Will Hurricane Irene hit Philly? If it did, what would happen? (Jersey Shore: to buy, live)

[pman]

the rivers will flow with poo

[Mikay]

[FBJ]

I don't live in a mobile home in the middle of nowhere so I will be fine

[Dub King]

The big issue as of now is that Irene is going to hug the shore, which means it won't lose that much strength. Terrible news for the shore, but also the worst-case scenario for Philly. The largest threat a hurricane poses to Philadelphia is flash flooding, this year is the wettest on record. If we are 50-75 miles west of the eye, we'll see the heaviest train the storm has to offer, and gusts be hurricane force at times. This is the worst-case scenario for trees toppling over and for the river flooding.

Have a good look at your neighborhood, if there are trees growing into the power lines, count of losing power on Sunday. The Delaware river will almost certainly flood this time, with the excess rain, higher than usual tides and the storm surge all occurring at once.

UPDATE - As of 5:30 p.m. 8/25 the estimated storm track is running right between the shore and Philly. Philly could very well experience a direct hit by a category 1 hurricane.

[Mikay]

Originally Posted by Dub King

The big issue as of now is that Irene is going to hug the shore, which means it won't lose that much strength. Terrible news for the shore, but also the worst-case scenario for Philly. The largest threat a hurricane poses to Philadelphia is flash flooding, this year is the wettest on record. If we are 50-75 miles west of the eye, we'll see the heaviest train the storm has to offer, and gusts be hurricane force at times. This is the worst-case scenario for trees toppling over and for the river flooding.

Have a good look at your neighborhood, if there are trees growing into the power lines, count of losing power on Sunday. The Delaware river will almost certainly flood this time, with the excess rain, higher than usual tides and the storm surge all occurring at once.

UPDATE - As of 5:30 p.m. 8/25 the estimated storm track is running right between the shore and Philly. Philly could very well experience a direct hit by a category 1 hurricane.

I'm in Abington

Hope we dont lose power. Thats my main concern.

[kidphilly]

Just heard on the News that DE and Jersey beach towns now have a mandatory evacuation.

Lets hope this somehow veers off the coast

[FBJ]

philly is only supposed to get rain from this hurricane

[Dub King]

I don't know where you are getting your news. The track has been shifting through the day, and the 'cone of uncertainty' has shrunk considerably. The weather.com storm tracker puts the eye of the hurricane 30 miles east of center city, and it's still supposed to be a category 1 storm when it reaches that point. That puts us within the range of full-force hurricane winds as well as the maximum possible rainfall. The hurricane keeps nudging west, so by tomorrow it could be tracking to pass directly over Philly. At this point it is a guarantee we see tropical storm winds and hurricane gusts, but as of now I'd say there is a legitimate risk of sustained category 1 winds in Center City.

Of course this storm track also takes Irene right through the heart of Manhattan. It's going to be a mess.


Irene storm track 8/25/11 6:15 p.m. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/imagicdigital/6080635607/ - broken link) by imagic digital (http://www.flickr.com/people/imagicdigital/ - broken link), on Flickr

Hurricane Tracker - weather.com

Originally Posted by TVandSportsGuy

philly is only supposed to get rain from this hurricane

[Hillrunner]

The city won,t smell as bad.

[kidphilly]

Originally Posted by Hillrunner

The city won,t smell as bad.

No worries Nutter has called for retro-fitting the police helicopters with cloud seeders loaded with Philly smelling beeds