#natural disasters tw

[shilo-sumac]

Off-Screen Post :3c Um. Our girlie gets hurt but she'll be fine. :3cccc

Tw for gore, and storms, and general Ocs not being okay and Pokemon being in danger! Please lmk if I need more warnings!

There was no time to think, no warning beforehand, dammit why didn’t I watch the news, why didn’t I pay attention, why weren’t my contingency plans better--

There were some measures of course, but Sinnoh wasn’t a place that was often hit by storms, she hadn’t realized how an island would be different.  Idiot, stupid, irresponsible.

No, can’t dwell.  Only act.  Must act.  Go.

Shilo ran into the darkness, commanding her Pokemon to stay.

There was a shout, drowned out by wind and rain.  Alistair?  She shouted something back, something silly, something disarming.  She wasn’t afraid, not really, at least not about herself.  She would be fine.  She always was fine.  

It was her curse.

She lifted a sleeve to her forehead, peering into the darkness.  She could see better than most at night, but the rain and debris whipped around in thick waves.  She knew the island well, but there were obstacles, so many obstacles.  She climbed over downed trees and scrambled away from mudslides.  

Almost there.

She could see the hatchery, the one building that wasn’t quite protected.  A baby that didn’t know its own strength had weakened a wall, and she had meant to fix it, Gods, she meant to fix it, why didn’t she fucking fix it?

She got to the entrance and scooped up the single egg, pink, tied with a little bow, with a Stufful keychain around it.  The hatchery was starting to flood.  She winced at the expensive incubators, now no better than large paperweights.  

Doesn’t matter, can’t dwell, keep going.  

She slipped it into a makeshift pouch tied around her waist.  Not the best, but good enough for now.

She kicked the door to the room for younglings, almost knocking over the Charmander inside.  She whispered apologies to the crying little one, the water hadn’t reached him yet, thank Time.  She lifted him and put him on her back.  

“Don’t let go no matter what, okay?  We’re getting out, I’ll protect you both.”  It grabbed the collar of her shirt tightly, trying to be brave, trying so hard to not cry.

Out once again into the wailing night, running despite being blinded by the brain.  She knew the way back, knew what was in her way, what to expect.

But the terrain had changed.  She hadn’t considered that the mudslides would move the rocks.

She tripped, instinctually turning to her side to protect the egg and baby, landing hard.  She felt a crack in her shoulder.  

Not careful enough.

The Charmander yelped, and she checked him and the egg over, ignoring the shifting bones.  

Later, it can be dealt with later, it can heal, the baby Pokemon can’t make it out without help.

They were okay, if not a bit muddy.  She contemplated her next move, it would be hard to get up in the mud with just one arm.  As she lay there, she heard a worried trill.

Her Kabutops!  It inclined its head, a way to ask if she was okay.  He hadn’t gotten the command to stay inside.  He probably had been busy evacuating his own little entourage of water Pokemon that followed him and had heard the commotion of her fall.

She looked up at him, mostly a silhouette in the rain.  He was old, but his battle scars and chips in his armor gave away his experience.  Retired, but not completely out of the game.  Rock and water type, sturdy enough to get through the rain, agile enough to not get tripped up, not like her.  Plus, with Swift Swim he would make it fine in the storm.  

...  Hopefully.

She untied the pouch clumsily and pried the Charmander off of her as it protested, holding them out.

“Kabby.  Take them to the house.”

The Kabutops clicked as it lowered its head.  She intuited the meaning.  I do not want to leave you.  

She summoned a more commanding voice.  “Please, I’ll be fine.”  She smiled, hoping it couldn’t see the worry in her eyes.

He hesitated a few moments before relenting with a nod, grabbing her precious cargo and disappearing into the night.  She prayed it would be okay.  She couldn’t forgive herself if she hurt another one of her charges, not again. 

She shakily stood, ignoring the pain.  Without the extra weight it was easier, but only just.  The Pokemon were safe now but...  She had to double check the buildings, she had to, she couldn’t trust that they were fine.   

Memory isn’t reliable enough.

It was while she was getting her bearings that she felt the impact.

She opened her eyes again against the outside hatchery wall, a tree branch sharpened by cracking off an old tree protruding from her chest.  Fuck.  She grasped at it weakly.  She inhaled a gurgling breath before coughing up something red.  Not blood, couldn’t be blood.  

Don’t have blood.

... Did have pain receptors, though, and damn it fucking hurt.  Another breath, more coughing, more red getting blown away in the wind, heaviness, broken ribs.  The damned thing was decently thick too, some sort of hardwood.  Oak?  She didn’t know plants that well.  ...  Didn’t really matter anyway.

Lucky shot, wind.

Her hands were shaking, cracks formed up her arms, sucking in the color and any light that flashed from the sky.  These stupid things, every time she was stressed they spread up her arm, starting from their normal position on her palms.  Hopefully they recede again later.

Focus.

She gripped the piece of tree.  Medical knowledge nagged at her to not take it out, that it would cause more damage.  

No other choice.  No one is coming.

She dug her claws into the tree, sinking them into the wood.  She took the deepest breath she could muster with her one working lung.

And she pulled.

The pain was excruciating.  She felt ripping, hollowness, suction.  She ignored the buzzing in her ears.  Heat built inside her head and chest, though her fingers were growing colder.  God, the texture was awful, knife wounds were so much smoother, albeit very, very cold.  Her grip was weakening.

Keep going.

She grit her teeth and roared out into the darkness, and with a horrible wet ripping sound, the branch was extracted.  She tried to not think of the roughness of it, how much it must’ve cut up, how much worse off she probably was now.  She threw the branch to the side, teeth bared in a snarl as if it were still a threat.  Something mixed with the cold rain that slid down the new hole in her shirt, something warm.  

You have been through worse.

She took a step.  So heavy.  She felt like she was going to throw up.  The edges of her vision filled with black and white stars.

You will not perish.

Another step.  Dragging her feet against her will.  Lead felt like it was filling the hollow cavity that had been left behind. 

I will not let you.

Step.

Step. 

She wasn’t even sure if she was going in the right direction.

Step.

Step.

Trip.

Get up.

At this point, it didn’t even feel like she was moving with her own free will.  So heavy.  ...  Keep going forward, keep going forward.

Step.  

Step.

The journey felt blessedly short and painfully long at the same time.  A blur that she was aware of.  Soon the house was in view.  Safety.  Her confidence filled her with enough energy to take the last few steps.

The door flew open, the man she called her roommate almost looked worried.  She ignored his shouting, staring behind him.  Her eyes scanned what little she could see of the inside.  Mr. Kabby was there.  So was the Charmander wrapped in a towel, holding a pink egg.

We’re here.

Shilo collapsed, her blood mixing with the rain.

[tortiefrancis]

The south of Brazil has once again been struck by terrible cyclones, storms and floods. Several towns, specially on the north of Rio Grande do Sul, are in a state of emergency and need urgent help. The people cleaning up the cities are constantly set back because there's so many wreckage on the streets that they have to be changing tires several times.

If you're in Brazil, please donate hygiene and cleaning products, food, water, clothes and blankets to an official donation spot. If you're not, please, help spread awareness.

[compassionatereminders]

So this Christmas has had the bizarre and stressful inclusion of my home being caught in the edge of a cyclone which was, absolutely viscerally terrifying.

The wind was nothing like i'd ever heard, it went straight to hailing without any rain, the lightning was flashing across the entire sky every second *and* it took our power out for nearly a full day, which gave rise to a whole other set of issues

ofc other places even just close by had it way way way worse, but I still got freaked the fuck out and wanted to just put that somewhere. I have been very thoroughly reminded of the power storms possess and don't plan to take them lightly, plus I have an idea of how to respond in a power outage now.

I hope your christmas & new years was less cyclone-filled than mine!

There's no super extreme weather around here yet, but it is getting more and more extreme these years, and I am unfortunate enough to live in an apartment complex which ONLY has automatic electronic locks, which means that if the power goes out, literally none of the doors can be opened from the outside. Because they don't turn off in case of a power outtake, they just autolock. Which is kinda worrisome, considering the increasing risk of flooding and storms... 😅 But that cyclone sounds scary, and I'm glad y'all got through it safely. I'm sorry you had to deal with it at all, though ❤️

[ridragon]

dude i kinda feel dumb i barely even noticed (no that's a lie theres still a ton i notice but still it takes me a sec) one of the worst hurricanes in modern times. its like i had a protective bubble because everywhere else around us is REALLY BAD but our street? completely fine.

sometimes we joke that tini is blessed by a luck god because she has really uncanny luck. but like. ???????? at my job theyre housing crisis workers still identifying bodies and working nonstop fixing shit.

maybe the appalachian mountains are super based and cool with protection powers

theres still no cell service anywhere. thank goodness for the internet. it sucks because especially with all my shifts it's hard to get food abd nothing is delivering

it's just. it happened around us. were we just. in the eye?

its jusr really uncanny and bothering me but its a good thing!!! but also i feel guilty

[collectalong]

“ you might be the person i’ve been waiting for! ” (dave surviving komaeda-level disaster like we talked about…)

it all happened so fast.

the camp found a cache of supplies. it was enough for months, enough that they could focus on rebuilding what despair had so brazenly torn down. they could've made a home here—one more stable than countless days of restless wandering.

you weren't there when it happened; you left on routine scouting. but you know the landmarks, you know the signs. you should've ended up right back at camp. not this giant chasm, not this...

sinkhole.

right. you forgot about those. that is rough. grimace.

easily tens of feet down. you can't hear anyone struggling. but then, you were gone a few hours. death could've come slow, and there you were, wasting your time a mile away wrenching your leg from a bear trap.

your blank face betrays nothing of your feelings.

friends. family. generations. all smothered in their own constructs.

except...

sunglasses meet komaeda's gaze. he was always a little weird, dramatic, maybe. you picked up his way of saying things a little more than you'd like to admit. now, you don't feel as inclined; you just feel sad. empty.

"...what the fuck are you talking about, nag."

[maryellencarter]

Y'all also need to understand that tornadoes are at least as capricious as any fairies or mythological tricksters.

They'll demolish an entire trailer park but pick up one building and plop it neatly back down again somewhere else, upside down. They'll pick up two people, pulverize one, and set the other one down completely uninjured but naked. They'll pluck a chicken and pop it whole into a glass bottle.

They're also *tiny* -- the biggest ones ever measured are like a quarter mile wide (and those giant ones are mainly only found inside hurricanes, where they often have tinier ones spirographing around inside) -- but they wiggle around so unpredictably that they could hit anywhere in a wide area. That's why our Alabamians etc get so desensitized: the warnings for each one have to cover a much larger area than what actually gets hit, and we can't narrow that down much even with the best technology available.

I've been reading facts on Wikipedia again, and i'm overcome with the need to terrify non-Americans with the most underrated Terrifying American Thing: TORNADOES

Due to a quirk of mountain and ocean placement, the east-central United States has a higher number of tornadoes (particularly exceptionally strong tornadoes) than any other place on Earth.

And they're so fucking scary oh my God

[straightlightyagami]

tag where you're from if you want

[kylorenscar]

"...and I have to live with that. Forever."

[miniar]

The blue lagoon in Iceland is currently closed (for a week) due to a high risk of a volcanic eruption within a kilometer (0.8 miles) of the popular tourist location.

When the gathering magma breaks the earth's crust, anyone visiting the blue lagoon will have (best case scenario) approximately 20 minutes to make it to safety.

If there are people sleeping in the adjacent hotel or gods forbid in the lagoon itself, the worst case scenario is the magma breaking surface beneath the lagoon.

The only truly realistic way to avoid serious casualties here is for the resort, hotel, and lagoon yo remain completely closed until the danger passes.

There are currently icelandic people calling for a 2/1 deal (or cheaper) on blue lagoon tickets for Icelandic people on twitter.

Do Not Go To The Blue Lagoon Until The Danger Has Passed!!

It's a lovely experience but it's absolutely not worth boiling alive or burning to death.

[destielmemenews]

"Its dangerous eye and eyewall could come ashore anywhere from Cedar Key at the north to Naples at the south – including possibly in the Tampa or Ft. Myers areas.

It’s only been 10 days since Helene scoured Florida’s Gulf Coast with storm surge and slammed into the Big Bend as a Category 4. Now, officials are asking residents – still in recovery mode – to evacuate or prepare for another life-threatening storm."

source 1

source 2

source 3

[tortiefrancis]

hey, I know there's a lot going on right now but I want to make a post about a recent tragedy that's happened here in Brazil

tl;dr: heavy storms caused floods and landslides in some cities in São Paulo, and many people are in need of help after losing their homes. If you're in Brazil, you can donate food, clothes and other necessary items

Last weekend, during Carnaval, the northern coast of the state of São Paulo was struck by very heavy storms, which resulted in terrible floods and landslides, specially in poor areas

Because of this, many people lost their homes or are currently unable to access them, and are having to stay in shelters. There are also searches being conducted in the affected areas as many people are still missing, and the death toll is rising each day, which means many people have lost their family, friends and loved ones or may be separated from them

All of this is to say, São Paulo needs help. Shelters need a lot of resources to take care of everyone who's unhoused, and people who still have their homes may still need donations as a lot has been lost and not everyone is able to buy more food, new clothes, etc, specially if they also have to worry about rebuilding or fixing any part of their house, etc

If you're in Brazil and are able to donate food, clothes, personal hygiene objects or anything else necessary to campaigns in the places affected, please do. I'm not sure if there's any way currently to donate if you're not here, but if there is, please let me know

If there's any links to campaigns that I can add to this post, also let me know

Sources [all in portuguese]: one (talking about the tragedy), two (city hall of São Sebastião), three (images, also has outdated situation of the roads), four (how to help)

[compassionatereminders]

Thank you Kate ❤️❤️ anyways how are you doing so far? Is the weather hot in there? Cus in Turkey we are burning up and some forest fires are happening too :( ( tw: fire ). But thankfully September is coming and I hope the hot weather will cool down for a bit

I'm trying to force myself out to see some friends later even though I honestly just wanna wallow in my breakup - but that wouldn't be the healthy choice, so I'm fighting it! So sorry to hear about the fires in your country! That must be scary! The weather is just fine around here, luckily

[gemsofgreece]

You really should know about Storm "Daniel"

Unlike how much all of us Greek blogs notify our tumblr communities about the regular (at this point) arsons wildfires afflicting Greece, we did not say much about the floods the country has been suffering from right now. There was a mention here and there and I even made a joke post as the storm was starting but not a lot of stuff in general. So, I think there's a couple of things you should know and I feel like I could address about it and actually it's not just about Greece. So I believe this could interest a lot of people and it should be something known worldwide.

In the beginning of September there was an alarm about an extreme weather phenomenon forming above the Ionian Sea at the west of mainland Greece. In truth, the phenomenon was not caused by the climate change. It was just a very rare occurence where a high pressure atmosheric system was sandwiched between two currents of low pressure. Low pressure systems are the ones resposible for stormy weather while high pressure systems generally create stable weather. As the low currents encircled the high pressure system, the storm that had started forming became unusually stable for a storm. As a result, the storm moved northeast above Thessaly and other regions of the central part of Greece and... just decided to stay there for an indefinite amount of time. Furthermore, because it's September and the Ionian Sea had warmed up throughout the summer, the medicane (Mediterranean cyclone) gained tropical features as it was forming, pushing its intensity to extremes unknown to this area.

The storm remained above all of central Greece for about 4-5 days but at the meantime it was causing side-storms in neighbouring countries, such as Bulgaria and Turkey. Both countries suffered from floods causing damages and deaths.

Istanbul, Turkey (CNN).

Tsarevo, Bulgaria (CNN).

Four people died in Bulgaria and seven in Turkey.

But like I told you the core of this was exactly on top of Greece's central mainland and islands. So what happened there? I happened to experience this shit first hand. My recollection of it is that it was unlike any other storm I had experienced before. My knowledge on meteorology is not very advanced, however I believe due to the high pressure part, there were actually no winds at all - or they were insignificant, so it wasn't like what you might have in mind as a conventional cyclone. It was a rainstorm but it was like a rainstorm from hell. The crucial part is that in Greece summer violent rainstorms may last for about five minutes but certainly not for five days nonstop. There was no pause, not even for a second. It kept pouring and pouring in indescribable volumes, without decreasing or slowing down, not for a moment. The fourth day it started taking short breaks.

As a person with a phobia of lightnings since childhood, I kept wearing earplugs throughout all these days. For four days, ten seconds did not pass without at least one lightning shrieking exactly on top of our heads. In the end, I am dead serious, I think my lifelong phobia has been cured somewhat due to this extreme exposure that eventually had a numbing effect. I think only the first day there was a record of 7,000 lightnings. I believe there must have been dozens of thousands overall. The lightnings also caused fires but the downpour was so overwhelming no fire could ever stand a chance.

Whether during or after the rains, what I was seeing outside was post-apocalyptic. The only thing missing was the zombies. It really looked like a background from a videogame, including a constantly lit up sky. I was not in danger though people dear to me were. The worst for me was a huge fall in the quality of living but that doesn't matter. The rains caused severe destructions across cities and villages. They caused floods, they broke bridges, they broke a massive number of roads, they made walls collapse, they destroyed springs, they damaged water and electricity outlets entirely, they drowned flocks and flocks of animals, they destroyed mountainous and coastal villages alike, they made cars float and fly over each other and they uprooted houses.

Village in Mount Pelion, Greece.

But that's not the end of it. Four days later, the storm moved southwest towards the Ionian sea, basically to the place of its original formation. It side-swept over Athens in the meantime, flooding the city, but that doesn't mean much since I could cry and Athens would still flood with my tears. Anyway. AFTER the storm left, the floods caused by it started multiplying and expanding. Picture that: a crystal clear sky, a bright sun and your phone screaming state alerts about evacuating your village or town because a lake has launched at you! Here's the thing: Thessaly is a massive plain surrounded by a ring of mountains. Half of those downpours fell right on the lowlands causing floods and destructions the first days. The other half however fell on the mountains, filled the streams heading down and they all met up and filled the lakes and the large river of Thessaly, Pineios and they all basically exploded the next days. Pineios especially exploded both in its western and eastern part, sinking the entirety of Thessaly's plains under water. As a result, floods were actively taking place days after the storm had ended and the weather was good. The phenomena have only started subduing since yesterday.

The overflowing of the river, trapped by the mountains.

Farmers won't be able to work this year and next year is questionable as well. There are huge concerns about various epidemics breaking out as more and more dead animals are found in the waters. Entire villages are under the water. There are estimations that some villages in west Thessaly might have been lost forever and their residents will have to move elsewhere. Sixteen people have died from the rainstorm and the floods.

Actual villages in Karditsa, Greece.

A more longterm danger is that the ground received such an unnatural amount of water that it might have been severely eroded and destablised, making it vulnerable to natural disasters I don't want to utter. Many roads are either broken or bloated and Thessaly has been cut out from communication and transportation with the rest of the country. To this day, there are maps guiding people how to drive from North to South Greece and vice versa by entirely skipping Central Greece! (Hint: they will have to drive through Epirus, aka western Greece.) The first days there was also complete isolation from what was happening in the country and the world and also the very regions we were in as we had no electricity and our only chance was getting a call from somebody being elsewhere and telling us what is going on.

Volos, Greece (CNN)

Many regions have received within 2-4 days 55 times their monthly amount of rain or more than twice the yearly amount. Greek meteorologist Christos Zerefos estimated that such a phenomenon occurs every 300-400 years. Meteorologists were alarmed internationally - with Germans and Americans reportedly saying they hadn't studied such a phenomenon again in their career. Its intensity was record high in the history of Greece and right in the top of Europe's as well. They also agreed that such a phenomenon would be devastating even if it had hit the most advanced and prepared country.

BUT THIS IS NOT THE END. The weakened Daniel seemed to slowly move towards South Italy but it decided to take a turn and headed south towards Libya and Egypt. Quite possibly, as the storm was once again travelling across the warm Mediterranean Sea, it was rejuvenated and gained even more tropical traits. Eventually, the medicane hit Libya with unprecedented force.

The cyclone travelling from Greece to Libya.

The toll it took on Libya is unspeakable. As I am writing this,

More than 5,226 people are killed and more than 10,000 are currently missing.

Like, can you wrap your head around what I am talking about? I don't see this shit being acknowledged enough across the world. I am checking this again and again, to ensure I am reading this correctly.

Daniel has officially become the deadliest medicane on record.

Eastern Libya, from Al Jazeera.

In the meantime, Greeks found opportunities to practice their favourite sport: political infighting. People who weren't even here when hell broke loose say that if this or that was properly done, we would not have problems at all. I even saw an idiotic Greek expat comment how "we got drowned in a little bit of rain". The truth is we should bloody thank our lucky stars and I say this with the entire awareness of half of Thessaly being currently underwater. It is true that Greek governments and people have done so many things badly, like building on top of streams and rivers, changing rivers' natural route, drying up natural lakes and all that shit that guarantees you are going to have massive problems once a serious storm breaks out. Also, the disaster revealed that there was once more a very questionable management of all the money given by the EU for anti-flooding measures after a previous flood (Ianos). Of course, I would be happy if at last we viewed this disaster as an opportunity to improve ourselves and the management of our land, however whatever happened these days wasn't the fault of anyone in particular. On the contrary, A LOT worse could have happened. A lot. Maybe Libya is not an indication because if Greece is not used to such extreme rain phenomena, then Libya is probably ten times less used to them, however we should not forget that this monster was STUCK at least five days over the heartland of Greece. For this alone we should damn be thankful we did not get it any worse and that the land endured in any way and of course now we have to correct old mistakes as well but let's do it united and determined and without wasting time once more in pointless infighting, which in this case might even be unfair. (In fact I think the thing we should blame the state the most about was not making it clear beforehand that this was going to be unprecedented, not just "very severe". They probably didn't want to cause panic and mayhem but still. We should know.) Of course I am not talking about how the state will treat the afflicted regions from now on, which is entirely its responsibility. And we should stand next to Libya. Greece has its wounds to mend but it should absolutely provide support to Libya. We know what this freak phenomenon was like.

I know this text is long but please consider reblogging this. We should know what happens on our planet. Thousands of people are dead from a freak phenomenon devastating regions across lands and seas. Also forgive any mistakes I might have made although I believe the information is correct for the most part. I didn't speak more about Libya because I don't know enough to analyze the situation as much. Perhaps there are ways of supporting the country too. As a last note, this phenomenon was not freakish because of the climate change - it was just a very unusual occurence. However, the - otherwise normal - warmth of the sea did feed and intensify the storm and the climate change might in the future cause these super rare, accidental phenomena to become more frequent.

[ashintheairlikesnow]

I stumbled across a man talking about having survived the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami when he was a small boy, and he mentioned in passing an entire village that had been swept away - that a foreign government rebuilt the buildings, but that the village has remained empty, as people fear unsettled spirits of the dead are still there.

I don't blame them. I think I wouldn't be able to move in to one of those buildings either, for the same reason.

There are still emptied-out towns in Japan since the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011. Even when people are told they can go back to rebuilt homes, few do. Retaking the towns happens slowly, uneasily. People live alongside a wrenching tear in the universe where their loved ones should be, surrounded by spaces where half-second glimpses of those long gone can happen at any time. With every breath, every blink.

I keep thinking about buildings as grave markers, empty rooms with ghosts living within them but no breath ever moving the air. Vines and leaves winding up walls and flowers blooming on pathways where there should have been footsteps. The sounds of birds singing in buildings that once held a crush and chatter of crowds.

Buildings as cairns, as tombs without bodies.

Buildings as empty memorials to a life that abruptly ended even for the survivors of the day itself. What was rebuilt was something else entirely. Can you live inside a wooden ghost? Can you sleep in a bed within its lungs? Can you wake up each morning and look up at bones?

Buildings as places where a teacup left on a saucer for twenty years seems still like it might suddenly rise to cool lips. Buildings where chairs line up before an arcade, dust-covered and decrepit but still brightly-colored, ready to welcome in players who are never coming. Buildings with the eyes of people. Buildings that watch, and wait, for the living to come and remember the dead.

Buildings as places where your fingers are always just brushing those of someone who should still be here. The weight of their presence in those empty rooms. The way you can almost hear their voice calling for you from just out of sight.

Buildings as memories of a future that didn't happen.

Buildings as reminders of a universe where this loss hadn't happened yet, where this confluence of horrifying moments hadn't yet come together. Buildings as grave markers, as memorials, as defiance against nature that indifferently destroyed us and never took notice of the loss. Buildings as our insistence on remembering that there was a loss, and that grief lives and breathes even if those we lost no longer do.

Buildings as our cries that you should still be here.

Buildings as thousands of voices whispering back, I am here. I will always be here. And so will a part of you.

[bekolxeram]

7x03 analysis part 2 — Too many Cats

Tommy flew a helicopter into a Category 5 hurricane, at least the show told us so. Is it even possible for an aircraft to fly in those conditions? Today, we are going to figure out just how strong the storm actually is canonically, and how realistic our beloved weewoo show is.

TW: Hurricane, extreme weather, natural disaster

What is the difference between a tropical storm and a hurricane? What even is a hurricane?

Both tropical storm and hurricane are tropical cyclones, just of different strength. A tropical cyclone is a rotating storm system with a low pressure center. The center, or the eye of the storm, sucks in warm moist air from an oceanic environment and it feeds into the generation of storm clouds that organize themselves into a spiral pattern due to the Earth's rotation, aka Coriolis effect.

A tropical cyclone is classified by its maximum sustained wind.

So if it's below 62 km/h, it's a tropical Depression. if it's between 63-118 km/h, it's a Tropical Storm. A Category 5 hurricane though has a maximum sustained wind speed of over 252 km/h.

A strong enough tropical cyclone is called a hurricane in North America, a typhoon in East Asian, and a cyclone in the Indian Ocean (including Australia).

How strong is the storm in 7x03 actually?

We first see the storm at the end of 7x01, when First Mate Kenneth tells Captain Ochoa there is a strengthening tropical storm in the ship's path. Captain Ochoa decides to reverse course back to LA and instructs Kenneth to alert the Coast Guard, but they get interrupted by the cartel.

Fast forward to 7x02, the next mention of the storm comes from Karen. When Hen is sent home by Chief Simpson, she tries to call Athena, but it goes straight to voicemail. Karen tells her cell service is probably spotty out at sea because of the hurricane, which has just got upgraded.

It's recently upgraded to a Category 2 hurricane, as we can see from Karen's tablet.

Then Hen goes to Maddie to ask the Coast Guard to look for Bathena's cruise ship. When Hen shows Maddie the ship tracking app on her phone, the time is 10:28. (I'm guessing PM because it's already dark outside during the Kyle Ortiz call.)

By the time Chief Simpson comes by to reinstate Hen, she's already talking about a Cat 5 hurricane. That can't be more than an hour or two later.

So which one is it? Is it a Cat 2 or a Cat 5? Who should I trust?

Tommy. Whenever he flies, his safety depends on his understanding of the local wind condition and weather. You should listen to him:

So it's a Cat 5, at least by the time the 118 set off on their journey to save Bathena.

Can a tropical storm intensify into a Cat 5 hurricane in hours?

No, not in real life. The record for most rapid intensification of a tropical cyclone is Hurricane Patricia in 2015, but it still took 24 hours. This doesn't mean the storm in 7x03 is completely made up. I believe I might have found the real life inspiration behind it.

Hurricane Otis (2023)

An area of low pressure formed on October 15, 2023 over the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico. While it was during a significant El Niño period and the ocean temperature was record-breaking-ly high, strong vertical wind shear condition near the storm was predicted to hinder its development. It was originally forecasted to make landfall as a mere tropical storm. People in Acapulco went to bed on October 23 expecting moderate wind and light rainfall, many stopped seeking out updates of the storm.

In the early hours of October 24, meteorologists at the NHC recognized from satellite images that tropical storm Otis was rapidly intensifying into a hurricane. The NHC officially upgraded the storm to a Cat 1 hurricane at 13:00 CDT and sent out a hurricane hunter aircraft to accurately measure the actual wind speed of the cyclone.

Satellite images provide a pretty good model to estimate the strength of a tropical cyclone, but the most reliable way to measure wind speed is still to fly an aircraft into it and physically measure it. When the hurricane hunter managed to fly into the eyewall of Otis, everyone realized they made a huge mistake: Otis had already become a Cat 3 hurricane, and it was expected to strengthen even more. It takes time to process data received from the hurricane hunter, so operationally the NHC still classified Otis as a Cat 1 hurricane until the next advisory was scheduled to come out, which was at 16:00 CDT, but by that time, Otis was already near Cat 4 strength. It was then officially upgraded to a Cat 5 hurricane at 22:00 CDT.

While Otis did take around 24 hours to intensify from a tropical storm to a catastrophic hurricane, if you just look at the NHC advisories, it pretty much jumped from a Cat 1 into a Cat 5 in 9 hours. It caused extensive damage to Acapulco when it made landfall because the city was severely underprepared. I suspect the cruise ship disaster arc was inspired by hurricane Otis because it happened just a month after the writer strike ended. Also, in 7x02 Maddie, a 911 dispatcher, was not aware that the tropical storm had already strengthened into a hurricane, which mirrors the unexpected development of hurricane Otis.

As the storm in universe was going back at sea and not making landfall, the authority was probably in even less of a hurry to find out what the actual strength of the cyclone was. So it could take them even longer to send in weather reconnaissance aircrafts. I can imagine the 911-verse version of the storm jumping from a Cat 2 to a Cat 5 officially in mere hours.

Can a helicopter fly in a Cat 5 hurricane?

Technically yes, but the chopper won't be doing the flying. The aforementioned NOAA Hurricane Hunter is a Lockheed P-3 Orion specifically modified and fortified for weather information collection. If this four-engined workhorse has to fight tooth and nail against crosswind and turbulence in order to fly into the eye of the storm, a small single engine helicopter definitely would not fair any better. It would end up getting tossed around, a particular strong downdraft might slam it into the ocean, or a prolong bout of severe turbulence might rip it apart. Luckily in 7x03, Tommy is not actually flying into a hurricane, he's trailing behind it.

NOAA Lockheed WP-3D Orion Hurricane Hunter

In a blink-and-you-miss-it exchange between Buck and Tommy, after Tommy says "a Cat 5 hurricane passed through here", Buck asks why he means by "passed through" and what they are flying in at the moment.

"iNTermITteNt sHOweRs"

When looking at the cross section of a tropical cyclone, you can see rows of rainbands around the eyewall, increasing in size the closer it is to the center of the storm. If you have ever experienced a tropical cyclone making landfall, you would know it starts with sporadic bouts of rainfall (aka intermittent showers), which then gradually increase in frequency and severity as the storm approaches. Once you are within 100-200 km of the eye, wind speed would become violent while the rainbands become so wide and close together it basically keeps raining until you are right under the eye.

These are radar images of hurricane Irma (2017) making landfall in Florida. Bands of moderate to heavy rainfall spread across the inner core region of the cyclone, with still pretty consistent light to moderate precipitation between the gaps. But in the area further away from the eye in the southwest and southeast quadrants, you can see more squall line like patterns. Precipitation would abruptly begin and stop as you fly in and out of those outer lumps of clouds.

Wind speed in that area is no where near hurricane level even for a Cat 5 cyclone, it is typically under 100 km/h. That does not mean it is a safe condition to fly in. Because the outer rainbands of a cyclone are less affected by the storm's vortex dynamics, they behave more like regular thunderstorms. As you know, thunderstorms are big no-no's for aviation safety. In fact, the outer rainbands of a typhoon once contributed to a plane crash in Taiwan.

Conclusion

The hurricane in 7x03 is likely based on reality, albeit with a bit of exaggeration and a shortened timeline for dramatic effect. It is possible to fly and control a helicopter in this specific condition, but the danger is still quite high. Flying into a thunderstorm has a whole different set of risks associated with it, which I will tell you all about next time. Yes, part 3 of this series is "how to crash a helicopter with weather", so stay tuned.

[doctorbunny]

Important MILGRAM update

"The interrogation of MILGRAM's Mikoto, which was planned for today, has been postponed in consideration of recent events. Everyone should be careful, please put safety first and take care of yourselves."

If you haven't heard the news, earlier this morning a 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit Ishikawa, Japan There's been a bunch of aftershocks since as well as a tsunami warning

All of this is being taken seriously (as it should be, natural disasters are no joke), so understandably they probably didn't want to start Mikoto's interro Qs today...