Tropical Storm Elsa is anticipated to make landfall along the western coastline of Florida later today. With Elsa moving through warm water in the southern Gulf of Mexico it is possible Elsa will gain hurricane strength prior to landfall. Residents along the Western coastal area of Florida should be prepared. As long-time readers are aware, depending on events later today, my CERT responsibilities will likely limit my posting (tool boxes loaded).

Elsa’s winds extend outward to 70 miles as it travels through the gulf coast area. However, this system is pushing a lot of water on the southeast quadrant. Moderate storm surge and flooding is an issue for the coastal areas due to the amount of rain predicted.  This is a very wet system.  Treepers in the Sarasota/Tampa Bay area northward to the bend should pay particular attention tonight.  Power outages will be more sporadic as they result from wind strength/duration.

National Hurricane Center – […] “At 1100 AM EDT (1500 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Elsa was located near latitude 24.9 North, longitude 82.8 West. Elsa is moving toward the north-northwest near 10 mph (17 km/h) and a generally northward motion is expected today and tonight. A turn toward the north-northeast is expected on Wednesday, followed by a faster northeastward by late Thursday.

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Florida officials held an extensive briefing today to update on the planned demolition of the unstable elements of the Surfside condominium building so that rescue and recovery work on the collapsed building can begin again.  Compounding the issues is the looming arrival of Tropical Storm Elsa; however, fortunately the storm appears to have taken a slightly more westward track and should be minimal for the Surfside, Florida, region.

According to local officials the demolition of the remaining structure will likely take place later today.  In the interim the search and recovery work has been paused as explosive experts prepare to bring down the unstable remnant of the 12-story building.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis spoke at the beginning of the press conference emphasizing the arrival of Tropical Storm Elsa should be watched carefully.  Elsa now appears to be a west coast of Florida issue and will likely skirt up the western coastal area along the Gulf of Mexico.  The entire South-West coast of Florida will likely see varying effects from a very strong tropical storm Tuesday and Wednesday.

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A decision has been reached to demolish the remaining unstable part of the collapsed condominium building in Surfside, Florida, as Tropical Storm Elsa flirts in/out of hurricane status [NHC Update] while moving through the Caribbean.

Elsa is anticipated to impact south Florida on Tuesday.  During a press conference today Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced the controlled demolition will take place prior to Elsa’s arrival in order to protect rescue and recovery workers.

“Demolition of the unsafe portion of the building is the fastest way to continue rescue operations”, DeSantis announced.  Officials on the ground are fearful that high winds connected to the arriving storm will make the remaining structure too unstable for any rescue operations to continue if they do not take the unstable portion down. Details of the operation to execute a controlled demolition will be released soon.

In the interim all residents in South Florida have been instructed to keep an eye on Elsa as she wobbles across Haiti and Cuba in the next 48 hours.  Most counties in South Florida have been put under a proactive state of emergency status. Slight shifts in the storm, to the east or west, will determine how much of the south Florida area are impacted. The current track puts Elsa on the west side of the state in the Gulf of Mexico late Monday and early Tuesday.

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There are numerous laser guided measuring devices located in and around the remaining structure of the collapsed condominiums in Surfside, Florida.  Overnight those devices detected significant movement in the remaining building as well as large cracks developing in the underground garage area.

As a result rescue and recovery workers were pulled from the building as engineers contemplate how to move forward.

(Herald) […] Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Alan Cominsky confirmed the development during a press briefing on Thursday morning. The agonizing decision, he said, was made just after 2 a.m. Cominsky described the threat of a large concrete column hanging over a subterranean parking area, which has moved six to 12 inches. He added that crews were also alerted to widening cracks and “slight movement” in a concrete slab on the southern side of the building.

High-tech monitors aimed at the tenuous pile of debris were responsible for making rescue workers aware of the dangerous shifts. Moments later, they were forced to lower cranes and pull back crews under the darkness of the early morning. (link)

Before the efforts were suspended the recovery workers had pulled more bodies from the rubble. 18 bodies have now been recovered and 145 people remain missing. These unfortunate developments occur as the installed occupant of the White House arrived to thank first-responders and rescue workers for their efforts.

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The mumbling White House occupant visited FEMA headquarters to review preparations for this year’s upcoming Hurricane season.

Lord, hear our prayers….

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Bottom-line folks, with the mass exodus of competence in logistics, supply chain organization and priority relief delivery experts, in favor of politically correct non-gender specific diversity operatives, don’t look for any help from the Feds.

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Forty percent of Austin residents are without power, and up to a total of four million Texas residents are suffering under extreme cold conditions as the state power grid is overwhelmed.   Making matters worse, a shortage of natural gas combined with failures of most wind turbines due to ice and freezing temperatures have dropped power generation.

TEXAS – Nearly 200,000 Austin Energy customers woke up without power Monday and were not expected to get it back until Tuesday — possibly late in the day — because of a so-called rotating power outage that didn’t rotate, leaving parts of the city in the cold and dark.

The outages began in the middle of the night, leaving swaths of neighborhoods without electricity, as already freezing temperatures dropped into single digits during an extraordinary winter storm that has raised questions about the city of Austin’s and the state’s ability to handle such an event. (read more)

The Houston Chronicle reports: […] “Natural gas supplies for electric generation are already strained in the winter, the peak season for gas used for heating, adding pressure to supplies used to generate electricity.”

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Fast moving Hurricane Zeta is approaching the southeastern gulf region of Louisiana. Currently traveling over 20mph and expected to increase in forward speed Zeta is carrying winds near 100mph and pushing a dangerous storm surge along the coastline. Residents in the southeast Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama coastal areas should be prepared.

[Hurricane Center] the center of Hurricane Zeta was located near latitude 27.9 North, longitude 91.1 West. Zeta is moving toward the north-northeast near 20 mph (35 km/h). A faster north-northeastward motion is expected through tonight followed by an even faster northeastward motion on Thursday and an east-northeastward motion early Friday.

On the forecast track, the center of Zeta will make landfall in southeastern Louisiana this afternoon. Zeta will then move close to the Mississippi coast this evening, and move across the southeastern and eastern United States on Thursday.

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Hurricane Delta posed a particularly dangerous threat to Louisiana as much of the exact same area was previously hit by Hurricane Laura just six weeks ago.  With massive amounts of debris from Laura still in the cleanup process Hurricane Delta was poised to deliver a troubling double-whammy.  However, that said, first responders and state officials are saying there were no fatalities from Delta – Prayers Answered.

[Via ABC] Hurricane Delta, now a tropical depression, made landfall near Creole, Louisiana, on Friday evening, with nearly 11 million people in the storm’s path. More than 600,000 power outages were reported across Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi early Saturday afternoon as the storm’s remnants moved further inland.

Delta is now expected to move across western and northern Mississippi before heading into the Tennessee Valley tonight and Sunday. (more)

Material stuff can be replaced, people cannot.   Now the incredible heroes from across the United States will move in to begin restoring power. Massive numbers of power crews are working to rebuild the grid; tens of thousands of tons of debris being removed. [Much of what is now called “debris” represents the cherished belongings of thousands of lives.]

Now it’s time to try and restore some sense of normalcy for those who have been impacted, and commit to a long-term rebuilding process. Stay strong. Thousands have staged. Help is on the way…

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Hurricane Delta is a cat-3 storm with sustained winds near 115 mph, as it approaches the Louisiana coastal area. Residents in east-Texas and Louisiana should pay close attention as the storm is expected to make landfall later this evening.

Hurricane Center – At 1000 AM CDT (1500 UTC), the center of Hurricane Delta was located near latitude 28.0 North, longitude 93.8 West. Delta is moving toward the north near 13 mph (20 km/h). A turn toward the north-northeast is expected this afternoon, followed by a northeastward motion during the day Saturday.

On the forecast track, the center of Delta should make landfall along the coast of southwestern Louisiana later this afternoon or this evening, and then move across central and northeastern Louisiana tonight and Saturday morning.

Maximum sustained winds are near 115 mph (185 km/h) with higher gusts. Delta is a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Slow weakening is expected before landfall, with rapid weakening expected after the center moves inland.

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Hurricane Delta is moving into the southwestern Gulf of Mexico this afternoon.  The current forecast from the NHC puts Delta toward the East-Texas and Louisiana coastline this weekend; however, these forecasts are early and everyone on the coastal gulf should keep an eye on this storm and watch for updates.

(NHC) […] At 100 PM CDT (1800 UTC), the center of Hurricane Delta was located near latitude 21.8 North, longitude 88.8 West. Delta is moving toward the northwest near 17 mph (28 km/h). A northwestward motion with a reduction in forward speed is expected over the next 24 hours. A north-northwestward motion is expected by late Thursday, and a faster northward to north-northeastward motion is forecast on Friday and Friday night.

On the forecast track, the center of Delta will move over the southern Gulf of Mexico this afternoon, be over the southern or central Gulf of Mexico through Thursday, and approach the northern Gulf coast within the hurricane watch area on Friday.

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