THIS WAS A WAKE UP CALL: AMERICAN EAST COAST SHAKEN BY HURRICANE IRENE - Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog

Hurricane Irene slams U.S. East Coast (AP photo)

>> Learn more about “The Gathering Storm” special simulcast for churches set for Saturday, October 22nd

This was a wake up call. At its peak, Hurricane Irene was the size of the State of Texas.  Had it remained a Category 3 storm — or even increased in intensity — it could have created the greatest natural disaster catastrophe in the history of the United States. Fortunately, that’s not what happened. The storm is now over, and even as the clean up begins, critics are saying it was hyped up and “overblown” by government officials and weather forecasters. 

But did the experts really badly “misjudge” Irene, or did God hear people’s prayers and have mercy on us by weakening the storm faster than the experts had predicted? I think both are true.  I am grateful to the Lord for His grace and mercy on us. I am also grateful to the forecasters and the government leaders who warned us as best they could and took decisive action to put public safety first. As I have written about several times in recent months, the Lord is shaking us, trying to wake us up and get us to focused back on Him and on His Word.

We need to recommit ourselves to prayer, fasting and reading the Bible and get our hearts right with the Lord. For Bible prophecy tells us that far greater storms are coming as we steadily approach the Day of the Lord. This is why we focused on the Book of Joel during the 2011 Epicenter Conference, and I would encourage you to watch those messages if you have not done so already. This is also why we’re doing the “Wake Up Call” webcast event with Anne Graham Lotz on Sunday, September 11th, and “The Gathering  Storm” special simulcast for churches on Saturday, October 22nd. Both will involve solid Bible teaching and analysis of current events and trends. Both are also calls to more prayer and fasting for America, Israel and the Church. I hope you will participate in either or both.

Update Monday at 11am eastern:

• Death toll hits at least 24 — but it could have been much worse.
• WSJ: Power knocked out to more than 5 million people
• NYT reports: “when the center of the storm arrived over New York City, about 9 a.m., winds had reached 65 miles per hour, making Irene the largest storm to hit the city in more than 25 years….the weekend’s lost sales and storm damage could end up costing the city about $6 billion, said Peter Morici, a business school professor at the University of Maryland. The total national cost could reach $40 billion”

• More from NYT: “Outside New York City, the storm’s wrath was stark. In New Jersey, more than 800,000 customers were without power on Sunday, and the state’s largest utility, Public Service Electric and Gas, estimated it could take a week to restore electricity to all of its customers. In Connecticut, 670,000 customers had lost power — roughly half the state — which surpassed power failures caused by Hurricane Gloria in 1985….Flooding in Philadelphia reached levels that had not been seen in that city in more than 140 years.”

• WSJ coverage: “Irene wasn’t a fluke and we are due for worse,” said hurricane scholar Richard Schwartz in Alexandria, Va., author of “Hurricanes and the Middle Atlantic States” who has analyzed hurricanes dating back to the 1600s. “We have been in an active hurricane cycle that began in 1995. It is amazing that there has not been a hurricane like Irene or worse coming into the New York area in all that time.”

•  NYT: “Hurricane Lost Steam as Experts Misjudged Structure and Next Move”

Update Sunday at 10am eastern:

• 4 million without power — at least 10 deaths
• Irene downgraded to tropical storm
• NYC a “ghost town” — tornados hit — flooding — unprecedented evacuation of five NYC hospitals

Update Sunday at 2am eastern:

• NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER, 2AM WARNING: “THE SURGE WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY LARGE…DESTRUCTIVE…AND LIFE-THREATENING WAVES…LIFE-THREATENING FLASH FLOODS…TROPICAL-STORM-FORCE WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO SPREAD NORTHWARD
  ALONG THE MID-ATLANTIC COAST THIS MORNING…WITH GUSTS TO HURRICANE
  FORCE POSSIBLE BY DAYBREAK…TORNADOES… ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE OVER SOUTHERN DELAWARE… EASTERN NEW JERSEY…SOUTHEASTERN NEW YORK…AND EXTREME
  SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND THROUGH THIS MORNING…SURF…LARGE SWELLS GENERATED BY IRENE ARE AFFECTING MUCH OF THE EAST COAST OF THE UNITED STATES.  THESE SWELLS WILL CAUSE LIFE-THREATENING SURF AND RIP CURRENT CONDITIONS.”
  
• Death toll rises to 10
• Hurricane Irene kills nine, prompts largest mass evacuation in U.S. history
• Hurricane Irene Will Make 2011 a Record Disaster Year
• Reuters reports, “Hurricane Irene poised to hit New York hard”
• New York Times reports Irene could cost NYC $35 billion, or half of the city’s annual budget, though most likely scenario would put cost at less

ORIGINAL POST: By God’s grace, Irene hit land as a Category 1 hurricane, not a Category 3, as feared, and it is steadily dissipating in strength. That said, it still is life-threatening for those along the coast lines — and exceedingly rare for Northeastern United States. Here in Washington we’re getting strong winds and heavy rains and more than 800,000 people in Virginia, Maryland and the District are without power at this hour. Please be praying for God’s grace and comfort on all those affected.

• Two million Americans have been evacuated from their homes along the path of Hurricane Irene.
• Two million more Americans are without power.
• 9 people have died thus far.
• 7 states have declared emergencies.
• NYC Mayor Bloomberg Pleads with New Yorkers to Evacuate
• Normally bustling New York City turns eerily quiet ahead of storm
• Hurricane Irene Forces Airlines to Cancel Thousands of Flights
• “Storm surge will raise water levels by as much as 4 to 8 feet above ground level within the hurricane warning area from the North Carolina/Virginia border northward to Cape Cod, including southern portions of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries,” said Daniel Brown, the warning coordination meteorologist for NOAA’s National Hurricane Center, in a forecast this evening, according to ABC News. “Near the coast, the surge will be accompanied by large, destructive, and life-threatening waves,” Brown said.
• Thousands without power in DC Metro area
• Latest updated from National Hurricane Center.
• Latest public advisory and warning from the Natl Hurricane Center.
• New York City shuts down — subways, trains stop operating.
• NJ Governor Christie: “Get the —- off the beaches!”
• President Obama say Irene like to be an “historic hurricane” — “I cannot stress this highly enough. If you are in the projected path of this hurricane, you have to take precautions now. Don’t wait, don’t delay,” said Obama. “All indications point to this being a historic hurricane.”
• NYC Mayor Bloomberg warned New Yorkers to not be fooled because “the sun is shining,” reported ABC News. He said Irene is a “dangerous storm,” and “it’s heading basically directly for us.”

 

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