HURRICANE IRENE: What the Experts are Saying

By Geno McGahee

Hurricane Irene is on a course, coming up the East Coast for the weekend and there is mass hysteria. The greater New York area is set to be hit with a storm, but the ferocity of it is yet to be determined. The recent east coast natural disasters have shaken the people. From tornados to earthquakes and now hurricanes, the people don’t know what to expect.

New York City’s Office of Emergency Management has stated that the last hurricane to pass over the city was in 1821 and it caused tides to rise 13 feet in only one hour, flooding all of lower Manhattan to Canal Street. For those in Long Island, the threat is very real and could be a huge problem. In 1938, a Category 3 storm caused what would be considered 40 billion dollars worth of damage.

Massachusetts, New York, and the surrounding areas are preparing for it to hit this weekend and the supermarkets are full of people stocking up on supplies. The experts have said that it is far too early to tell what the storm will do and what path it will take, but we did have one expert (self proclaimed) that wrote in with his feelings on Hurricane Irene and the impact it will have on the east coast.

“The very last message that I sent to the weather station on myspace was, ” meteorologist , I respect your decision, and we will just go on as friends. Her reply to me was, “I luv ya Mars, thanks for being you.” I am not a weather man, nor do I wish any harm to the people that will experience Irene. True I don’t know her trajectory personally, and I don’t want to. Irene is a great hurricane, and I pray she can be happy. If the storm is NOT an abusive hurricane, then the weatherman is a liar, it’s as simple as that. True Irene has a right to be upset, especially if it were not guilty of the things the weatherman told me it was guilty of. And again, I am not a weatherman, so be careful who YOU storm on without knowing.” – Jack Mars