Bracing ourselves for Hurricane Sandy

I've been tracking Hurricane Sandy over the last few days and finally it is here. This is the biggest storm ever in the Atlantic. The death toll is currently at about 60, in Haiti and Jamaica which we hit a few days ago.

Hurricane Sandy is a category 1 hurricane (wind speed >49mph) which will become a Tropical Storm once it comes inland, but has collided with a strong north-eastern winter storm as well as a jet-stream from Canada. It also happens to be high-tide so will be worst by the coast.

Hurricane Sandy is expected to make landfall this evening in south New Jersey and move west towards Philadelphia and then move north/north-east over the next few days into Canada. Fortunately, this is south from Boston but because of the intensity of Sandy the entire east coast will be affected. We are experiencing very bad winds and rain, there has been coastal flooding and more than 70k homes are without power. Shops, businesses and the T have been closed today so everyone is at home waiting for the storm to pass. The Governor declared a state of emergency on Saturday. Yesterday there was a panic at shops as many people were buying supplies. The wind is really intense at about 40 mph (63km/h) at the moment; the trees are waving about ferociously.  The whole of the East Coast seems to be taking battering. Even the crane on the new World Trade Center which they are building in lower Manhattan is loose and dangling.

The Massachuetts governor has been giving regular updates and been handling the situation in a professional manner thus reassuring. They have also learnt a lot from Hurricane Irene last year so hopefully are better prepared this year.

Am hoping that the damages will not be too bad. I really feel for those stuck in the heart of it all.

The worst however is yet to come….

Mother Nature... throwing a tantrum

Recently the weather has been very strange around the world.

Last Saturday there was a freak hail storm in Johannesburg. Hail, larger than golf balls pelted down in the Midrand and Edenvale areas. Here is a link to a video of the hail on JHB, there are also picture of the damage http://www.news24.com/Multimedia/South-Africa/Joburg-hail-storm-20121022. My one friend said that most of the windows in their house were smashed. My mom is currently using my car and it got damaged by the hail at her workplace in Germiston - the windscreen got smashed and there are big dents. The insurance companies must be swamped with claims right now. Never seen such a bad hailstorm like this before, it must have been so scary to be caught in such a storm. Below are some pictures of the damage, as reported on News24.

There are currently terrible floods in the Eastern Cape in South Africa. Roads have collapsed and houses have been damaged.

There was an earthquake in Maine on Tuesday 16 October 2012 measuring 4.0 on the Reichter Scale. We felt the tremor here in Boston.

Now there is also speculation of a Tropical Storm heading our way. Topical Storm Sandy will hit Jamaica and then possible head to North Eastern America as a hurricane or maybe just die down.

Scary stuff! Why is Mother Nature so angry?!

People have forecasted that this year will see a lot of strange weather activity. Linked to the Mayan calendar (amongst others) - forecasting that the world will end in Decemeber 2012. So let's just hope that all this freak weather stops and doesn't cause any deaths.

Boston Fall = South African Winter

It is the beginning of October and the weather in the Fall in Boston is like South Africa's Winter.

The minimum temperature ranges between 3 degrees celsius (min) and 14 degrees celcius (max). Jackets and scarves are out. Quite a dramatic change from the Summer which was extermely hot and humid. So am wondering what the Boston Winter is going to be like! Let's keep our fingers crossed.

The leaves are beginning to turn. Some leaves are bright red, orange or yellow - quite beautiful. You can see the bright colours in the Harvard yard and the streets.