this was from the Turkish earthquake. Twitter is wonderful for news, but tread carefully when looking at videos.

So this real video tells a story.

It shows multiple problems.

Buildings that survive the first earthquake will not survive the later earthquakes, it's that basic. You know like the scene in Twister where they rush in to rescue Aunt Meg and her dog just before the house crumbles to the ground? If you are reading this blog, you have to know what I'm talking about. Note the dust cloud that looks much like the streets of Manhattan after the Twin Towers collapsed... poisonous fumes, on top of the other problems. And, the people trapped under the rubble may be suffering alive waiting for a rescue that may never happen. It's just a horrible, horrific ugly view of how Mother Nature goes dark with such events and a snow storm, on top of it...cold damp weather for the people hurt and homeless hoping for family members to be found alive have nowhere to go to escape the elements and the fears of another strong earthquake that is possible. Last night before I fell asleep one aftershock was 7.1 so it's far from over in that part of the world

Remember this..........and learn from it the edge you all have to survive, evacuate or find supplies to get through a hurricane and the after effects that are not available in a 7.8 earthquake that hits suddenly after you fell asleep or perhaps just upon arising.

HURRICANES > EARTHQUAKES

The ability to know they are coming.........

....you can track hurricanes.

Models nailed Ian's formation.

You have time to run to safety.

Or huddle down in a safe spot!

Hard to predict earthquakes tho many try and do so.

This tweet now has over 32,000 retweets.

I'm following him NOW!

On Feb 3rd he tweeted this....

...sooner or later.

So leaving you with this thought and it relates to earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes but not limited to them as there are numerous deadly natural disasters. SOONER OR LATE.... San Francisco, LA, Seattle will have another deadly earthquake! The New Madrid Fault Zone will come back to life and shock a nation waiting for the Big One to be in LA! Miami and Tampa will get that Major Hurricane that has eluded them for a while now. And, it's during the quiet times for you to research how to prepare, how to build and how to hopefully survive such a natural disaster. This is a prelude to my long April and May rants on Hurricane Preparedness. There are some supplies that are cheap, on sale often and easily refilled when past their use by dates. I keep batteries, candles and certain foods in one area and in the Winter they are "Winter Storm" supplies and as we move into Hurricane Season I check the expiration dates and keep them as "Hurricane Supplies" because eventually you will have a Winter Storm that freezes your pipes or takes your power out and makes it impossible to go shopping or a hurricane comes and washes away parts of where you live in a tropical paradise the way Ian slammed into Fort Myers Beach while avoiding Tampa Bay, the way Andrew slipped South a degree and decimated Homestead while sparing downtown Miami a Cat 5 direct hit.

If you are here for the Hurricane info and not interested in earthquakes.... take this as a reminder that the Hurricane Season is coming eventually one way or the other. You may be waiting for snow to finally fall on the Carolinas but soon you will be worrying that the Tropical Wave that looks like a Tropical Depression may wash up on your beach like yesterday's debris from a balloon shot down near Mytle Beach.

Isn't 2023 interesting???

Stay prepared, be aware and stay safe. As always please give charity to those who will need much, even more than our prayers that are given... they will need to start over again completely.

Thanks for reading. I have been under the weather with a sinus infection that I finally gave up and got antiobotics for yesterday. They never want to give you antiobiotics for bronchitis or sinus problems explaining how it's more a virus... yeah... no not really. Bacteria gets up into places, crevices and usually an antibiotic is needed. Yes, Vitamin C and Goldenseal and such help but finally on meds. Hoping to feel better sooner rather than later ;)

Be prepared always because in the world we live in currently, having a well filled pantry and may I add well stacked medical cabinet is very important. The supply chain shortage is crazy and I have kids who had problems finding OTC flu medication for their children in Miami and here in Raleigh the shelves at the local Dollar Store are bare in the medicine section and you know most of the stuff all comes in from China so... stock up and prepare as best as you can...when you can. Even my local Target was out of OTC sinus meds and other areas were hit or miss. And, yes Amazon is good when it's good and yet even there sometimes things do get back ordered.

Use the quiet times to take stock of your basic needs and stock up. I bought eggs at Trader Joes yesterday, just because they were under $4!

Thanks for your patience when I'm quiet and when I go long.

Sweet Tropical Dreams,

BobbiStorm

Ps... Pray they keep finding people alive like this child who was alive and trapped for hours in the rubble. Pray for the children, for their parents and for everyone there and if you aren't into praying...give charity!