Fires on Maui, Hawaii. Keep Safe.

[J. Wilhelm]

It has come to my attention that at least 3 large fires have ravaged the island of Maui in Hawaii in the last 24 hours.

I'm praying for the safety of the people there, and as far as I know, there's at least one1 BG member who lives in Hawaii, Ms. Arabella Periscope, and I'm hoping she resides on a different island.

The damage due to dry seasonal weather and strong winds created by westbound Hurricane Dora in the Pacific have pushed the fires into populated and tourist areas, particularly Lahaina Town, a historic whaling village on the western coast, which is home to between 9,000 and 13, 000 people, and where the devastation was so swift that some residents resorted to venture into the ocean to escape the flames. Emergency services, including 911 communications and cellular service are not working. Rescue helicopters couldn't take off overnight due to the strong winds. Initial reports detail 6 deaths and a local hospital is overwhelmed with burn victims needing evacuation. American and United Airlines have ceased inbound flights and concentrated into outbound flights only. Hawaiian Airlines is keeping bidirectional flights to help in the firefighting and rescue The island is about 60 miles in diameter.

[mizzarrogh]

They could had got half of the rain disaster that struck here, i begun to wonder if nature really is what she used to be this just does not feel natural, it has just rain and rain and rain in tropical scale here for almost 3 months in a row now everything is flooded even on flat land now, the railroad was flushed away last week, first time i ever seen that happen here. I know the north east coast are always wet this time, but not anything remotely close to this.

It feels a bit ironic that the south seem to be bone dry now when they need the rain.

[J. Wilhelm]

There's simply more energy stored in the ocean and air average temperature is higher, when it should be lower (we're supposed to be entering an ice age. Instead we're heating up). That's abnormal and human caused.  Fluctuations (storms, temperature swings) are normal but not as intense as we see, and the heat season should have been shorter in these parts. Normally energy flows from the tropics toward the pole by ways of air and water currents, and in doing so generate hurricanes and other atmospheric phenomena, including monsoons, etc.). But there's so much energy stored this years (e.g. water temperature off the coast of Florida -shallow water - was as high as a fever or a hot tub) that I doubt that the rain you experienced was enough to dissipate all the energy accumulated. Just wait until you see the hurricanes coming. That's something to be worried about.

[mizzarrogh]

Yes, It feels like all we can do at the moment is hoping for the best and that people do realize the seriousness of the situation globally.
The first actual train crach directly caused by the rain did happen about two weeks ago here, it is the first time during my lifetime that happens here, luckily nobody where seriously injured.


My honest condolences to the fire victims and i feel genuinely sorry for those who lost their family home where people did live for generations, all this is just horrible,

[J. Wilhelm]

That was because of the high winds (80 mph/128 kph) that came from a hurricane that wasn't even close. The hurricane crossed the American Continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Not unusual, but looks how far it got into the Pacific Ocean! It wasn't a Cyclone which started in the Pacific, but a Hurricane born over the Atlantic that turned into a Typhoon (name given to storms in East Asian waters)!

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2023/08/12/hurricane-dora-makes-history-without-making-landfall/

Didn't we have in recent years a hurricane that slowed down into a tropical storm and almost reached the British Isles?

[Cora Courcelle]

Some folk here in GB whine because we haven't had much of a summer but when one considers the alternatives I, for one, am quite grateful!  (Of course complaining about the weather is a bit of a national pastime, however this summer has been pretty poor).

[mizzarrogh]

Yes, people do complain about ruined summers here too every single year, ha ha Nom idea why they still take their job vacation in the worst rain season.
I hope they got something to think about now this year whan they see with their own eyes what an actual flooding disaster really means.