Tag: natural disasters

Project Cyclops: Efforts in Hurricane Modification Showed Promising Results in 1961

In 1961, the U.S. Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS) conducted a groundbreaking experiment aimed at modifying hurricanes, a project known as “Project Cyclops.” This initiative involved an attempt to influence the behavior of hurricanes through cloud seeding, using a specially developed silver iodide dispersal system. The project’s most notable test took place on Hurricane Esther in September 1961.

The primary objective of Project Cyclops was to disrupt the structure of hurricanes by releasing silver iodide into their cloud systems. Silver iodide acts as a nucleating agent, encouraging the formation of ice crystals from supercooled water droplets within storm clouds. In theory, this process could alter the thermodynamics of a storm, potentially reducing its intensity.

The experiment was a joint effort between NOTS scientists and the Weather Bureau (now known as the National Weather Service, a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA]). A critical component of the experiment was the Cyclops device, designed to disperse silver iodide into the clouds from an aircraft. The first test was conducted over Hurricane Esther from a U.S. Naval Station in Puerto Rico. Eight Cyclops units were dropped into the northeast quadrant of the hurricane’s wall cloud.

The results were significant, with a “dramatic and radical change in the thermodynamics of the hurricane” observed for approximately one and a half hours following the seeding. The project report noted that the seeded area of the storm experienced a rapid conversion of supercooled water droplets into ice crystals. This led to the formation of a “cup-like” shape in the hurricane’s eye, with the wall cloud appearing to spread outwards. In the words of the report, “the changes in the form of the eye continued for at least an hour and a half,” during which time the eye’s shape oscillated and even resembled a figure 9 before returning to its original circular structure.

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How the Army is using AI during Hurricane Helene relief

The Army’s 18th Airborne Corps is for the first time using a battlefield capability to map road closures, cellular outages, supply needs and other data in real time to help the Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Northern Command help people whose homes and communities were battered by Hurricane Helene late last month.

The Army is using its Maven Smart System to provide responders with the information needed to make quick, on-the-ground decisions, such as where to send medical supplies or how many truckloads of water to take into certain storm-ravaged areas, defense officials told reporters Monday.

Weeks after the deadly hurricane tore a path from Florida’s Gulf Coast into the Appalachian Mountains, some residents in the southeast are still sifting through the wreckage caused by floods and landslides that destroyed entire towns.

More damage is feared as Hurricane Milton bears down on Florida this week as well.

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NC Aircraft In Rotor Wash Incident Belonged To NC National Guard – Crew Temporarily Grounded

CDM reported on the recent incident in North Carolina where a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter damaged the civilian aid collection site in the NC Hurricane Helene impact area.

Initial reports on X were the aircraft belonged to the CT National Guard.

We contacted the CT National Guard yesterday and obtained an interim statement. North Carolina released the statement below today.

In a separate incident, a U.S. Army Chinook sent several civilians to the hospital when trying to land.

As a former USAF helicopter pilot and former US Army Guard medivac company officer, I can attest that this incident was unacceptable. This is a leadership and training issue. Obviously these pilots had no situational awareness.

Crews used to be trained intensely to evaluate landing sites from a variety of perspectives before attempting to land.

Besides the physical damage to the civilian volunteers, the reputational damage to the National Guard is immense.

There needs to be accountability, with the crew, and leadership.

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Harris Attempts To Blame Trump For FEMA Hurricane Relief Failures 

Kamala Harris reverted to her default position when talking to the cackling hags on The View about FEMA’s disastrous hurricane relief efforts.

She attempted to blame Donald Trump.

“He puts himself before the needs of others. I fear that he really lacks empathy,” Harris said of Trump, also describing his criticism of her as “callousness.”

Trump hasn’t been in office since 2020, yet somehow a woeful federal government response to a hurricane that occurred in 2024 is his fault because he said some mean words.

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Biden Exposes Kamala’s Lie That DeSantis Wouldn’t Take Her Call

Joe Biden, of all people, has completely exposed Kamala Harris as a liar who is using a Hurricane as a political tool.

Harris claimed Monday that Florida governor Ron DeSantis was refusing to take her calls, calling him “irresponsible and selfish.”

DeSantis responded, noting that he spoke to the actual president, rather than Harris.

“She’s been the vice president for three and a half years, we’ve had many of these storms, and she’s never contributed ANYTHING,” DeSantis fumed.

The press also confirmed DeSantis spoke with Biden.

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FEMA Doesn’t Care About Helping Americans After A Disaster, It Cares About ‘Disaster Equity’

What’s the point of a federal disaster agency if the chief priorities of said agency are not to save Americans from disaster?

In September last year, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell joined the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to sign the “Agreement to Advance Equity in Disaster Resilience.”

According to an NAACP press release, the group’s “Emergency Management Task Force … will meet regularly with FEMA leadership to advance progress on equity within disaster preparedness and resilience.”

“The signing comes on the heels of an Intergenerational Climate Resilience Roundtable recently hosted by NAACP and FEMA during NAACP’s Climate Week NYC activations,” the release read. “The roundtable focused on disaster preparedness, climate resilience and instilling equity in emergency management.”

FEMA’s website characterized the roundtable as a forum where “presenters shared their wealth of knowledge and information gleaned from their areas of expertise and personal experience regarding the intergenerational impacts of climate change and how disaster resilience can be improved.”

“At a time when we are experiencing some of the worst natural disasters, we need effective collaboration, communication and transparency of resources to help Black communities,” said the NAACP’s director for Environmental and Climate Justice.

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Lawmakers Briefed On Weather Modification Tech, Conclude Hurricane Helene Was DoD-Linked Weather Weapon Deployed Against American People

State representatives and senators in the Carolinas were briefed on weather modification technology and have come to the conclusion that Hurricane Helene was a weather weapon deployed against the American people, according to a geoengineering expert.

Dane Wigginton joined Ret. Col. Douglas MacGregor’s podcast on Monday to reveal that he briefed numerous lawmakers about patented Defense Department-linked technology used to control major weather events like hurricanes, and the lawmakers were left stunned over what they heard.

“I have an hour conference call yesterday with the representatives and senators from the Carolinas, and we presented the data to them to answer their questions about how this manipulation occurs,” Wigginton said.

“They realized this was not a natural event. They’re trying to digest the fact that their states were literally under assault from weather modification operations that are clearly connected to the DoD operations.”

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Watchdog found $7B in untapped FEMA funds — even though DHS Secretary Mayorkas said none available for future disasters

A Department of Homeland Security inspector general’s report from August reveals more than $7 billion remain in emergency funding that could be used for natural disasters — even though DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said last week none was available after Hurricane Helene.

Mayorkas, 64, told reporters following the devastation of Helene in North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Florida that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) “does not have the funds” to endure more hurricanes this fall.

“We are expecting another hurricane hitting,” the DHS chief said Oct. 2, days before Hurricane Milton began picking up speed in the Gulf of Mexico. “We do not have the funds. FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season and what is imminent.”

But DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari found in his Aug. 14 report that as of October 2022, FEMA had $8.3 billion in unliquidated funds meant to relieve declared disasters from 2012 or earlier.

More than $7 billion of that “could potentially be returned to the Disaster Relief Fund,” the report notes, referring to FEMA’s dedicated fund for natural calamities.

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Ralph Norman warns US is facing a saline shortage due to shipments to Ukraine and hurricane damage

Republican South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman on Monday warned that the United States was facing a saline shortage because shipments of the critical medical solution have gone to Ukraine.

Medical facilities around the United States are preparing for the shortage after a medical facility in North Carolina closed down because of flooding from the storm, and the shipments to Ukraine. The plant is operated by Baxter Healthcare Corp, which produces approximately 60% of the nation’s supply of IV solutions, according to The News & Observer.

Norman claimed the shortage and shipment of the products to Ukraine was an “assault on our way of life.”

“Just before I went on your show, I got a message from from a pharmaceutical group that saline is a severe shortage,” Norman said on the “Just The News, No Noise” television show. “Saline operations are going to be limited all over the country. Why? A lot of the medicine has been sent overseas, namely Ukraine, which we’re trying to get to the bottom of, but it’s an assault on our way of life. John and Amanda. It’s got to end with hopefully getting them out of office.”

Norman also warned of the shortage on a post to X, claiming that the shortage and destruction in North Carolina constitute a “national emergency that Biden-Harris needs to address immediately.”

“All money going to aid illegal immigrants needs to stop IMMEDIATELY. ESPECIALLY when this is happening in our own states,” he added to the post.

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‘Redneck Air Force’ Reportedly Steps Up After FEMA’s Lackluster Response to Helene

Turns out that even in the face of unmitigated disaster and tragedy, good men can still step up — and with some humor in their hearts, as well.

As the American southeast continues to grapple with the debilitating aftermath of Hurricane Helene, many eyes have turned to the Federal Emergency Management Agency to see how the government organization would respond to this catastrophe.

Helene’s damage was a multi-state affair, starting in Florida and moving up the east coast through Georgia and Tennessee, ending up in North Carolina.

And it’s in the Tar Heel State that this story of good men with a sense of humor originates.

Asheville, North Carolina, continues to grapple with the cataclysmic fallout from Helene, with much of the city still looking like a ravaged war zone, weeks after the devastating storm hit.

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