ike

today it is worthy to take a break from the obama love campaign that i've largely been writing of late (don't be afraid to read my post, though: Why Obama Is Our Next President). :)
worthy because hurricane ike has literally thrown a good chunk of america into quite a mess to be sure. worthy to pause and take account of the awesome powers of mother nature and what things like ike can tell us.

given that hurricanes tend to lose intensity and die down once landfall is made, ike is an anomaly worth looking into.

we'll use hurricane andrew to get a look at an overhead view of a hurricane:
(source page for image below: nasa worldbook/hurricane)

Hurricane winds swirl about the eye, a calm area in the center of the storm. The main mass of clouds shown in this photograph measures almost 250 miles (400 kilometers) across. The hurricane, named Andrew, struck the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana in 1992, killing 65 people and causing billions of dollars in damage. Image credit: NASA
(source page for text above: nasa worldbook/hurricane)

back to hurricane ike: the hurricane did not die in texas as conventional wisdom would tell us. no, this bad boy went all the way up into ohio and then headed east. i don't believe this has ever happened before. what gives?

in areas like indiana, northern kentucky, and southwestern ohio, the remanants of ike caused damage to buildings, trees, power lines and poles, and fires broke out in some areas. deaths have also been reported due to ike travelling up from Texas and into the midwest. many people were left without power in the interior of our nation, and still have none as of today.

the remnants of ike often manifested as a category one (1) hurricane (74-95 mph winds) in some areas after moving north from Texas into the interior of our nation. ike became a category four (4) hurricane (131-155 mph winds) in Texas with a 550 mile wide diameter. pretty much a hurricane the size of Texas in Texas. a hurricane this size and scope after landfall was bound to go significantly farther inland from it's point of origin. at the same time, who knew? that's not the rule...

my prayers go out to all those affected by hurricane ike.

for further reading: sf gate/ike

i may be punished by the gods for this, but i have to give a plug for my buddy's superb and orgasmically great tasting sandwiches at his sandwich shop, (ike's place) in san francisco. check out this yelp link to learn more about "the other ike":
http://www.yelp.com/biz/ikes-place-san-francisco