Batman
08-31-2006, 11:54 AM
For anyone who was keeping track int he last thread, this is from 1 hour ago on fox news, information was from the last automated transmission from the Navy weather station
'Super' Typhoon Slams Tiny Wake Island
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Super Typhoon Ioke, a Category 5 storm and the strongest to hit the Pacific in more than a decade, slammed into tiny Wake Island Thursday, threatening to submerge the U.S. territory, U.S. Navy weather forecasters said.
The storm, packing sustained winds of more than 165MPH gusting to 190 came ashore at about 10 a.m. ET, and was slowly tracking west, gaining strength over the warm tropical waters, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center reported. Wake Island is located about 2,300 miles west of Honolulu.
The U.S. Navy evacuated the island's 188 residents on Monday, flying the mostly military personnel and their families to Honolulu. Wake Island is home to a U.S. Air Force base and a scientific outpost, roughly midway between Hawaii and Japan, and serves as a key refueling stop for U.S. military aircraft in the Pacific.
Forecasters expect the monster storm to destroy everything on the island that is not made of concrete.
The low-lying coral atoll also is the site of one of the most well-preserved military battlefields in the world. U.S. forces came under fire from the Japanese at the same time Pearl Harbor was attacked, sparking the U.S. declaration of war against Japan. The wreckage of at least four sunken Japanese warships sit off the coast, and numerous Japanese aircraft and other battle remnants are scattered about the island.
'Super' Typhoon Slams Tiny Wake Island
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Super Typhoon Ioke, a Category 5 storm and the strongest to hit the Pacific in more than a decade, slammed into tiny Wake Island Thursday, threatening to submerge the U.S. territory, U.S. Navy weather forecasters said.
The storm, packing sustained winds of more than 165MPH gusting to 190 came ashore at about 10 a.m. ET, and was slowly tracking west, gaining strength over the warm tropical waters, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center reported. Wake Island is located about 2,300 miles west of Honolulu.
The U.S. Navy evacuated the island's 188 residents on Monday, flying the mostly military personnel and their families to Honolulu. Wake Island is home to a U.S. Air Force base and a scientific outpost, roughly midway between Hawaii and Japan, and serves as a key refueling stop for U.S. military aircraft in the Pacific.
Forecasters expect the monster storm to destroy everything on the island that is not made of concrete.
The low-lying coral atoll also is the site of one of the most well-preserved military battlefields in the world. U.S. forces came under fire from the Japanese at the same time Pearl Harbor was attacked, sparking the U.S. declaration of war against Japan. The wreckage of at least four sunken Japanese warships sit off the coast, and numerous Japanese aircraft and other battle remnants are scattered about the island.