Dear friends,

First and foremost, I want to thank you all for your donations!  Your response as been tremendous and the sense of support I get from you guys is amazing!

Thanks so much!

Then, a short update from ‘my’ hurricane.  The good news is that Erika is about to run unto some atmospheric shear and some dry air, which means that there is a good chance that she might weaken.  The bad news is that she is heading for a landfall very close to where I live.  And while there is no such thing as a “minor” hurricane, all the models so far agree that if she makes landfall as a hurricane, this will be as a “Category 1” which, while still potentially capable inflicting some serious damage, is not considered a “major” hurricane which would be Categories 3 through 5.  All this is to say that while I do expect disruptions on Monday-Tuesday, I have no reason to suspect a major catastrophe (thank God!).

Erika is still far away and, currently, a rather weak tropical thunderstorm.  See for yourself:

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Right now Erika is a rather tame tropical storm with only 72km/h winds

I will keep you posted.

Hugs and cheers to all,

The Saker

Update 2: for those interested, Erika has been evaluated by the specialists as NOAA as “ “Unusually Uncertain”.  There is very good chance that the system might break-up and basically vanish, but there is also a good chance that it might gain some strength.  But should the latter happen, there is now a growing model consensus that she will stay off-shore

Erika

and that, in turn, means that even if we get in the windfield of Erika, it will be on the left hand side, a much better place to be than on the right hand side.

So all in all, I am rather optimistic, at least for the time being :-)

Hugs to all,

The Saker

TS ErikaUpdate3: Great news!  Erika looks weak and disorganized.  It is also most unlikely to turn into a hurricane.

If she stays a tropical storm, this will just be a big rain event and the main risk associated with that is flooding.  I should be okay :-)

Cheers,

The Saker

Erika lastUpdate4: better and better!  Not only is Erika getting weaker, but she is moving away.

God willing, I should get a restful week-end and just some rain next week.

Unless something big, unexpected and bad happens, and I don’t expect that, this will be the last update on this.  Good.

The Saker