Life Threatening Tornado Outbreak Across Mid-West & Plains … Storm Hits Iowa Hospital; Tornado Warning for Wichita, KS (UPDATE: 5 Dead in OK)

According to AccuWeather.com, a life-threatening situation will continue into tonight across the central and southern Plains as tornadic-thunderstorms strike the region. Chief Meteorologist Elliot Abrams stated, “The risk is about as high as it gets.” Please take these warnings seriously and take shelter if you are in the areas of this sever weather.

National Weather Service “dangerous situation” and “life threatening situation” continues across the Plains and Mid-West.

A possible tornado struck a hospital Saturday evening in Creston, Iowa, according to a dispatcher with the Union County Sheriff’s Department. A search-and-rescue operation was under way.

“We have been hit. We are triaging and moving patients,” a spokeswoman at Greater Regional Medical Center in the south-central Iowa city confirmed.

Severe Weather and Flash Flood Warnings for NE, TX, IA, KS

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

UPDATE I: From the Des Moines Register: Creston hospital being evacuated after storm; 22,000 lack power in central Iowa

UPDATE II: 5 dead, 29 injured in Oklahoma.

Tornadoes raking communities across the Midwest and Plains left five people dead and at least 29 injured in Oklahoma, damaging a hospital, homes and other buildings as a vast severe weather front plunged eastward Sunday across the nation’s midsection.

Oklahoma emergency officials said five people died after a tornado touched down at 12:18 a.m. Sunday in and around the northwest Oklahoma town of Woodward, the high winds damaging homes, toppling trees …

Daily Commentary – Monday, March 5, 2012 – A Miracle in the Midst of the Tornado Devistation in Indiana

• Two year old found alive in a field, tossed there by the devastating tornado that took the lives of her parents and siblings.

UPDATE: Since the recording of this commentary, sadly little Angel Babcock died at 4:10 p.m. EST of a traumatic brain injury. She has now joined her parents and two siblings in heaven.

Daily Commentary – Monday, March 5, 2012 Download

Death and Destruction in the Heartland After Tornodoes Rip through the Mid-West & South (Update: 31 Dead)

Tornadoes, twisters, hail and sever lighting and thunder storms ripped through the Mid-West and the South Friday leaving devastation and many dead it its wake. For those who witnessed the tornadoes and severe storms first hand, if you did not see the 80 to 90 tornadoes that touched down, you witnessed golf ball size hail that fell so fast that it accumulated like snow on the ground. To date, 14 people were killed in Indiana, 12 died in Kentucky and two people were killed in Ohio. The property damage spanned from the Midwest to the gulf coast. Out prayers go out to those affected by these terrible storms.

A swarm of tornadoes tore through the U.S. midsection on Friday, splintering homes, damaging a prison, overturning trucks and killing at least four people in the hard-hit state of Indiana, officials said.

At least one person died in the southern Indiana town of Henryville, where television images showed homes blown apart and vehicles including a school bus thrown into buildings. Three others died elsewhere in the state.

The town of Marysville, IN, population about 1,900, was “completely gone” and nearby Henryville also suffered extreme damage.

UPDATE I: 31 people confirmed dead after the severe weather … 31 victims, 15 were in Indiana, 12 in Kentucky, three in Ohio and one in Alabama.

The tornado outbreak, unusual for this time of year, killed at least 31 people. Saturday began with large swaths of the South still battered by heavy rain and under tornado watches — and a real fear of the death toll rising.

Of the 31 victims, 15 were in Indiana, 12 in Kentucky, three in Ohio and one in Alabama.

Piles of debris littered land where well-built homes once stood. Tall trees bowed to the winds and lay horizontal with the land. Churches turned into shelters and thousands of people began a weekend unnerved bynature’s fury.

Golf ball sized hail in Tennessee

Missing 8 Year Old Girl Wati Thought Dead Swept Away by 2004 Indonesian Tsunami Turns Up 7 Years Later

Call it a Christmas Miracle  … the following story is almost beyond believable …

Flash back to 2004 and the Indian Ocean tsunami that devastated Indonesian and left death and destruction in its path. The 8.9 earthquake triggered tsunami killed more than 150,000 people. One of the individuals that was missing, swept away by the waves and thought dead was an 8 year old girl known as Wati. She was only 8 years old when a wall of water crashed through and erased her village of Ujong Baroh in Aceh, one of the hardest hit provinces in Indonesia.

The 8 year-old was clinging with her two siblings to their mother Yusinar as they tried to escape the unforgiving waters.  The force of the waves proved too strong and Wati was ripped from her family, consumed by the water, never to been seen again.

Until this week.

Seven years later according to the Indonesian news agency, Antara, Wati found her way back home to her family. Simply amazing. Initially she was thought to be a homeless beggar when she showed up in the nearby city of Meulaboh.  However, Wati’s parents were able to confirm her identify by distinguishing features; a small mole and a scar she got above her eyebrow when she was six. One can only imagine what Wati has been doing the last seven years?

Read more

20 Year Old NJ Woman Missing, Confirmed Dead as Car Swept Away in Flood Waters from Hurricane Irene

A 20 year old Salem County, NJ woman was first considered missing and now is confirmed dead as her vehicle was swept away by flood waters from Hurricane Irene. Sadly, authorities would later find the Salem County woman in her vehicle dead. She is considered the first confirmed casualty of Hurricane Irene in New Jersey. The woman’s name has yet to be released.

A Salem County woman called 911 at around 1:40 a.m., saying her car was filling up with the water, State Police Superintendent Rick Fuentes said.

A State Police SWAT team later found the woman dead in her car at 9:30 a.m. at 849 Route 40 in Pislesgrove, Salem County, State Police Spokesman Brian Polite said.

The winds of Hurricane Irene may not have been the story of this storm, it most likely will be the heavy, continuous rains that have caused flooding and erosion of damns and sea walls. As per ABC News 6, heavy rains caused three nearby lakes to overflow. The dams that separated each lake broke during the storm, forcing large amounts of water onto Route 40 near Kings Highway.

N.J. storm update: One dead, thousands without power.

A Brief Streaker Interruption from the Weather Channels Coverage of Hurricane Irene

Oh the dangers of live TV. It wasn’t just North Carolina citizens that were blown away by Hurricane Irene, but weather Channel execs after this little streaking incident during Live coverage.

Hat Tip: Gateway Pundit (content warning)

And they thought all they had to worry about was an embarrassing moment like Geralda Rivera getting knocked over by a wave during hurricane coverage in Galveston, TX.

Brian in a Blue State

Obama Leaves Martha’s Vineyard on Separate Plane from Michelle … “don’t let the hatch door of Air Force One hit you on the way out of Massa-tu-setts”

President Herbert Hoover, oops Barack Obama leaves Martha’s Vineyard the same way he arrived, on separate planes from his wife and family. As Howie Carr of the Boston Herald says, “Hey, it’s only money, our [the people's] money.”Although Howie said it with a much thickah Boston accent.

And so farewell, Barack Obama, don’t let the hatch door of Air Force One hit you on the way out of Massa-tu-setts, as you pronounce it.

The first family came in separate planes, and they’re leaving, ditto. Hey, it’s only money, our money.

Even before Irene, this wasn’t much of a presidential vacation compared to the earlier ones. An Obama vacation on the Vineyard has been downgraded from Cat 3 to tropical storm. It’s hard to get excited about the arrival, yet again, of the second coming of Herbert Hoover.

Of course Obama had to leave the golf course and Martha’s Vineyard early. Not even Obama has the audacity to stay in the lap of luxury while Americans are getting pounded by Hurricane Irene and eight people were confirmed dead. Sadly, the death toll is now at 9. Let alone the hurricane was coming that way which meant his golf game would have been interrupted. The President left the friendly confines of “Life styles of the Rich & Famous  to try and act presidential.  However, it seems like more of a shameless photo-op. Maybe Barack can use Irene in his next economy speech and blame this hurricane as well for the bad economy.Just like his economic mouth piece did when Austan Goolsbee blamed the bad US economy (VIDEO) on earthquakes, tsunami’s and hurricanes, oh my. You really can’t make this crap up.

Thursday night, Austan Goolsbee was on Fox trying to blame the cratered economy on the “earthquakes out of Washington, D.C. I mean, we’ve had a series of things that have put some heavy blows and slowed the economy back down.”

I’m not making this up. The “earthquake” is causing the double dip.

Now that Obama is back in charge and not on vacation, America don’t you feel better? Who can wait for his jobs and economic speech he is supposed to give in September? I know I am on pins and needles, NOT!

Hurricane Irene Continues on her Path of Destruction, 6 Confirmed Dead, Heads Toward DE, NJ & NY (Update: 25 Confirmed Dead)

Although Hurricane Irene is not a cat 2, 3 or 4, that does not mean that people do not need to heed warnings of officials and stay safe. So far there have been four confirmed deaths at the hand of Irene, three dead in North Carolina and one in Virgina. Sadly, an 11 year old boy in Newport News, VA was killed when a tree fell on his home in an apartment complex. [Update, six confirmed dead].

Three people were confirmed dead in North Carolina: one who died in a vehicle crash in Pitt County, a man who died after a branch fell on him in Nash County, and a man who died of a heart attack Thursday in Onslow County as he was trying to board up his home.

Another man as missing after after he either jumped or fell into the Cape Fear River in New Hanover, authorities told NBC station WECT-TV of Wilmington.

In Newport News, Va., high winds Saturday afternoon knocked a tree into an apartment complex, killing an 11-year-old boy. Neighbors said a woman came out of the home screaming, “Where’s my baby?!”

As Hurricane Irene heads toward New jersey and New York, NYC closes down the transit system.  The only bright side of this is that the hurricane hit on the weekend.

New York City transit began closing at noon Saturday, its first shutdown brought on by natural disaster.

Many bridges and streets were nearly empty across the city, where warnings about approaching Hurricane Irene resonated as the city’s major utility weighed whether to cut power to parts of lower Manhattan.

You can track the storm at WECT.

UPDATE I: There seem to be some differing stories as to the number of deceased at the hands of Hurricane Irene.  The LA Times says that 10 are dead; however, Virginia’s Pilot On Line is reporting 14 deaths in 5 states.

UPDATE II: Just a rebuttal to the LEFT-WINGERS at Think Progress and their, Right Wing Tries New Tactic To Soften Bush’s Katrina Debacle: Say Obama’s Leadership On Irene Is Just For Show.  Hardly, this has nothing to do with GWB’s handling Katrina, it has to do with an out of touch President in Obama acting like he could not be bothered. We already have seen how lame Obama is in handling disasters with what he did with the Gulf Oil spill. Even uber-Dem James Carville railed on Obama for his handling of the spill.

UPDATE III: There are now 25 confirmed deaths from Hurricane Irene.

Please stay safe, Brian in a Blue State

Hurricane Irene About to Make Landfall Heading Toward North Carolina

Everyone please take precautions and be safe, Hurricane Irene is about to make landfall and is predicted to affect the areas of the Mid-Atlantic to New England.  Irene is reported at being 420 miles south-southwest of Cape Hatteras, NC and has winds near 110 miles per hour, and was moving to the north at 14 miles per hour. When it finally hits land on Saturday, Irene is supposed to be a category 2 or 3 hurricane.

Pic: The Weather Channel

- Hurricane Irene poses an extraordinary threat and is one that no one has yet experienced from North Carolina to the mid_Atlantic to the Northeast to New England.

- Hurricane Irene is a high end category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale; however, Irene is expected to re-strengthen into a category 3 storm.

From ABC News, Hurricane Irene is predicted to cause billions in damages.

“This is going to have an impact on the United States economy,” Mayfield added.

The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) noted the high value of property in major U.S. East Coast cities like New York, Philadelphia and Boston.

“We’ve got a lot more people that are potentially in the path of this storm,” FEMA Director Craig Fugate told the Associated Press. “This is one of the largest populations that will be impacted by one storm at one time. A little bit of damage over big areas with large populations can add up fast.”

Follow the path and get emergency advisories at NOLA … HERE, HERE and HERE (radar).

PLEASE BE SAFE!

Brian in a Blue State

5.8 Magnitude Earthquake Rocks Washington, DC, President Barack Obama Playing Golf at the Time at Martha’s Vineyard (Update: 5.9 Earthquake)

A 5.8, Reuters is reporting a 6.2 magnitude earthquake, has rocked Washington, DC and the East Coast.  According to ABC News, the earthquake centered northwest of Richmond, VA, shook much of Washington, DC, and was felt as far north as Rhode Island and New York City. The epicenter of the earthquake is being reported to have been in Mineral, VA.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake was 3.7 miles deep. Shaking was felt at the White House and all over the East Coast, as far south as Chapel Hill, N.C. Parts of the Pentagon, White House and Capitol were evacuated. The quake was in Mineral, Va., in Louisa County

You are never going to guess what the President was doing when the earthquake hit … PLAYING GOLF OF COURSE.

UPDATE I: FOX News reporting that JFK International Airport has been shut down. Federal buildings in DC, Pentagon and Capitol have been evacuated. Obviously, there is a fear of aftershocks so authorities are not going to want people to go back into buildings or underground transit.

The Pentagon has been evacuated, CNN’s Barbara Starr reports. “When the building began shaking rather violently, hundreds of people began streaming out,” she said, because many people thought that the building was under attack. Starr was standing in the Pentagon’s press office when the roof started to shake.

UPDATE II: Being reported that the quake was felt from New Hampshire to Atlanta.  Its now being called a 5.9 magnitude quake according to the USGS.

UPDATE III: Two nuclear power plants taken offline following quake. No reports of damage to the reactors, most likely a precautionary measure.

A nuclear power plant located in Louisa County, the epicenter of the earthquake in Virginia, has shut down.

The North Anna Power Station, operated by Dominion Power, has two reactors.  The plant declared an “unusual event” in the wake of the 5.9 magnitude quake, which is the lowest stage on the plant’s emergency scale.

UPDATE IV: Reagan National in Washington, DC is closed, flights are on hold.

I would say, if you do not need to be on your cell phones in the affected areas, please don’t. It would appear that there has been not that much structural damage and no reported deaths or serious injuries. Thank God, great news.

Brian in a Blue State