Updated: Crist: Main threats from Ida high winds, storm surge, heavy rains, isolated tornadoes

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

Atlantic - Caribbean Sea - Gulf of Mexico
Tropical Weather Outlook (en Español*)100 PM EST MON NOV 9 2009
Tropical Weather Discussion105 PM EST MON NOV 09 2009
Tropical Storm IDA
Storm Archive
...IDA TURNS NORTHWARD...SHOULD MAKE LANDFALL OVERNIGHT...
3:00 PM CST Mon Nov 9Location: 28.4°N 88.5°WMax sustained: 70 mphMoving: N at 18 mphMin pressure: 991 mb
PublicAdvisory #24 300 PM CST
AvisoPublico #23A 1200 PM CST
Forecast/Advisory #24 2100 UTC
ForecastDiscussion #24 300 PM CST
Wind SpeedProbabilities #24 2100 UTC

NWS LocalStatements
US Watch/Warning 300 PM CST

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Democrat staff report • November 9, 2009





4:30 P.M.
Gov. Charlie Crist declared a state of emergency as Tropical Storm Ida was downgraded from hurricane strength Monday and state agencies went on full alert to help Panhandle residents hit by high winds and flooding.


"The main threats from Ida are high winds, storm surge, heavy rains and isolated tornadoes," Crist said at an afternoon briefing in the Emergency Operations Center. "We were reminded during Tropical Storm Fay that a storm does not have to be a hurricane to be life-threatening."


Tropical storm warnings were posted for the Panhandle to the Aucilla River.


Ruben Almaguer, director of the Division of Emergency Management, said there are three weeks left in hurricane season. He noted that Ida had been a Category 2 hurricane on Sunday, though it was expected to weaken significantly before making landfall early Tuesday.


Almaguer said the EOC went to "Level One" operational status, with officials of all state agencies called to duty. The Florida Highway Patrol told officers to be ready to move into the Panhandle, if needed, and Florida National Guard units were also alerted to have supplies and vehicles ready.


Crist and Almaguer said residents should stay informed of storm news, avoid downed power lines or flooded areas and check on neighbors who might need help. The state also has a preparedness site on the Internet at www.floridadisaster.org for late information on storm status, evacuation routes and other updates.

-- Bill Cotterell, Florida Capital Bureau


3:30 P.M.
Tropical Storm Ida is causing little more than heightened awareness in areas around Tallahassee.


Residents and emergency officials seem aware, but not concerned.


People at the Shell Island Fish Camp in St. Marks this afternoon were taking Ida in stride, carrying on with their usual activities. Murry Stokes, who had been fishing earlier with his girlfriend near the St. Marks lighthouse, tossed red-fish guts to a hungry otter from the marina as he cleaned the day’s catch. He said the seas weren’t “too bad.”


Source:http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20091109/NEWS01/911090311/Updated--Crist--Main-threats-from-Ida-high-winds--storm-surge--heavy-rains--isolated-tornadoes


Source:

Hurricane watch issued for coastal La., Miss.

This image provided by NOAA shows Hurricane Ida taken at 12:02 a.m. EST Sunday Nov. 11, 2009. The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Ida's winds had picked up to 75 mph (120 kph), making it a Category 1 storm. Ida plowed into Nicaragua's Atlantic coast on Thursday as a Category 1 hurricane, damaging 500 homes along with bridges, power lines, roads and public buildings. The hurricane was on a path that would take it through the middle of the Yucatan Channel that separates Mexico and Cuba on Sunday. Forecasters predict Ida will enter the Gulf of Mexico, eventually weaken again to tropical storm strength and possibly brush the U.S. Gulf Coast next week. (AP Photo/NOAA)

By Catherine E. Shoichet
Associated Press Writer / November 8, 2009


Source: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2009/11/08/ida_becomes_hurricane_as_it_nears_cancun_mexico/

MIAMI—A hurricane watch has been issued for coastal Louisiana and Mississippi as Hurricane Ida begins making its way through the Gulf of Mexico toward the U.S.

Ida could reach the northern Gulf Coast by Tuesday.

Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami said Sunday morning that the watch does not include New Orleans and stretches from Grand Isla, La., to the Mississippi-Alabama state line. The watch means hurricane conditions are possible within 36 hours.

A hurricane warning remained in effect for parts of the Yucatan Peninsula meaning hurricane conditions are expected within 24 hours.

Ida's winds remained at 90 mph (150 kph), making it a Category 1 storm. It was moving toward the northwest at 10 mph (17 kph) and was centered about 75 miles (120 km) northeast of Cozumel, Mexico.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

CANCUN, Mexico (AP) -- Ida grew into a hurricane for a second time as it roared over the Caribbean on a path that could take it between Mexico's resort-studded Yucatan Peninsula and Cuba before heading for the southern United States.

Tour operators and fishermen along Mexico's Caribbean coast, including Cancun, pulled their boats out of the water Saturday in anticipation of rains and winds from Ida's outer bands. But the hurricane appeared unlikely to make direct hits on either Mexico or Cuba, with its forecast track passing over the Yucatan Channel that separates the countries on Sunday.

Cancun's beaches were empty on Saturday as rain began pelting down, but tourists walked the streets under umbrellas or improvised rain ponchos. Most appeared unconcerned.

"We're not too worried. I'll get some good pictures," said Steve Rydgren, a 30-year-old photographer from Seattle, as he arrived in Cancun for a one-year anniversary vacation with his 29-year-old wife Stacy.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Ida's winds had picked up to 90 mph (150 kph), making it a Category 1 storm. Ida plowed into Nicaragua's Atlantic coast on Thursday as a Category 1 hurricane, laying waste to 500 homes and damaging bridges, power lines, roads and public buildings, before weakening into a tropical storm.

Forecasters predicted Ida would weaken over the Gulf of Mexico to tropical storm strength and possibly brush the U.S. Gulf Coast next week. The hurricane center forecast that Ida could strengthen to Category 2 later Sunday.

Realtor Beth Conway, 41, from Sacramento, California, said she was happy just to be in Cancun.

"We don't really care if it's rainy or sunny," Conway said as she gathered her luggage at the Cancun airport. "We were just hoping they weren't going to cancel our flight."

Mexico issued a hurricane warning for parts of the Yucatan Peninsula, from Playa del Carmen to Cabo Catoche, including Cancun and Cozumel. That means hurricane conditions are expected within 24 hours. Continued...

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Government: 40 dead in El Salvador flooding

AP
posted: 29 MINUTES AGOcomments:

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador -Forty people have died in El Salvador following three days of heavy rains, Interior Minister Humberto Centeno said Sunday.

Centeno told a news conference that the deaths happened in at least five of the 14 provinces of the mountainous Central American country, where it has been raining since Thursday.
Centeno said at least two dozen of the deaths happened in the central San Vicente province. He did not provide details.

Hurricane Ida passed through Nicaragua on Thursday, slamming the country's Atlantic coast, and damaging or destroying about 500 homes, as well as roads and bridges.

The rains in El Salvador were caused by a low pressure system off the country's Pacific coast, and while the presence of Ida in the Caribbean may have played some indirect role in helping steer the system, the deaths are not directly linked to the hurricane, said Dave Roberts, a Navy hurricane specialist at the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida.

"Because Ida is in the northwest Caribbean, there is a very large weakness in the steering currents in the middle levels of the atmosphere that's making this thing move on shore near El Salvador from the eastern Pacific," he said. "If there were deaths associated with this rainfall amount in El Salvador, I would not link it to Ida."

Ida is a Category 1 hurricane with 90-mph (145-kph) winds and is passing close to Mexico's Yucatan peninsula.


Source: http://news.aol.com/article/government-40-dead-in-el-salvador/758013

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