Daily Archives: September 29, 2022

Hurricane Ian Taking Aim at the Carolinas and Georgia – Public Advisory – 800 PM EDT

At 800 PM EDT (0000 UTC), the center of Hurricane Ian was located by an Air Force Hurricane Hunter aircraft near latitude 29.7 North, longitude 79.4 West. Ian is moving toward the north-northeast near 10 mph (17 km/h). A turn toward the north is expected tonight, followed by a turn toward the north-northwest with an increase in forward speed Friday night. On the forecast track, Ian will approach the coast of South Carolina on Friday. The center will move farther inland across the Carolinas Friday night and Saturday. Maximum sustained winds are near 75 mph (120 km/h) with higher gusts. Ian could slightly strengthen before landfall tomorrow and is forecast to rapidly weaken over the southeastern United States late Friday into Saturday. >click to read< Graphics, >click here< 20:15

Many trapped in Florida as Ian heads toward South Carolina – Photos show the devastating impact of Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers

Rescue crews piloted boats and waded through flooded streets Thursday to save thousands of Floridians trapped after Hurricane Ian destroyed homes and businesses and left millions in the dark. A hurricane warning was issued for the South Carolina coast, where the storm was expected to again make landfall, having already hit Cuba and Florida. Photos, >click to read< Photos show the devastating impact of Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers  With top winds of 155 mph, Ian was a major storm that left catastrophic damage in its wake after hitting the southern Gulf Coast and moving north through Florida’s inner counties. The images below show its impact around the state. >click to view<  16:40

A rare summer-long chinook opener was not enough to lure SE trollers away from Chumageddon

Chinook trollers in Southeast may have left a sizeable portion of their allocation in the water when the summer season wrapped up on September 20 – but that doesn’t mean it was a bad year. Instead, it was a rather unusual year. “Being able to retain chinook for the entire summer is not something that they’re used to,” said Grant Hagerman, troll management biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish & Game in Sitka. Commercial trolling for king salmon was open all summer, with only three days off to allow silver salmon – or coho – time to escape into their natal streams, lakes, and rivers. Hagerman says the long summer season wasn’t due to a lack of king salmon; rather, it was an abundance of choice. Commercial trolling has changed. >click to read/listen< 12:37

Fishermen reeling as further whale protection measures fast tracked

Maine lobstermen worry that their fate is sealed. Dozens gathered Tuesday evening in the Ellsworth Elementary-Middle School cafeteria for a livestream of a NOAA Fisheries scoping session on modifications to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan. Hundreds more participated online. Spurred by a recent court ruling, federal regulators are fast tracking plans to achieve a 90 percent reduction in entanglement risk. “These are measures that are going to really hurt and there were measures that were put forth that look really bad that didn’t come close to 90 percent, so I want people to realize that this is real, that this is coming and it’s not going to be pretty,” said Kristan Porter, president of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association and an Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team member. >click to read< 10:15

People trapped, 2.5M without power as Hurricane Ian drenches Florida

Hurricane Ian left a path of destruction in southwest Florida, trapping people in flooded homes, cutting off the only bridge to a barrier island, damaging the roof of a hospital intensive care unit and knocking out power to 2.5 million people as it dumped rain across the peninsula on Thursday. One of the strongest hurricanes to ever hit the United States threatened catastrophic flooding around the state. Ian’s tropical-storm-force winds extended outward up to 415 miles (665 km), drenching much of Florida and the southeastern Atlantic coast. Photos, >click to read<

Tropical Storm Ian bringing ‘catastrophic flooding’ to east-central Florida – After making landfall as a powerful Category 4 hurricane, Ian weakened into a tropical storm as it made its way across Florida Wednesday night, according to the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center. At 8 a.m. Thursday, maximum sustained winds were still 65 mph. The storm is expected to bring life-threatening flooding, storm surge and gusty winds across Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. >click to read< 08:50