This is now the new "ALL DAY TALKFEST" on the news channels.

Not that it isn't a significant storm. It's going to be nasty and if it does come too far inland, bad things will happen.

The first problem is that many of the inhabitants of north and south carolina have never been through a severe hurricane and the developers have built closer and closer to the water. Why not. Every one loves the seashore.

yeah, right, sure...

The winds swirl counterclockwise in a hurricane and that wind pushes water up ahead of the storm and it is that tidal flow that just wipes out the lowland at the beach.

This is so big and has so much inertia (remember inertia) that if it turns onto land, it will push into the USA 100 to 150 plus miles. There's nothing to stop all that wind, rain and water from moving. Think of the joke about where does the 400 pound gorilla sit? Anywhere he wants...

The last thing I will say is the warmth of the Atlantic Ocean. This is early in the hurricane season... The Gulf Stream flows up the east coast and this hurricane will follow warm water. The water in the Atlantic is hot this time of year. It only takes 2 to 4 degrees to significantly impact the strength of a hurricane. That's why hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico get so bog so fast. The Caribbean is hot. Water evaporates, rises and then forms thunderstorms within the hurricane.

Irene is doing that over the Atlantic.

I'm almost 1200 feet above sea level and have the Appalachians in between me and the coast. I might get lots of rain. Probably won't.. Last night a thunderstorm woke me at 5am and that may be worse than how Irene affects me but on the East Coast, people should be careful.

We can only hope Bob3 gives us ground reports from his top floor apartment in New Jersey.

The news seemed to claim the whole Garden State was now a State of Emergency. Although the storm is delayed until Sunday and down graded to tropical winds from the promised category 2 for N.J.

Irenegeddon? Just like Debtegeddon? Smoke screen news.

Moi

Maybe NJ could use an old oil pipeline and send water to Texas

I hope it weakens and does much less damage than they are predicting.

With gale and hurricane force winds extending outward 250 miles, it's going to take down lots of trees and other loose things...

I was once in Clearwater FL and there was a thunderstorm to 100 mph winds. It picked up everything loose and turned the loose shit into missiles. Tin tables, tiki huts, lawn furniture, lounge chairs, room dividers for those hotels with outside hallways just blew away. GAs stations with 18 pumps and those large canopy roofs got blown over. Business signs, etc... A tin garden table went in the back windshield of a car and out the front windshield of a car.

All sorts of nasty stuff like that.

I have lived through the eye of the storm not a hurricane but a typhoon in the Philippines and in Okinawa. Two different storms, one a cat 3 the other a cat 4. You batten down the hatches, bring in some K rations, break out a couple bottles and a deck of cards and enjoy the moment, for the next 3 or 4 days then spend the next day cleaning up the mess.

Oh and the water, yes everything was in water 6 to 12 inches on the ground floors, so you put all your shoes and such on top of your locker.

No big deal,

The eye of the storm is really strange, the storm is all around you but its totally calm, no wind or rain at all, go outside and its beautiful out side but only for a couple hours then the back side hits you.

River