FEMA PREPARES FOR HURRICANE FLORENCE

FEMA PREPARES FOR HURRICANE FLORENCE:

CONTACT FEMA 1-800-621-3362

PREPARE & PRAY PSALM 91.


Post Sources: FEMA, NBC News, Washington Post, WRAL, Youtube


***** FEMA already setting up Florence relief operation at Fort Bragg


The Federal Emergency Management Agency is setting up its relief operation for Hurricane Florence even before the massive storm hits North Carolina.

FEMA tractor-trailers filled with water and non-perishable food began rolling in Monday at Simmons Army Airfield on Fort Bragg. Officials said the staging area will provide hurricane relief to South Carolina and parts of Virginia as well as to North Carolina.

Portable generators – some large enough to power a small city – sit on flatbed trailers at the staging area.

Gov. Roy Cooper said officials have learned from past hurricanes that flooded roads and downed trees and power lines can make it hard to get supplies distributed after the storm, so he asked FEMA to move some of the supplies closer to areas that are likely to be hardest hit by Florence.

On Tuesday afternoon, Cooper met with the FEMA team at Fort Bragg and was briefed on the supplies on hand.

"We've distributed to a number of areas now because we know that they will be needed," he said. "Food, water, supplies, cots, generators are already being distributed out there in places that we know will need it."

Meanwhile, about 80 Black Hawk and Apache Longbow helicopters flew out of Simmons Army Airfield earlier Tuesday to a location near Atlanta to get out of Florence's path.

The Black Hawk helicopters could be used to help with hurricane relief efforts, if requested by the governor. But the Apache helicopters are purely fighting machines and wouldn't be useful in hurricane relief.

"If we lose these aircraft to a storm, it impacts our ability to be ready in case of any type of contingency world-round," said LTC Bryan Hummel, of the 82nd Airborne Division's Combat Aviation Brigade. "So we got to make sure we get them out and get them in a safe location, and then when the storm's passed – a couple of days after that – most likely we'll go back and recover them back here, and we'll continue to start training."

Because the Apache helicopters cost $16 million to $20 million each, it's also cheaper to fly the 80 aircraft to Georgia that risk any of them being damaged in the storm.

Polar VORTEX Winter Hits United States: Coldest Winter In Decades!

ARTICLE: "Historic & Life-Threatening' Freeze Brings Rare Danger Warning"


On Monday morning, Nashville was 40 degrees colder than Albany, New York. Memphis, Tennessee, was 20 degrees colder than Anchorage, Alaska. And Atlanta was colder than Moscow.

But the U.S. South was downright balmy compared to the Great Lakes region, where temperatures hovered in the negative 20s -- before wind chill, which dropped temps to the negative 50s, making it very dangerous to go outside.

The bitter cold that a "polar vortex" is pushing into much of the United States is not just another winter storm. It's the coldest in 20 years in many areas, and breaking some records.

More than 3,500 flights nationwide were canceled by noon ET Monday, according to flightaware.com.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn declared a statewide disaster and activated the Illinois National Guard to help provide aid.

While the current weather patterns gave the Northeast a bit of a reprieve, it's in for a brutal drop as the arctic air works its way east. New York, where it was about 50 degrees with wind chill Monday morning, could go as low as minus 7 on Tuesday, said CNN meteorologist Indra Petersons. The region could face a 60-degree temperature change in a single day.

The temperature spread within the United States is a stunning 130 degrees, CNN meteorologist Dave Hennen said, with wind chill putting northern Minnesota at 60 below zero, while Key West, Florida, basks in its dreamy 70 degrees. Much of the West can also expect relatively pleasant weather through Tuesday.

But from Minneapolis to Chicago to Milwaukee, people are under health warnings to stay indoors. Many schools have closed.

"Skin freezes in just five minutes with a wind chill of minus 50," said HLN meteorologist Bob Van Dillen.

Frostbite occurs in 10 minutes with wind chills of minus 35, Hennen added.

Over the past week, at least 13 people have died of weather-related causes. Eleven people died in road accidents; one man in Wisconsin died of hypothermia, and an elderly woman with Alzheimer's disease who wandered away from her home in New York state was found dead in the snow in a wooded area about 100 yards away.

Rare warning

In a very rare move, Minneapolis issued a "Particularly Dangerous Situation" warning about the "historic and life-threatening cold." Such warnings are typically issued for tornadoes, said Petersons.

The National Weather Service adopted the Twitter hashtag "#Chiberia" for Chicago, where temperatures were at 14 below zero. (Parts of the vast Siberian region, such as Tobolsk, had Fahrenheit temps in the low teens Monday, though other parts had temperatures of 50 below zero.)

Some of the greatest concern surrounds the tens of thousands of Midwesterners without electricity.

More than 15,000 customers in Indiana, 6,800 in Illinois and 2,200 in Missouri didn't have power overnight, according to utility companies.

Chicago opened up 12 centers for residents to seek warmth, one of which was to stay open all night through Tuesday.

Libraries and some other city facilities would also be open, said Evelyn Diaz of the city's Department of Family and Support Services.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn said 100 warming centers were open statewide.


Source: CNN