9/8 Irma Update - Looking worse for Miami

[dan_s]

Watch update here: https://www.weatherbell.com/premium/

If Irma's landfall is at the tip of Florida where Joe forecasts it will be, the winds and storm surge in Miami will be DEADLY. The good news is that if the eye goes right up the middle of the state, it will weaken quickly and s/b a tropical storm (not a hurricane) by the time it gets to north Florida. That will spare the other states the wind damage, but there may still be a lot of flooding.

It now looks like the chance of Hurricane Jose getting into the Gulf of Mexico is near zero.

[dan_s]

The Houston Chronicle reports that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said it is working to accelerate buyouts of repeatedly flooded properties following Hurricane Harvey in hopes of helping Houstonians escape perennially soggy neighborhoods and keeping the federal government from paying to rebuild homes time and time again. It's unclear how many homes in Houston might be affected by the buyout plan. Roy Wright, the FEMA official who runs the National Flood Insurance Program, declined to provide details. FEMA has a buyout program now, but it typically wouldn’t kick in for a couple years, Wright said. He wants homeowners to be able to consider buyouts instead of rebuilding. Local officials are urging Wright to move quickly now, he said.