New Power Line De-icing System Developed

New Power Line De-icing System Developed

(From Storm Reports. Org )

ScienceDaily (Jan. 13, 2009) — Dartmouth engineering professor and entrepreneur Victor Petrenko—along with his colleagues at Dartmouth and at Ice Engineering LLC in Lebanon, N.H.—have invented a way to cheaply and effectively keep ice off power lines.

The new proprietary technology is called a variable resistance cable (VRC) de-icing system. With only minor cable modifications plus some off-the-shelf electronics, the system switches the electrical resistance of a standard power line from low to high. The high resistance automatically creates heat to melt ice build-up or keep it from forming in the first place.

"The beauty of the VRC system is that it's fully customizable and is an affordable addition to the current manufacturing and installation process," said Gabriel Martinez, Ice Engineering's Vice President who studied under Professor Petrenko while earning his M.S. in engineering sciences from Dartmouth. "And it works without causing any service interruption whatsoever," he added.

"The technology builds on many years of research in materials science, power electronics, and ice physics with my colleagues at Dartmouth such as Professor Charles Sullivan, an expert in power electronics and a co-inventor of the VRC de-icer," said Petrenko who is founder, Chief Technology Officer and Chairman of the Board of Ice Engineering.

Ice Engineering plans to install and test a full-scale VRC system prototype on a section of power line in Orenburg, Russia, in late January 2009. The company is also currently negotiating full-scale installations of VRC in other regions of Russia and in China.

Martinez says the changes in manufacturing and installation required to implement the VRC system would result in a less than 10 percent increase in overall cost. Since utility companies normally replace 3 percent of their cables every year, the system could be installed as part of the regularly scheduled maintenance process and still achieve a significant portion of the installation by the time the next major storm hits.

Furthermore, the life span of the de-icing system would match or exceed the life-span of the utility cable, approximately 30–50 years. The system would pay for itself during the next storm by practically eliminating the cost of fixing downed cables and power outages due to ice and snow, according to Martinez.

Another benefit to the VRC system is that utility companies using the system would have full control over its functionality, says Martinez. Time, temperature, and location can all be adjusted manually or set and controlled automatically with electronic sensors.

Ice Engineering in Lebanon, N.H. develops and licenses technology and applications that enable products that interact with ice and snow to perform significantly better than ever before. Dartmouth engineering professor Victor Petrenko is the primary inventor of the technology. Ice Engineering was founded by Petrenko as a Delaware LLC in April of 2001 to commercialize the technology in specific industries.

Weather Note

NOAA Twin Otter Aircraft to Support West Coast Ocean Research, Management

Highly capable plane will be based in Monterey, Calif.
January 12, 2009

Senior federal officials today dedicated a specially equipped twin-engine NOAA aircraft that will support ocean research and management along the West Coast. The NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations is basing the plane and flight crew in Monterey, Calif., to meet the needs of NOAA programs and national marine sanctuaries.

NOAA will use the DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft to observe marine mammals and other living ocean resources, conduct offshore and coastal surveys, and support emergency response and enforcement missions.

“The highly modified aircraft is well-suited for offshore and coastal surveys and marine resource management,” said John H. Dunnigan, NOAA assistant administrator for the National Ocean Service. “We are pleased that this valuable asset will serve the West Coast.”

Built by de Havilland Canada, the Twin Otter is a maneuverable, versatile aircraft that can be flown at slow speeds and in tight circles. The NOAA version of this high-winged turboprop plane is equipped with color weather radar, dual GPS/Loran-C navigation systems, radar altimeter, and camera ports in the nose and belly areas. A standard flight crew consists of two pilots and up to six scientists.

By basing the aircraft in Monterey, NOAA will have the ability to quickly monitor and protect the waters off the West Coast and Alaska, including five national marine sanctuaries that encompass more than 9,000 square nautical miles of open ocean and remote, rugged coastlines from Washington to the Mexico border. They include Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary in Washington, Cordell Bank and Gulf of the Farallones national marine sanctuaries off San Francisco, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, and Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary off Santa Barbara.

As part of the NOAA fleet of research and survey ships and aircraft, the NOAA Twin Otter will be operated, managed and maintained by NOAA Corps officers and civilians with the NOAA Aircraft Operations Center. Specific research instrumentation or remote sensing technologies will be supplied by program scientists.NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources.

Top International Weather Events: 2008

Guest contributor Robert Henson recently ran down his selection of highest impact U.S. weather events of 2008 (1-5, 6-10), while CWG's Ann Posegate reviewed her choice of last year's top D.C. area weather stories.

Weather, of course, knows no boundaries. Year in and year out, extreme weather from around the world offers a treasure trove of fascinating phenomena, many of which have sobering consequences for those in harm's way. International weather can also have significant impacts in the U.S.

Keep reading for my selection of the top 2008 international weather events...

For example, floods and droughts in agricultural centers around the globe can lead to food shortages and price increases in supermarkets here; tropical storms that devastate foreign lands can mean massive U.S. financial aid, ultimately affecting your taxes; and ocean storms can disrupt shipping of imports and exports (and provide great waves for surfing in California and Hawaii!).

I don't ascribe significance to the ordering, since generally I find it too difficult to judge the importance of any single event -- both weather conditions and impacts on human activities, life and property must go into such judgements. Note, too, that I'm avoiding (for now) the question that some might ask about possible links between extreme weather events and climate change.
Cyclone Nargis, a monstrous Category 4 hurricane that developed over the North Indian Ocean, struck Burma (also known as Myanmar) on May 2.

It was not only 2008's most deadly tropical cyclone (estimated 150,000 people killed), but also believed to be second only to Typhoon Nina (1975) as the deadliest named storm on record. See these posts on Nargis from the Capital Weather Gang: Inside the Burma Cyclone and Bangladesh's Example for a Post-Nargis World.

On March 1-2 heavy rains accompanied by hurricane force winds (up to an estimated 125 mph) ripped across central Europe. Thirteen people were killed along the storm's trail of destruction (tens of millions of dollars), which included cars blown off roads, roofs ripped off houses, thousands of felled trees, and bridges collapsed into flooded rivers. It was this storm that led to the near crash (and remarkable, must-see video) of a Lufthansa Airbus A320 as it attempted to land at Hamburg International Airport during high winds.

Flooding of the Kosi River, between Nepal and India, on Sept. 2, 2008 (top), and pre-flood conditions in June (bottom). Courtesy NOAA. Click here to enlarge image.

The 2008 Southeast Asian Monsoon season started earlier than it has in more than a century, and was among the deadliest and most destructive seasons on record. Massive flooding from torrential monsoon rains between June and September resulted in 2,600 deaths and displaced millions of people from inundated villages throughout southern Asia, including India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Vietnam.

Tropical Cyclone Ivan, a borderline Category 4 hurricane, slammed into Madagascar on Feb. 17. Ivan has been described as one of the strongest ever to hit the island nation off the southeastern coast of Africa. It was blamed for at least 22 deaths.

Between Jan. 25 and Feb. 26, a series of winter storms walloped large portions of southern and central China with heavy snow, icing and extreme cold. The winter weather -- China's worst in half a century -- is blamed for 129 deaths and caused massive disruptions in power and transportation, just as millions of Chinese were traveling through the country in celebration of the Chinese New Year.

In South America, a large part of Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay experienced a prolonged and intense drought during most of 2008, which caused severe damage to agriculture. Heavy rainfall in November caused severe flooding and deadly mudslides in southern Brazil. In what is considered the country's worst weather disaster ever, dozens were left dead and millions isolated in cities behind overflowing rivers.

Widespread heavy rains with severe thunderstorms, damaging winds, hail, and flash floods occurred across much of Australia in November. These events largely ended a long-term drought characterized by severe water shortages and extensive crop failures.Though I've not found it on any list of top weather events of 2008, my sentimental favorite goes to the remarkable and unusual hail (or was it snow?) storm in the vicinity of Exeter in southwest England.

MARITIME NOTE

Scientists Launch First-Ever Exploration of Antarctica's Deep-Sea Vents

Also see Stunning Photos of Antarctica

COMMUNITY NEWS British Antarctic Survey scientists and colleagues from the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, the Zoological Society of London and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the USA are set to be the first to investigate in detail the creatures living around hot water vents surrounding the coldest continent, Antarctica.

The team is onboard the BAS research ship the RRS James Clark Ross on a voyage to locate and explore life around two poorly understood deep-sea habitats — hydrothermal vents and cold seeps. The five-week NERC-funded project called ChESSO, or Chemosynthetic EcoSystems in the Southern Ocean, is part of a ten-year scientific initiative known as the Census of Marine Life.
The research cruise begins on 14 January and finishes on 18 February.
They will be reporting regularly on classroomatsea.net

American Meteorological Society Recognizes Navy ContributionStory

PHOENIX, Ariz. (NNS) -- The commander of the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (NMOC), was named one of 28 new Fellows of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), the nation's leading professional society for scientists in the atmospheric and related sciences, at the AMS Annual meeting in Phoenix Jan. 12.Rear Adm. David W. Titley, along with other awardees, will be recognized at a banquet Jan. 14. The Fellow is given to an individual for recognition of outstanding contributions to the atmospheric or related oceanic or hydrologic sciences, or their applications, during a substantial period of years.

Only two-tenths of one percent of AMS membership is approved as Fellow each year. "I am humbled to be named an AMS Fellow. As a professional meteorologist, this is a significant honor for me," Titley said. Titley earned a doctorate in meteorology at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., on tropical cyclone intensification.A native of Schenectady, N.Y., Titley was commissioned through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Commissioning program, after graduating from Pennsylvania State University. He earned a master's in meteorology and oceanography at the Naval Postgraduate School.

He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Seminar XXI on Foreign Politics, International Relations and National Interest from September 2003 to June 2004.Titley's awards include the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Commendation Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, and various unit and service awards. All awards were presented by the U.S. Navy and awarded throughout his 28-year career.NMOC, based at Stennis Space Center, Miss., is a Navy operational command with about 3,500 military and civilian personnel worldwide. The command provides weather and ocean forecasts and geospatial information and services for Navy operations.

Founded in 1919, the AMS has a membership of more than 12,000 professionals, professors, students, and weather enthusiasts. AMS publishes nine atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic journals, sponsors multiple conferences annually, and directs numerous education and outreach programs and services. For more news from Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, visit www.navy.mil/local/cnmoc/.


Container Vessel Crashes Into Barrier Reef

A cargo ship is tonight lodged on Belize’s barrier reef system. It is the Westerhaven – a Netherlands registered vessel that left Belize last night enroute to Santo Tomas in Guatemala. It should have been there by now but while leaving Belize it ran into bad weather and ran aground. 7NEWS travelled 32 miles from the city to the accident site and tonight we’ll show you the ship and underwater footage of the damage it did as it tore through Belize’s reef.

Keith Swift Reporting, We found the Westerhaven cargo ship where it has been since last night – stuck on the reef 32 miles from Belize City in an area near Caye Glory. It ran aground on the reef while sailing out of Belize enroute to Guatemala. This afternoon we met the coast guard on site with an assessment team.

Direl Garrido, Coast Guard“We were called out to assist the DOE and an assessment team to come and check the vessel that grounded here.”

Keith Swift,Have you been on the boat?

Direl Garrido,“No, no.”

Keith Swift,Have you spoken to anyone who has been on the boat?

Direl Garrido,“No sir, nothing. All the information we get from our headquarters.”

Keith Swift,So it is lodged on the reef?

Direl Garrido,“It is aground on the reef, yes.”

Keith Swift,Do you know what efforts are being made to move it?

Direl Garrido,“Right now the assessment team is just conducting an assessment and then based on the result then they will make a decision.”

As the footage shows- it is a large vessel – estimated to be about 100 meters long. A massive ship and it did extensive damage. Marine scientist Melanie McField accompanied us on the boat to the accident site and she says a large area of pristine reef has been destroyed. This is underwater footage she shot with her camera. She says it is the worst reef accident she has ever seen.

Melanie McField, Marine Scientist“This is by far the worst I have ever seen. I’ve never seen anything like this. It is unbelievable. I even saw blast fishing in Indonesia and this looks much worse because it is the whole area.

The reef has been completely levelled, basically from the stern to after the boat. It seems as if the boat just came in on top of, you know the reef has these spurs, it is like hills of corals, valleys of sand, and all the hills of corals have just been scraped clean, levelled. I have never seen anything like it; usually damage is a little bit spotty. And down there near the front of the boat there are areas where big coral heads are knocked over but here in the middle, the whole think is flattened, actually levelled like a parking lot.”

Keith Swift,And what is the size of the area we’re talking about?

Melanie McField,“Well it is basically it is the length of the boat, maybe a little bit less. The two ends aren’t quite as bad. The length of the boat and then out to at least this point where we are here so that’s bigger than a football field.”And as bad as it is – McField the damage has been done and it should be easily moved.

Melanie McField,“There are a few places where it actually pushed into the reef, the spurs as you get towards the reef crest there are a little bit lower but the boat is just pushed on to about two of them so I don’t think they are going to have a lot of trouble getting it off because as you pull it out there is nothing to block the path, all the coral is gone so it should be fairly easy to take it off. It is in a weird position because it is sideways to the current but I don’t think it will be too bad. All of this is levelled so they are not going to hurt much if they pull it off this way.”

Keith Swift,How far is this from the channel?

Melanie McField,“Well they came out the English Caye channel. I don’t know what the legal distance is offshore that they are supposed to travel but they shouldn’t have been travelling anywhere close to the reef crest, especially at night and they should have known where that was with their GPS equipment.”

The ship’s owner – who we are told is on his way to Belize – will be more than likely be fined but McField says no dollar amount can measure the damage.

Melanie McField,“Each square meter of reef is worth something like US$2,000. I haven’t calculated yet but we’ll get out the numbers and it is a lot of square meters that is damaged here and so there should be a considerable fine.”

Keith Swift,What will be the effect on the wider reef system?

Melanie McField,“Well the rest of the reef system, there is some sedimentation coming off of the pulverized reef but that’s pretty negligible. The main thing is that we’ve lost some important habitat. This is really healthy reef. We don’t have a lot of healthy reef, the eco-system report card that we came out with earlier this year was pretty bleak; most of our reef is in poor condition. But this particular chunk of reef is pretty healthy.

This is not the first time it has happened. There was the grounding of a cargo ship back in late November and I think we really need to be tough on our regulations and with Coast Guard, Port Authority, Fisheries, and DOE and get everyone to really come down on these ships. I don’t understand why this is happening.”

The assessment team was still onboard the ship when we left. The ship’s agent in Belize is Eurocaribe Shipping. As we mentioned it was bound for Guatemala and had stopped in Belize for only 4 hours to drop off a few containers. It is registered in the Netherlands and the captain was Fritz Schroeder. It is of note that this is only Schroeder’s 3rd trip as the captain of the Westerhaven to Belize. The owner is on his way to Belize. Tomorrow he is expected to hire a salvage company to tow the ship off the reef.

On a final note – if we use Melanie McField’s math – the ship damaged 10,000 meters of reef which would amount to US$20 million. McField is a marine research scientist with 18 years experience.

RS

Cloud Radar: Predicting The Weather More Accurately

Cloud Radar: Predicting The Weather More Accurately

ScienceDaily (Oct. 1, 2008) — The weather. It’s the one topic of conversation that unites Britain – umbrella or sun cream? Now scientists at the Science and Technology Facilities Council have developed a system that measures the individual layers of cloud above us which will make answering the all-important weather questions much easier in future.

The Cloud Radar will not only allow forecasters to predict the weather more precisely, the information gathered will also enable aircraft pilots to judge more accurately whether it is safe to take off and land in diverse weather conditions, offering a powerful safety capability for civil airports and military air bases.

Developed over 10 years by researchers and engineers at the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, in collaboration with the Met Office, the Cloud Radar can take a complete and accurate profile of cloud or fog up to 5 miles overhead. Operating at 94 GHz, 50 times higher in frequency than most mobile phones, the radar measures the cloud base height, its thickness, density and internal structure as well as providing similar information on cloud layers at higher altitudes.

The earliest version of the cloud radar was built to demonstrate that a low power system operating at high frequency could compete with more common radar types. It was built from the spare components of a radar altimeter designed to operate on a satellite, so that it used small, low-power components in contrast to previous cloud radars that use expensive pulsed sources which consume many times more power and have limited lifetimes.

Brian Moyna, Senior Systems Engineer at STFC said: “In a nutshell, our Cloud Radar takes a slice of cloud and provides a complete and accurate vertical profile. Compared to conventional pulsed radar instruments, this radar is a low power, high sensitivity, portable instrument that uses all solid state components for lower cost and increased reliability.”

The Met Office has just purchased a Cloud Radar which is being trialled at sites around Britain. Additionally, a Cloud Radar has also been acquired by the University of Marburg in Germany.

The radar consists of a millimetre-wave frequency source that continuously emits a low power signal in the vertical direction that is frequency modulated. A signal is returned, mainly due to what is known as ‘back-scattering’ from water droplets and ice crystals in the atmosphere. This signal is picked up by a receiver and converted to a microwave signal, which is then digitised, analysed and a real-time image of the returned signal intensity versus altitude is displayed for the user.

The new Cloud Radar is the result of several hundred thousands of pounds of investment into the Space Science & Technology Department at STFC with proof of concept funding from CLIK, STFC’s wholly-owned technology exploitation company, along with the Met Office.

WEATHER NOTE

Global Warming Will Have Significant Economic Impacts On Florida Coasts, Reports State

ScienceDaily (Oct. 1, 2008) — Leading Florida-based scientific researchers released two new studies today, including a Florida State University report finding that climate change will cause significant impacts on Florida's coastlines and economy due to increased sea level rise.

A second study by researchers at Florida Atlantic University recommends that the state of Florida adopt a series of policy programs aimed at adapting to these large coastal and other impacts as a result of climate change. Key findings of the FAU report were included just this week by Florida Gov. Charlie Crist's Climate and Energy Action Team when it adopted the "Adaptation" section of its final report.

"The impacts of climate change on Florida's coasts and on our economy will be substantial, persistent and long-term, even under our conservative estimates," said Julie Harrington, director of the Center for Economic Forecasting and Analysis at FSU. "Should, as many models predict, sea level rise, and hurricane strength and other factors become more extreme, much greater economic impacts will occur along many parts of Florida's coast in this century."

The second new study, by researchers at FAU, focused on state adaptation policies needed as Florida faces the impacts of climate change.

"The goal of our study is to help the state of Florida adapt, in the most effective way possible, to climate change impacts that are now inevitable," said Jim Murley, director of Florida Atlantic University's Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions and leader of the study. "These approaches must be comprehensive and strategic, not piecemeal and episodic. Governor Crist and other leaders have rightly identified adapting to climate change as one of the state's greatest challenges -- we look forward to working with the state to protect our people, natural splendor, and economic livelihood. There is real work to be done."

This research was supported by a grant from the National Commission on Energy Policy, a project of the Bipartisan Policy Center.

About the FSU study

This study uses current estimates of sea level rise from Florida State University's Beaches and Shores Resource Center and 2001 estimates from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to evaluate the effect of sea level rise on the six coastal counties. The results show projected trends in storm-surge flood return periods associated with hurricanes, damage costs associated with flooding from major storm events, and the value and area of land at risk.

Under the FSU study's estimates for sea level in Dade County, the value of land at risk totals $6.7 billion in 2080 (in 2005 dollars). (By comparison, using International Panel on Climate Change sea level estimates, the value of land at risk in Dade County ranges from $1 billion to $12.3 billion in 2080). The study also calculated the effect of storm surge and sea level rise on future damage costs, finding that if a storm like Hurricane Wilma from 2005 occurred in 2080, the cost to Dade alone would be from 12 percent to 31 percent higher (in 2005 constant dollars). While these findings do not account for adaptive strategies or potential future increases in property values, they still provide valuable information about potential impacts and resources that are put at risk from sea level rise.

About the FAU study

Key findings of the report have been included by Gov. Crist's Climate and Energy Action Team as it adopted the "Adaptation" section of its final report this week in Tallahassee. Important findings from the FAU study call for major state environmental, growth management and public infrastructure decision-making processes to be adjusted so they are responsive to future climate change impacts.

"FAU will continue to research how Florida can be a leader in providing guidance to other states on how best to put in place workable solutions that will help communities adapt to future climate change impacts," Murley said.

"Storm events associated with certain levels of storm surge could increase in frequency in the future, due to sea level rise," Harrington said.

"As sea level rises, damage costs associated with extreme storm events increases significantly for the Florida counties examined in this study," she said.

MARITIME NOTE

Navy Confirms Sunken Submarine Is Grunion

ScienceDaily (Oct. 4, 2008) — Commander, Submarine Forces Pacific Fleet (COMSUBPAC), Rear Adm. Douglas McAneny announced October 2 that a sunken vessel off the coast of the Aleutian Islands is in fact the World War II submarine USS Grunion (SS 216).

The submarine Grunion arrived at Pearl Harbor on June 20, 1942. The vessel completed pre-patrol training before departing on its first war patrol June 30. Grunion's commanding officer, Lt. Cmdr. Abele, was ordered to proceed to the Aleutian Islands and patrol westward from Attu on routes between the Aleutians and the Japanese Empire. On July 10, Grunion was reassigned to the area north of Kiska. Over the next 20 days, the submarine reported firing on an enemy destroyer, sinking three destroyer-type vessels, and attacking unidentified enemy ships near Kiska.

Grunion's last transmission was received on July 30, 1942. The submarine reported heavy antisubmarine activity at the entrance to Kiska, and that it had 10 torpedoes remaining forward. On the same day, Grunion was directed to return to Dutch Harbor Naval Operating Base. There was no contact or sighting of the submarine after July 30, and on August 16, Grunion was reported lost.

"I am honored to announce that, with records and information provided by the Abele family and assistance from the Naval Historical Center, USS Grunion has been located," said McAneny. "We are very grateful to the family of Grunion's Commanding Officer Lt. Cmdr. Mannert L. Abele for providing the underwater video footage and pictures that allowed us to make this determination. We also appreciate the efforts of the USS Cod Submarine Memorial for their assistance in this matter. We hope this announcement will help to give closure to the families of the 70 crewmen of Grunion."

Abele was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for heroism. A destroyer, USS Mannert L. Abele (DD 733), was commissioned in his honor, and was later lost in action off Okinawa in 1945. Japanese anti-submarine attack data recorded no attack in the Aleutian area at the time of Grunion's disappearance, so the submarine's fate remained an unsolved mystery for more than 60 years.

After discovering information on the internet in 2002 that helped pinpoint USS Grunion's possible location, the sons of Grunion's commanding officer, Bruce, Brad, and John Abele, began working on a plan to find the submarine. In August 2006, a team of side scan sonar experts hired by the brothers located a target near Kiska almost a mile below the ocean's surface. A second expedition in August 2007 using a high definition camera on a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) yielded video footage and high resolution photos of the wreckage of a U.S. fleet submarine.

"This discovery has come about through a stream of seemingly improbable events; it's like we won the lottery 10 times in a row," said Bruce Abele, eldest son of Grunion's commanding officer. "It is so dramatic to see the underwater photo and be certain it was in fact Grunion; not only is this announcement important for the families of the crew members, it's also important for the Navy and the country."

The Abele brothers then contacted the USS Cod Submarine Memorial for assistance in identifying the wreckage. The vessel is lying at a depth of about 3,200 feet. Very cold water and lack of significant currents has preserved much of the wreckage.

Dr. John Fakan, director of the USS Cod Submarine Memorial, remarked about the importance of having an unmodified example in USS Cod, a fellow Gato-class submarine, in identifying the wreckage of USS Grunion.

"USS Grunion and USS Cod shared the same blueprints," he said. "It is very gratifying for me and my crew to help with the identification of the submarine."

With the information provided by the Abele family and the USS Cod Submarine Memorial, COMSUBPAC and the Naval Historical Center examined the evidence and historical records and determined that the submarine found at the reported position could only be USS Grunion.

"The synergy of our group working together with the Navy for the common cause has been a wonderful group effort," Bruce Abele said. "The teamwork combined with everyone's compassion and wisdom has resulted in our success."

According to Bruce's brother John Abele, those responsible for contributing to this discovery included historians and engineers from the United States, Australia, Israel and Japan. Of particular note was the involvement of Japanese naval architect Yutaka Iwasaki, who provided information critical to pinpointing the location of the submarine.

Bruce and John's brother, retired Lt. Brad Abele, who recently passed away, also played a significant role in the find. As his brother John explained, "Brad's experience as a Naval aviator helped a great deal by helping us to plot the strategy for the discovery."

Unfortunately, the cause of Grunion's sinking remains a mystery. No matter what the cause, the end result was the loss of all hands. As the Naval Historical Center noted, "no amount of analysis or speculation will change or alter the fact that families lost fathers, husbands, uncles and brothers… the Navy and the nation will always be grateful for their service and their sacrifice."

Former Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz once said, "When I assumed command of the Pacific Fleet on 31 December 1941 our submarines were already operating against the enemy, the only units of the Fleet that could come to grips with the Japanese for months to come. It was to the Submarine Force that I looked to carry the load until our great industrial activity could produce the weapons we so sorely needed to carry the war to the enemy. It is to the everlasting honor and glory of our submarine personnel that they never failed us in our days of great peril."

By the end of World War II, submarines had made more than 1,600 war patrols. Pacific Fleet submarines like Grunion accounted for more than half of all enemy shipping sunk during the war. The cost of this success was heavy: 52 U.S. Pacific Fleet submarines were lost, and more than 3,500 submariners remain on "eternal patrol."

A representative of the submarine force will speak on behalf of the U.S. Navy at a memorial service in Cleveland, Ohio, Oct. 11. The service, hosted by the USS Cod Memorial, will honor the 70 crewmembers killed when USS Grunion was sunk near the Aleutian Islands on or about July 30, 1942.

"To provide ourselves and the families this closure, it's icing on the cake," said John Abele. "The memorial service is a symbolic event; we've discovered family we didn't know we had. Not only is this an honor for all of us, it increases the feeling of community we've been able to achieve."

HAVE A SAFE AND GREAT WEEKEND!
RS

Food Safety Tips during Ike and other hurricanes, tornadoes

Food Safety Tips during Ike and other hurricanes, tornadoes

Sept. 11, 2008 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture is providing recommendations to those in the projected track of Hurricane Ike, which could produce severe storms and tornadoes in Texas, as well as other Gulf coast states. USDA is hopeful this information will help minimize the potential for foodborne illnesses due to power outages and other problems that are often associated with severe weather events.

“Power outages can occur at any time of the year and it often takes from a few hours to several days for electricity to be restored to residential areas,” said USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Richard Raymond. “Without electricity or a cold source, foods stored in refrigerators and freezers can become unsafe. Bacteria in food grow rapidly at temperatures between 40 and 140 °F, and if these foods are consumed, people can become very sick.”

Steps to follow to prepare for a possible weather emergency:

–Keep an appliance thermometer in the refrigerator and freezer. An appliance thermometer will indicate the temperature in the refrigerator and freezer in case of a power outage and help determine the safety of the food.

–Make sure the freezer is at 0 °F or below and the refrigerator is at 40 °F or below.–Freeze containers of water for ice to help keep food cold in the freezer, refrigerator or coolers after the power is out.

–Freeze refrigerated items such as leftovers, milk and fresh meat and poultry that you may not need immediately — this helps keep them at a safe temperature longer.

–Plan ahead and know where dry ice and block ice can be purchased.

–Store food on shelves that will be safely out of the way of contaminated water in case of flooding.

–Have coolers on hand to keep refrigerator food cold if the power will be out for more than 4 hours. Purchase or make ice cubes and store in the freezer for use in the refrigerator or in a cooler. Freeze gel packs ahead of time for use in coolers.

–Group food together in the freezer — this helps the food stay cold longer.

Steps to follow after the weather emergency:

–Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain the cold temperature.

The refrigerator will keep food safely cold for about 4 hours if it is unopened. A full freezer will hold the temperature for approximately 48 hours (24 hours if it is half full) if the door remains closed.

–Discard refrigerated perishable food such as meat, poultry, fish, soft cheeses, milk, eggs, leftovers and deli items after 4 hours without power.

–Food may be safely refrozen if it still contains ice crystals or is at 40 °F or below when checked with a food thermomete..

–Never taste a food to determine its safety!

–Obtain dry or block ice to keep your refrigerator and freezer as cold as possible if the power is going to be out for a prolonged period of time. Fifty pounds of dry ice should hold an 18-cubic-foot full freezer for 2 days.

–If the power has been out for several days, check the temperature of the freezer with an appliance thermometer. If the appliance thermometer reads 40 °F or below, the food is safe to refreeze.

–If a thermometer has not been kept in the freezer, check each package of food to determine its safety. If the food still contains ice crystals, the food is safe.

–Drink only bottled water if flooding has occurred.

–Discard any food that is not in a waterproof container if there is any chance that it has come into contact with flood water. Discard wooden cutting boards, plastic utensils, baby bottle nipples and pacifiers.

Undamaged, commercially prepared foods in all-metal cans and retort pouches (for example, flexible, shelf-stable juice or seafood pouches) can be saved. Follow the Steps to Salvage All-Metal Cans and Retort Pouches in the publication “Keeping Food Safe During an Emergency”

–Thoroughly wash all metal pans, ceramic dishes and utensils that came in contact with flood water with hot soapy water and sanitize by boiling them in clean water or by immersing them for 15 minutes in a solution of 1 tablespoon of unscented, liquid chlorine bleach per gallon of drinking water.

–When in Doubt, Throw it Out!

You all be careful out there…

Weather Eye: Galveston prepared for Hurricane Ike

Paul Simons

Hurricane Ike struck the coast of Texas on Saturday and battered the island of Galveston with a 3.7m (12ft) storm surge. But far worse has hit this region before.

In 1900 Galveston was one of the wealthiest cities in the US and the nation’s biggest cotton port. Despite its vulnerable position on the Gulf of Mexico coast, the local weather forecaster Isaac Cline declared that it could never be seriously damaged by a hurricane. “An absurd delusion,” he called it. His opinion helped to sway Galveston’s decision to reject a proposal to build a protective sea wall.

On September 8, 1900, an exceptionally powerful hurricane struck the Texas coast. Barometer readings plunged and telegraph reports came in of violent seas in the Caribbean heading northwards. Galveston was full of tourists and residents, but fewer than half of them heeded the warnings; some sightseers even came from the mainland to watch the sea crash in.

The hurricane hit in the evening with winds so powerful they lifted a train full of evacuees off the tracks as it was leaving Galveston. A 4.6m (15ft) storm surge burst through the town, tearing buildings from their foundations. “Massive buildings were crushed like eggshells, great timbers were carried through the air as though they were of no weight, and the winds and the waves swept everything before them,” wrote one eyewitness.

Wind and waves batter ghost towns in Texas and Louisiana

An estimated 6,000 to 10,000 people died, far more than in the San Francisco earthquake six years later. It was the greatest natural disaster in US history. Afterwards Galveston built huge storm surge defence walls, but these were not enough to keep out Hurricane Ike.

WEATHER NOTE
Fly Over South Eastern Texas Coastline (IKE)

Galveston Cleans Up After Ike



IKE UPDATE FROM BIG MEDICINE

Gulf Coast: Selected updates from Sept 13 - Hurricane Ike [Sep 14]--

NEMRC Alert - TX - Summary of reports 07.44

Special thanks to Vic Healey for monitoring multiple feeds overnight.

Warning no one needs to be out. Danger from live wires down in dark. ( Side note - from my experience in being sent to Miami area after a hurricane many serious traffic accidents from lack of traffic signals BE CAREFUL next several weeks)

Reporters from all channels expressing feeling that they will never do this again. Fearful experience to be out reporting on this storm. Trucks getting flat tires from debris in road. Continue Reading

HURRICANE IKE FROM THE DUNDEE TRACKING STATION

LATEST IKE IMAGE

• More quicklook images: Geostationary Archive / GOES East / 2008 / 9 / 14 / 1500

IKE SIMULATIONS BY STORM LABORATORY

Storm Laboratory

IKE TAKING A HIKE!

CHICAGO RAIN FALL TOTALS - IKE

Rainfall amounts for the last 24 hours!

Here are 24 hour rainfall reports from our Cooperative Observers and CoCoRaHs observers.

Thanks to all our observers for their reports and participation in the program!

MAXIMUM/MINIMUM TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION TABLE

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO/ROMEOVILLE IL

1000 AM CDT SUN SEP 14 2008

TEMPERATURES AND 24 HOUR PRECIPITATION ENDING AT INDICATED TIME. THIS MORNING. LOCATIONS GROUPED BY CLIMATIC DIVISION. DATA PROVIDED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COOPERATIVE OBSERVERS.

Continue Reading

Storm update: Some evacuated as Chicago River crests on NW Side

September 14, 2008

Evacuations and sandbagging were under way in the Albany Park neighborhood on the city's Northwest Side Sunday morning as a section of the Chicago River crested.

The Chicago Fire Department evacuated some residents who live in the 5100 block of North Avers Avenue, south of West Foster Avenue, according to CLTV. The number of people being evacuated was not immediately known.

At the corner of Avers and West Carmen Avenue, water was up to 2-feet deep, and vehicles were moving slowly through the flooded area. The water had reached all the way up to nearby homes, mostly 2-story, brick townhouses. The entire area near Avers and Carmen had been closed off to anyone other than local residents. Police barriers were blocking streets.

Streets and Sanitation bulldozers were dropping sandbags along Avers, and Peoples Gas workers were turning off gas service due to the flooding.

From Tribune reporter Emily Achembaum.

The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood warning until 4:30 Sunday afternoon for large portions of northern Illinois, plus several counties of northwestern Indiana. The warning covers all or parts of the following Illinois counties: Ford, Iroquois, Boone, DeKalb, LaSalle, Lee, Ogle, Winnebago, Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will, plus the Indiana Counties of Jasper, Newton, Lake and Porter.

City officials scheduled a news conference at 9 a.m. at the Office of Emergency Services headquarters at 1411 W. Madison to provide a flooding update. CLTV will carry the news conference live.

Roadways: On the Bishop Ford Freeway, a flooded section near 130th Street was affecting traffic in both directions. Northbound at the steel bridge, the left lane was closed, and about a half mile south of the 130th Street exit the right lane was closed, pushing all the traffic into the center lane. Traffic was slowly passing through about 8 inches of water in the center lane, which was the shallowest lane. Southbound lanes were open, but vehicles were sending huge sprays of water into the air as they hit the flooded patch south of 130th.

IDOT's list of road closings due to flooding.

And more on chicagotribune.com's traffic report (right side of page).

The Greater Chicago Red Cross has opened four shelters for people displaced by flooding in the city and suburbs. The shelters are located at:
-- North Park College at 5801 N. Pulaski. The shelter was opened early Sunday to care for people who were evacuated from parts of the Albany Park neighborhood when the Chicago River crested.
-- The Des Plaines Park District at 515 E. Thacker in Des Plaines.
-- St. Stevens Lutheran Church at 14700 S. Kildare in Midlothian in the south suburbs.
-- Mt. Carmel School, 1101 N. 23rd Avenue in Melrose Park.

Cancellation: The fourth annual Lakeview East Festival of the Arts in the city's Lake View neighborhood canceled its second day of events Sunday due to the weather. Know of a canceled event? Send a notice to chicagobreaking@tribune.com

Saturday's rainfall, as measured at O'Hare International Airport, was at least 6.63 inches, breaking the city calendar-day record of 6.49 on Aug. 14, 1987. Records have been kept since 1871. (Read full coverage of Saturday's deluge).

Expect widespread rain Sunday morning, then scattered light showers in the afternoon. There could be an additional 2 to 3 inches of rain in some areas, the National Weather Service predicted. High temperatures will be in the 60s. There is a 30 percent chance of light showers Sunday night, with low temperatures in the 50s. The region should begin to dry out Monday. Cloudy skies are forecast but no new rainfall.

The storms claimed at least one victim. Divers recovered the body of Alan Byrd, 28, of Rolling Meadows, who tried to swim with a friend across a flooded retention pond near Kirchoff and South New Wilke Roads in Arlington Heights.

Towed vehicles: The city's Department of Streets and Sanitation said dozens of vehicles have been towed in flooded areas. Relocated vehicles that were south of the Chicago River are being taken to 4958 N. Springfield, the department said in a news release. Vehicles that were relocated from north of the river are being taken to the Northeastern Illinois University Parking Lot, Lot "L."

IT AIN'T JUST IKE
China's coastal provinces evacuate thousands in path of Typhoon Sinlaku




FUZHOU/HANGZHOU, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Fujian and Zhejiang provinces in east China evacuated about 230,000 people from low-lying coastal regions, as typhoon Sinlaku is approaching, after it pounded Taiwan early Sunday morning.

In Zhejiang alone, nearly 200,000 residents have been evacuated and 30,000 fishing boats have been recalled to harbor, according to the provincial headquarters for flood control.

The approaching of Sinlaku has led to winds of up to 126 km per hour off the coast of Zhejiang and brought about downpours in some areas.

"We must do the utmost to minimize the losses...and guard against flash floods and landslides," said Zhao Hongzhu, secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China.

The flood control headquarters in Zhejiang warned that Sinlaku could cause serious geological disasters on its possible course through Ningbo, Taizhou and Wenzhou cities as well as the Zhoushan Islands.

Local authorities in the province have also urged all coastal scenic spots to shut down business, and persuade tourists to stay in safe places or return home.

Sinlaku is the 13th tropical storm to hit the Chinese mainland this year. It landed at Taiwan's Yilan County early Sunday morning.

The eye of the typhoon was reported to be about 305 km to the southeast of Wenzhou in southeastern Zhejiang at 6 p.m. on Sunday, according to the local weather authorities, and it was moving northwestward to the area at a speed of 10 km per hour.

The observatory in Fujian gave yellow alert, or the second-degree disaster weather warning, to the storm on Sunday, forecasting winds close to hurricane force and heavy rains in the sea area of the Taiwan Straits from Sunday to Monday.

"The typhoon is moving to northern Fujian and Wenzhou. But it's still hard to predict whether it will make a landfall on the mainland or the specific location it will land at," said Chen Hui, vice mayor of Fuding in northern Fujian.

"Yet it will cause losses to the city even if the typhoon doesn't land at Fuding," he said, adding that all public servants in the city have been ordered to cancel their three-day Moon Festival holiday to prepare for combating the typhoon.

Few people were seen walking on the streets of Fuding's Shacheng Township Sunday afternoon and almost all shops had closed. Latest developments about Sinlaku could be heard via loudspeakers incessantly.

"I'll go nowhere tonight. Just stay at home. I have bad memories about typhoons," local resident Yao Rihua, while putting up reinforcement panels on his doors and windows. Continue Reading

LATEST IMAGE ON TYPHOON SINLAKU

• More quicklook images: Geostationary Archive / MTSAT / 2008 / 9 / 14 / 1500

MARITIME NOTE

Loose barge totals bridge

LYDIA — Hurricane Ike’s wrath has forced road blockades and added law enforcement to flood-devastated parts of the Teche Area, but hasn’t stopped residents from staying for the aftermath of a surge that could bring Rita-like destruction. The devastation included a rogue barge that destroyed the Warehouse Bayou bridge on Louisiana 83.

State police officers and Louisiana National Guard soldiers continuously turned away vehicles and residents trying to get to their homes at Patoutville Road and Louisiana 83 in Lydia because of high water.

An officer at the blockade said he received reports of a man driving an airboat through the flooded areas, creating dangerous waves for residents who stayed in their homes.

Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Wendell Raborn said deputies arrested the driver of the boat, Harold Dauterive, 49, for curfew violation and trespassing.

There is a 24-hour curfew in effect for flooded areas of the parish, and Sheriff Louis Ackal set a bond of $50,000 for curfew violators.

A few blocks past the blockade, Dwayne and Connie Eskind and their niece Layla Fargo waded through the rising water in their yard to check the flood levels in their home.

“We have water coming into one side of our home right now,” Eskind said at midday Saturday. “But not as much as Rita yet. The water from Rita came all at once.”

A CLECO employee trying to rescue his dogs from his home near the blockade in Lydia said the electric company planned to shut off all power to flooded areas to prevent house fires.

CLECO reported at 4 p.m. Saturday that 866 homes in Iberia were without power.

A few miles south of the blockade, the bridge over Warehouse Bayou was destroyed by an unattended barge that crashed into it Saturday morning during the storm.

Robert Freeman, an environmental science manager with the state Department of Environmental Quality, said the barge appeared to have broken loose and wiped out the bridge.

Half of the barge was stuck against the bridge and the other half was sunken, Freeman said.

The crash also caused a small amount of old diesel fuel and hydraulic fluid to spill into the bayou. Freeman described the barge as a “keyway” barge used to put rigs on for drilling.

No injuries were reported.

Six campers from southeast Texas and a few from Delcambre sought refuge from Ike on Highway 89 near Lake Peigneur, where flood waters had already risen to nearly 6 feet on some areas along the lake’s banks.

Early Saturday morning, Jackie Delcambre of Orange, Texas, watched the white-capped waves on the lake smash around the roof of a flooded building where campers are typically parked.

“The water never crests like this,” said Lisa Broussard, who lives along Lake Peigneur. “The camping spots for RVs are underwater. There was grass there yesterday (Friday).”

Officials to begin surveying Texas waterways

Officials on Sunday were planning to survey Texas waterways in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike.

``Our goal is to get these waterways open as soon as possible,'' said Col. David C. Weston, commander for the Corps of Engineers Galveston District. ``We know how critical they are to our nation's economy and industry, and, weather permitting, we will begin today.''

Other agencies who will be taking part in the project are the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, pilots, and the Gulf Intracoastal Canal Association and Terrasond, a contractor.

Officials plan to conduct hydrographic and side scan sonar surveys of the Houston/Galveston Bay complex and the Sabine Neches Waterway in the next two days.

Other waterways to be surveyed include Freeport, Matagorda, the Corpus Christi Ship Channel, the Victoria Barge Channel, and Chocolate Bayou.
Seventeen survey survey boats are being used.

The Houston/Galveston Bay complex includes the Port of Houston, Port of Galveston, Port of Texas City, Green's Bayou, Bayport and Barbers Terminals, and the Sabine Neches Waterway includes the Ports of Orange, Beaumont, and Port Arthur.

The Corps partners with the Coast Guard, NOAA, and the Gulf Intracoastal Canal Association as part of the Texas Joint Hurricane Response Team during hurricanes to work to survey and open the coastal waterways.

RS