CBC reports that Vote set for Oct. 14: Harper expects tight, tough election

Canadians will head to the polls in a general election on Oct. 14, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Sunday in Ottawa after meeting with the Governor General.

Harper made the announcement outside Rideau Hall after his conversation with Michaëlle Jean.

“Her Excellency, the Governor General, has seen fit to dissolve Parliament,” he said.

“Between now and Oct. 14, Canadians will choose a government to look out for their interests at a time of global economic trouble,” Harper said.
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CNN just noticed: Lack of electricity may complicate new evacuations

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The federal government is “working with great urgency” to restore one-third of the households in Louisiana that still have no power days after after Hurricane Gustav, the chief of Homeland Security said Friday.

With Hurricane Ike possibly heading toward the Gulf Coast, the lack of electricity could greatly complicate possible evacuations.

“One of the concerns we had … was making sure we got enough power up, particularly in the gas stations, so that if people did need to leave again, they could gas their car up and they could go,” Chertoff said Friday.

Power has been restored to some gasoline stations in Louisiana, and Chertoff said fuel trucks capable of pumping gas directly into cars may be an alternative for other drivers.
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While I suspect that she may be a little late in posting anything because of the visit from Tropical Storm Hanna yesterday. today is the sixth blogiversary™ for Pen-Elayne on the Web.

Position: 21.2 N 76.6 W. [1 AM CDT]
Movement: West [270°] near 13 mph.
Maximum sustained winds: 120 mph.
Wind Gusts: 150 mph.
Hurricane Wind Radius: 60 miles.
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 140 miles.
Minimum central pressure: 945 mb.

It is just inland on the North coast of Cuba in the province of Las Tunas about 85 miles East of Camaguey.

The sustained winds are down, but so is the pressure which is counter-intuitive. The aircraft have found an outer eyewall which indicates the storm is going through an eyewall replacement cycle. This explains the situation. The inner eyewall is collapsing and it will be replaced by the outer, but that weakens the storm for a while. This is good news because it is about to strike Cuba and if it begins its transit over Cuba as a weaker storm, it will be much harder for it to rebuild after it enters the Gulf. No guarantees, but things look better than they did at 1PM.

Position: 42.6 N 70.0 W. [4 AM CDT]
Movement: Northeast [050°] near 36 mph.
Maximum sustained winds: 50 mph.
Wind Gusts: 65 mph.
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 200 miles.
Minimum central pressure: 995 mb.

It is 60 miles North of Chatham, Massachusetts.

Hanna is now extratropical and this is the final advisory.