Hurricane Sandy – Day 6
Position: 30.9N 74.3W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: Northeast [040°] near 14 mph [22 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 75 mph [120 kph].
Wind Gusts: 90 mph [145 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 520 miles [835 km].
Hurricane Wind Radius: 105 miles [165 km].
Minimum central pressure: 960 mb ↓.
Currently about 305 miles [ 490 km] South-Southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the South Santee River, Soouth Carolina to Duck, North Carolina including Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds, and Bermuda.
The storm is making the forecast turn to the Northeast, paralleling the US coast. It is also maintaining its hurricane status while expanding its wind field. The barometric pressure has been dropping this morning, indicating it has a lot of power in reserve if the wind shear abates. All of the major models are showing a US landfall.
Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.
[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]
4 comments
Hurricane Sandy: the ultimate in voter suppression technology?
We all know who would benefit if the affected states were unable to vote on Election Day, and I’d be surprised if the Rethugs didn’t put up a fight to suppress the votes from those states. What will happen to the election (personal tragedies aside for a moment) if those states are devastated?
They will vote, one way or another. Steve. The Electoral College doesn’t meet until December, so it is up to the states how the electors are chosen.
It will have the biggest impact on states with electronic voting machines, and the GOP wants those votes counted so it can play with them. The vote will take place, one way or another, but the vote counting will take forever, as paper ballots are the fail-safe system.
The opportunities for mischief in an election during a hurricane/nor’easter are terrifying. If it happened in Houston, where all votes are by eSlate vote-stealing machines, the lack of power for two weeks or so would be devastating. There isn’t a Republican born who can’t steal an election in two weeks of societal dysfunction. And we’ve already seen from GeeDubya’s indifference to New Orleans after Katrina that they’d damned well do it without hesitation. Mean mofos, they are!
All we can hope is that a lot of people vote early. They certainly are doing so here: I’ve never seen lines like that at the polls. I spent 1¼ hours in a line perhaps 300-500 people long, and I’m among the lucky ones; at least we waited indoors.
Cynic that I am, I am worried that a Republican G*d would send a bad storm over critical swing states to help a Republican presidential candidate. I don’t believe that for a minute, but the very possibility gives me pause to think how true it is that “no good deed goes unpunished.”
The situation will certainly test the GOTV organization of the candidates, but if people can’t vote the state will have to make provisions. No matter who loses they will point to the storm as the reason.
The storm is likely to impact more Republicans than Democrats in New York and Pennsylvania, so provisions will be made.