21 trapped in upstate NY hotel

Officials are concerned that the Gilboa Dam has been breached after all signals to the dam were lost this morning. Downstream from the dam, twenty-one people are stranded in a hotel threatened by the river's rising levels. Via myFOXNY:

A massive effort was underway Sunday to rescue 21-people, including several children, trapped in a Catskills motel as fast rising storm waters surrounded the building. The motel is in Prattsville, N.Y.  The N.Y. National Guard deployed 129 soldiers and several speed boats to try to get to the Green County motel.

John Esquivel spoke on the phone with Fox 5 News.  He is with his family in the Moore's Motel.  He says, when they woke up this morning, they saw rising water.  By the time they got ready to leave, the entire building was surrounded by a 450 yard wide river.

Everyone in the building rushed up to the second floor.  Brown, debris filled waters rose over the entire first floor of the building.  All power and phone service was lost in the building.
Their main concern was if a dam above the motel were to break.

"If that dam breaks, we're going to be in worse shape," Esquivel said in a phone interview with Fox 5 News...Things got so desperate that the adults starting planning what they were going to do if the build started breaking apart or floating away.  Their plans included tying sheets to each other so they would not be carried apart.  They were worried as several mobile homes and cars rushed by, but did not strike the building they are trapped inside.

Update: 51 People Saved From Upstate Motel

Irene vs. Katrina

Source: The Weather Channel

Irene in Infrared, August 27th (The Weather Channel)

Irene from space (NASA)

Eye of Storm could pass through NYC

Meteorologists are now saying Irene could make a second of third landfall in New York City itself on Sunday around 10 a.m., after skirting the Jersey Shore Saturday night. According to the city's mayor, effects of Irene on New York may be felt as soon as 9 p.m. Saturday local time. Irene's winds, rain and storm surge could flood lower Manhattan's streets and subway tunnels, and even put JFK underwater.

The Hurricane of Peace

Many are pointing to the irony of the name of the hurricane that stands to threaten over 65 million people this weekend--Irene is derived from the name the Greeks gave to their goddess of peace. The End Times Forecaster points out that the threat of Irene follows pressure by the U.S. on Israel to agree for the first time that a Palestinian state should follow '67 borders earlier this month. Just as the U.S. is guiding Israel down a path of destruction in the guise of 'peace', so it faces an ironically-named whirlwind of destruction, right through its major metropolitan areas.

Moreover, while the world is conspiring to vote in favor of a unilateral Palestinian state on Israeli land on September 20th, Israel's historical ally, the United States, has stood silent. And as Israel continues to be barraged by rocket fire after a triple terrorist attack in the South last week, the U.S. and other Western countries sufficed to call for restraint in the region, rather than differentiate between perpetrator and victim.

The last major hurricane to inflict historical damage on the U.S. was Katrina, which took place almost exactly six years ago, in late August 2005. One week before Katrina hit, Israel evacuated nearly 10,000 people from their homes on the West coast of Israel to clear space for what would become a terror launching pad for Hamas, a move which was made in a large part as a result of U.S. pressure on Israel. A week after Katrina, Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Levin blamed Katrina on U.S. pressure on Israel to concede to Palestinian demands.

Edom can do teshuva, but so long as it guides the apple of Hashem's eye down a road of destruction, it shares the same fate--yet without the promise of eternal, unconditional protection.

NYC subway shutdown scenario

According to the NY Daily News, the New York City subway system could be shut down as early as late Saturday afternoon, ahead of the expected arrival of Irene on Sunday morning. The MTA's hurricane plan describes a "worst possible scenario" in which the hurricane hits south of the city, sending of a wall of water onto New York:

The MTA battle plan, created in 2007, but still valid today, says the worst possible scenario is a hurricane making landfall at Atlantic City, 100 miles south of the city. Hurricanes spin counter-clockwise, so a big storm making landfall to the south would push a wall of ocean water onto New York.

Federal scientists say a Category 2 hurricane could drive a 20-foot storm surge into Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn. If that is what appears to be looming, the MTA hurricane plan calls for bus service to begin to be curtailed at least 12 hours before landfall.

At least eight hours before landfall, the subways would start shutting down. At "zero hour" - approximately six hours before landfall, when winds reach 39 mph - all rail and bus service would be suspended, the MTA plan says.

See here for the possibility that NYC evacuations will take place on Shabbat and here for a map of potential NYC evacuation zones. You can also call 311 and give your address to check if you are in an area which may be under evacuation on Saturday morning.

NYC Evacuations may take place on Shabbat

As of early morning Friday forecasts, Hurricane Irene is set to hit North Carolina on Saturday morning local time, setting off what will be a predicted 36 hours of "destruction" until weakening to a tropical storm around Boston on late Sunday night.

In New York City, the storm is expected to hit early Sunday morning. According to Yeshiva World News, the call to evacuate low-lying areas may be made as late as Saturday morning, during Shabbat, posing a challenge for observant Jews. NYC Mayor Bloomberg's spokesperson made the following statement to YWN on Thursday:

Right now, we’re encouraging people with family who are shut-ins in low-lying areas like the Rockaways, Coney Island and Manhattan Beach, and the eastern edge of Staten Island to bring them to higher land on Friday. But there’s a possibility that on Saturday morning, the hurricane’s track may require mandatory evacuations of these areas before Shabbos is over. If you have family or friends in a low-lying area, it might not be the worst idea to invite them to you for Shabbos.

...As regards to the general public, we will make a decision about whether to order a mandatory evacuation of Zone A low-lying areas by 8:00 AM Saturday, the day after tomorrow. However, we recommend that people start going to alternative locations if they have them because of potential traffic jams and mass transit limitations on Saturday that Jay Walder is going to discuss in a couple of minutes. So if you live in one of these communities and have a relative or friend you can stay with in a safer, less vulnerable areas, you should think about arranging to stay there until the storm passes.

See here for the map of NYC Hurricane evacuation zones which will take effect should the mayor make the call Friday or Saturday.

Wishing all those in Irene's path a safe Shabbat, preferably on high land.

New York City Hurricane Evacuation Zones (Tentative)

Current tracks show Hurricane Irene is likely to hit all major US cities along the coast from North Carolina through New England, making it the worst the US has seen since 1821, when a hurricane wreaked havoc from Norfolk to Rhode Island. One scenario (see video above) shows the eye of the storm passing directly through New York city. According to one preparedness expert: "We're talking about something that could be cataclysmic if it goes full-scale."

New York city officials will announce Friday at the earliest whether to evacuate areas of New York City in danger of flooding. New Jersey and Delaware are also preparing for mass evacuations, although the geography of the New York Harbor makes it particularly vulnerable to become the storm's harbor. The city's Office of Emergency Management has prepared the following hurricane contingency plan should the storm's path warrant evacuations (via Business Insider; PDF available here):

• Residents in Zone A (Orange) face the highest risk of flooding from a hurricane's storm surge. Zone A includes all low-lying coastal areas and other areas that could experience storm surge in ANY hurricane that makes landfall close to New York City. 

• Residents in Zone B (Yellow) may experience storm surge flooding from a MODERATE (Category 2 or higher) hurricane. 

• Residents in Zone C (Green) may experience storm surge flooding from a MAJOR hurricane (Category 3 & 4) making landfall just south of New York City. A major hurricane is unlikely in New York City, but not impossible.

An interactive map can be viewed here.

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Are you in Hurricane Irene's path? Be prepared:

• Stock up on batteries, non-perishable foods, first-aid supplies, drinking water and medications. Get supplies NOW, not later, as streets may be blocked by fallen trees. 

• Fuel and service your vehicles. 

• Have cash on hand in case power goes out and ATMs don't work.

• Park your car indoors if possible 

• Do not open windows during a hurricane 

Sources: MSNBC, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Hurricane Center. See Long Island's Hurricane Preparedness Guide for more suggestions

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The first verse of this week's Haftorah, along with the two verses preceding it, speak of the destructive power of water, as opposed to the unshakable love of God for the Jewish people:

כִּי-מֵי נֹחַ, זֹאת לִי, אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּעְתִּי מֵעֲבֹר מֵי-נֹחַ עוֹד, עַל-הָאָרֶץ--כֵּן נִשְׁבַּעְתִּי מִקְּצֹף עָלַיִךְ, וּמִגְּעָר-בָּךְ

כִּי הֶהָרִים יָמוּשׁוּ, וְהַגְּבָעוֹת תְּמוּטֶינָה--וְחַסְדִּי מֵאִתֵּךְ לֹא-יָמוּשׁ, וּבְרִית שְׁלוֹמִי לֹא תָמוּט, אָמַר מְרַחֲמֵךְ, יְהוָה

עֲנִיָּה סֹעֲרָה, לֹא נֻחָמָה; הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי מַרְבִּיץ בַּפּוּךְ, אֲבָנַיִךְ, וִיסַדְתִּיךְ, בַּסַּפִּירִים

For this is to Me [as] the waters of Noah, as I swore that the waters of Noah shall never again pass over the earth, so have I sworn neither to be wroth with you nor to rebuke you.

	For the mountains shall depart and the hills totter, but My kindness shall not depart from you, neither shall the covenant of My peace totter," says the Lord, Who has compassion on you.

 

O afflicted city, who was not consoled, behold I will set your stones with carbuncle, and I will lay your foundations with sapphires.

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		Israel Rising points out that the first US state to feel the storm's hit is North Carolina, where Jonathan Pollard has been held inhumanely for over 25 years.