Thread: Severe Weather and Other Emergency Alerts

The predictions about this evening are very concerning, to say the least

TORNADO WARNING - Eastern ORANGE COUNTY and Central & Northern BREVARD County until 11:52AM

This includes Port Canaveral

If you are cruising out of Port Canaveral, you will want to allow a little extra time as you head to the pier.
A fatal tanker accident and fire has damaged the 528 (Beachine) overpass over State Road 3 on Merritt Island. this is just a couple of miles before the turn-off for the cruise terminals.

Trafic will be routed OFF of 528 at the S.R. 3 exit, across 3 on the surface, and then back up onto 528 on the other side of 3. Whil this is only a sort detour (going acrross S.R. 3 on the surfac, rathr than via the overpass, it may cause some slight backups as the 528 traffic exits, waits for the light, crosses, and then re-entres 528.

Word this morning is that this small detour will be necessary for 30 to 35 days.
However, if you are cruising 36 days from now, just think about how often these thingsd are actually completed on time.

Northeast braces for bitterly cold temperatures

Posted: Jan 22, 2011 6:09 PM EST Updated: Jan 23, 2011 2:29 PM EST

NEW YORK (AP) - An arctic blast from Canada is responsible for some of the frigid temperatures in the northern U.S. and some of the coldest air to hit the Northeast in two years.
Temperatures were projected to fall well below zero across New England on Sunday night as a high-pressure area builds over the region. The coldest spots will dip to less than 30 degrees below zero, with the wind chill expected to drop to 51 below zero in some places.
"This is the coldest air we've had in about two years," said Michael Hill, a weather service meteorologist in Caribou, Maine.
Emergency management agencies are urging residents to bundle up and heat their homes safely during the cold snap. Shelters are preparing for an increase in the number of people wanting to get out of the cold, and authorities in Maine and Pennsylvania waived restrictions on heating oil delivery.
Northern New England is used to cold winters; a remote site in northern Maine recorded a minus 50 reading on Jan. 16, 2009, that tied a 1933 record set in Vermont for the coldest temperature recorded in New England.
But last year's relatively warm winter provided a respite from the dangerously cold temperatures that are being forecast for early this week. Temperatures are expected to rise somewhat Tuesday before reaching seasonable levels Wednesday.
Though a high of 24 was forecast for New York's Central Park on Sunday, wind chills made daytime temperatures feel more like 3 to 7 above zero.
The National Weather Service predicted a high of 19 on Monday, meteorologist Joe Pollina said. That's the coldest it's been in New York City since Jan. 16, 2009, when the high was 16.
In Philadelphia, the city extended an alert issued Thursday that gives officials the power to go out onto the streets and bring in homeless people to shelters because the weather conditions pose a threat of serious harm or death.
About 90 miles northwest of Philadelphia, a man died after spending the night in his car in frigid temperatures in Lansford and his wife found him Saturday morning. Temperatures had dropped into the single digits overnight, Lansford police Detective Jack Soberick said, but it's not clear why 49-year-old Alan Kurtz had slept in his car.

We are having some really bad cold spells this year - nationwide!

Fires on I-95!

Weather Channel reported 30 miles of I-95 would be closed today at times because of fires.

Yesterday, we were driving back on I-95 and hit three. The one in Florida (some place around the St.Augustine exit) was the worst. Traffic crawled through thick smoke. It really was hard to see! Also, another in Georgia and another in South Carolina (about 30 minutes from the GA/SC state line) which slowed traffic but weren't as bad.

Folks driving down on I-95 for cruises may very well expect delays.

It seems to me that this may well be a superb moment to post the following caveat!

Many years ago when I was a practicing Travel Agent in the Mid-West, we operated under the philiosphy that our clients should/must always head to their Florida departure destination at least the day prior to the ship's sailing. The additional expense of a night in a Florida hotel was inevitably a whole lot less than the cost of flying to wherever the ship would be next!

SWR