As expected Hurricane Nate has intensified since entering the Gulf of Mexico and is moving very quickly.  Nate is now a category one storm with a projection to increase in intensity prior to landfall tonight around New Orleans Louisiana.  NHC HERE

[Latest Warnings] At 1000 AM CDT (1500 UTC), the center of Hurricane Nate was located near latitude 26.6 North, longitude 88.4 West. Nate is moving rapidly toward the north-northwest near 26 mph (43 km/h), and this general motion is expected to continue through this evening. A turn toward the north is forecast tonight, followed by a turn toward the northeast. On the forecast track, the center of Nate will move across the northern Gulf of Mexico today and will make landfall along the central U.S. Gulf Coast tonight.
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Tropical Storm Nate is nearing hurricane strength and is anticipated to enter the Gulf of Mexico later tonight.  –National Hurricane Center Here–

• A Hurricane Warning is now in effect for metropolitan New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain.
• A Storm Surge Warning is now in effect east of the Alabama/Florida border to the Okaloosa/Walton County Line.
• A Tropical Storm Warning is now in effect east of the Alabama/Florida border to the Okaloosa/Walton County Line.

Everyone in the narrow cone of probability (LA, MS, AL and FL) should begin immediately activating their hurricane plan. Tonight through mid-day (4pm) tomorrow is the open window for taking action and preparing yourselves.  Those further inland should also prepare for heavy rain, potential flooding and the probability of power outages.
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As anticipated, TD-16 has become Tropical Storm Nate and is likely to become Hurricane Nate in the next 24 hours.  U.S. residents in coastal Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Northwest Florida should be paying attention to this storm.  Inland residents should also consider plan for wind, rain and storm impacts. –NHC Advisory HERE–

While the projected path is still uncertain, those in the coastal region would be wise to take inventory of storm supplies and review their 72 hour pre-storm preparedness plan. Be aware of the potential for storm fatigue, take an empowering breath, and evaluate.
Nate is forecast to pick up forward speed and is anticipated to move quickly overnight tomorrow (Friday).  You do not want to wake up Saturday morning in a reactionary posture.   Take prudent steps today (Thursday) to prepare and outline your goals, leaving yourself room tomorrow (Friday) to review the updated forecast and take preparatory action based on your specific needs.
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If you are in the gulf region of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Northwest Florida it would be prudent to keep an eye on this ‘tropical depression’.  TD-16 is anticipated to gain hurricane strength and will, unfortunately, move very fast once it enters the Southern Gulf of Mexico.  Preparatory action may be needed in 36 hours.
Evaluate your current storm supply needs; take a proactive inventory; make a list of possible replacements or enhancements you might deem necessary, and keep an eye on local and national forecasts. –National Hurricane Center HERE–
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CARIBBEAN SEA (NNS) — President Donald J. Trump visited the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3), Oct. 3, to discuss relief efforts in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands with Navy and Marine Corps leadership.  President Trump met with Governor Kenneth Mapp of the US Virgin Islands aboard the Kearsarge:

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Ward Room – USS Kearsarge – [Transcript] 2:54 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Okay, thank you very much. I wanted to begin by saying well be leaving tomorrow morning very early from the White House. Well be going to Las Vegas. We will be paying our personal respects and condolences to everybody.
What happened is such a tragedy. So unnecessary — who can believe what happened in Las Vegas. Great love for the people, great love for the people of our country, and I look forward to going tomorrow. The First Lady will be coming with me, and were going to be paying our respects and condolences. Well be leaving early in the morning.
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President Donald Trump and First-Lady Melania Trump visit with victims of Hurricane Marin in Puerto Rico and delivered brief remarks to the traveling media.

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“I’m really tired of Puerto Rican government officials blaming the federal government for their woes and for not acting fast enough to help people on the island. Last week I had three federal agents in my office and I was so embarrassed; I went out of my way to apologize to them for the attitude of my government and what they have been saying about the U.S. response.”
~Jorge Rodriguez, CEO of PACIV, Puerto Rico-based engineering firm

PUERTO RICO – The head of an international engineering firm in Puerto Rico said in an editorial Saturday that when the time came to send 50 of his engineers to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, he bypassed local officials and went straight to FEMA.

The reason, said Jorge Rodriguez, the CEO of PACIV, in an editorial in the New York Post, is that “for the last 30 years, the Puerto Rican government has been completely inept at handling regular societal needs, so I just don’t see it functioning in a crisis like this one.”

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The U.S. media are being intentionally obtuse and in some cases downright false in their assertions of the primary problems for Puerto Rico.  CTH has ongoing numerous conversations with recovery and relief efforts around the entire impacted island.
The most consequential logistical issue was port access for the arrival of relief supplies.  That immediate and critical issue was met by the U.S. Defense Department, FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security.
However as FEMA Director Brock Long outlines in this interview, albeit with diplomatic nuance, the Puerto Rican municipal government system has essentially collapsed.  Government and public sector workers are not showing up to work, and the U.S. military is having to try and fill the roles of local officials within society.

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The culture within the island nation is based around comfortable dependency, and Puerto Ricans are currently showing no capacity to care for themselves, their neighbors, or take action as individual communities to help their own recovery.
There are thousands of tons of relief supplies sitting in ports, 3,000 full containers, with the U.S. army ready to help load up Puerto Rican trucks for local delivery. However, the municipal governments and local transportation officials are not lifting a finger to get these supplies into their communities. WATCH THIS VIDEO BELOW:
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After the devastation created by Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico is in crisis – everyone agrees with that overall sentiment.  However, as we noted last weekend, the media reporting on the recovery issue is ridiculously politicized.
Hillary Clinton, her crew of sycophants, the democrats and their ideological leftist media cohorts are working earnestly to turn the Puerto Rico crisis into an anti-Trump false narrative.  The media are exhausting themselves on propaganda instead of focusing on real issues of helping the people of Puerto Rico.
Today the Washington Post pushes a story of the U.S.N.S Comfort being ordered to Puerto Rico and claiming it was Hillary Clinton who forced the issue:

We saw this “narrative” coming last weekend and shared the ridiculous nature of it.  The propaganda writer for the story, Dan Lamothe, needed to be challenged because it’s just false; and he even admits he knows he’s written a BS story.
The USNS Comfort is a 900′ (length) x 100′ (width) hospital.  It was built by modifying a 1970’s era oil tanker (old hull design – non bulbous bow), and it weighs approximately 67,000 tons.    It’s essentially still an old oil tanker in water placement design; meaning it needs a port to receive it on arrival.
Additionally, it takes approximately five days to activate Comfort into service.  Fueling, supplying, and the engineering to prepare for ocean passage of a massive vessel is a lengthy process.  She also needs personnel to arrive and stage etc.  All said, the logistics and engineering takes five days prep time.
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The majority of people who are providing media opinion on Puerto Rico recovery efforts really don’t have any understanding of the scale of the logistics involved when the impact zone is an island.
Hurricane Maria destroyed hundreds of vessels in and around the various PR ports making entry and exit into harbors a maze of submerged vessel and sunken debris avoidance. In addition, the ports’ infrastructure systems (power, utilities, docking equipment, pump stations, fuel depots, etc) were severely impacted, and in many ports 100% wiped out.  Buoys, markers, harbor-lights, towers, all gone – completely destroyed.

Puerto Rico is an island, so bringing in relief supplies by cargo ship is the only way to deliver massive tonnage of supplies, heavy equipment and material needed to begin any restoration and recovery effort. Without ports those supplies cannot be offloaded. Especially think about fuel shipments. See the issue?
However, in a stunning feat of skill, ingenuity and determination the harbor entries have been mapped for navigable passage by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard while simultaneously the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have been working on the land-based side of the port infrastructure. [The major port of San Juan was opened Sept. 23rd.]
All of this is happening while the Dept. of Defense is leading FEMA efforts and providing U.S. marine units, fixed wing and helicopter, to deliver supplies to the hardest hit areas.
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