Rants and raves about burning topics that have caught my attention midweek, be it greedy corporate shenanigans, frustration or joy in regards to the Philly sports teams, a movie, show or DVD that has fired up my imagination, an intriguing personality, or what’s happening in the region. — Lori Hoffman, Associate Editor, Atlantic City Weekly.

If you had told me two weeks ago that my next two Hump Day Report columns would be about an earthquake felt in New Jersey and a hurricane, I would have sent you packing to the loony bin.

Instead a lot of residents of the New Jersey coast barrier islands and some inland communities were sent out of town due to the mandatory evacuations brought on by Hurricane Irene.

As a lifelong resident of those same barrier islands, and at the moment calling Somers Point home, hurricane alerts do not panic me. Earthquakes and tornadoes are another story. Those of us who grew up by the shore felt pretty confident that a Category 1 hurricane was not going to be the monster storm trumped up endlessly on the Weather Channel, CNN and Fox News.

There is a reason a Cat 1 storm is not as dangerous as a Cat 2 or 3, no matter what the commentators were saying. It’s the same reason there are different categories — the more wind and bigger gusts from a Cat 2 or 3, the more damage.

My parking lot Saturday night.

Jonathan Storm (and no I didn’t make up the name), TV critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer, agreed with my assessment of the coverage. He felt a phrase like “impending doom” by Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel was the reason he noted: “There was plenty of information, but you had to search for it among the histrionics.”

It is just common sense and the experience of knowing what it feels like to walk down near the beach and check out the storm surf as a hurricane passes by. To someone who grew up in the Midwest, that might sound stupid, but I can recall several times that we had family outings to walk down and check out mother nature’s fury.

The storm was over-hyped but I have no problem with the emergency response and the “better safe than sorry” mentality that had my local Wawa closing on 7:30am on Friday morning. After Katrina, it’s no wonder Gov. Christie was begging the 600 senior citizens who refused to leave Atlantic City to go.

(more…)

ATLANTIC CITY — Apart from the Golden Nugget, all other Atlantic City casinos remained closed on Sunday, Aug. 28, after mandatory evacuations of the area, issued at the start of the resort town’s “lost weekend” by Gov. Chris Christie as a safety measure in relation to Hurricane Irene.

As of Sunday evening, Atlantic City Weekly could confirm that all Caesars Entertainment properties in town — Showboat, Caesars, Harrah’s Resorts and Bally’s — in addition to the Borgata, would be re-opening on Monday by noon.

Earlier in the day, Resorts, the Tropicana and ACH (formerly the Hilton) issued statements that they too would be re-opening on Monday.

By 7pm, it was still not known when Atlantic City’s Trump Taj Mahal or Trump Plaza would re-open. There were no update notices on either of the casino’s official Web sites or the Trump casino Twitter or Facebook pages.

For latest Irene related updates, follow us on Twitter (@acweekly) or join the conversation on our Facebook page.

Sign at Big Wally's Furniture Store on Rt. 9, Somers Point.

Irene slowed down overnight, so fortunately the backside of the storm lost its full force, giving us a gentle Sunday morning with no rain.

No power loss either, sweet.

Here are a few pics from my neighborhood.

P.S. fellow Somers Pointers, Hot Bagels and More and Dunkin’ Donuts are open!!

Across the street, a tree lost two big branches.

My front lawn at Sea Aire Apartments, 8:30am.

According to the National Weather Service and the National Hurricane Center, “This graphic shows the overall chance that storm surges will be greater than 2 feet above normal tide levels during the next 3 days. The graphic is based upon an ensemble of Sea, Lake, and Overland Surge from Hurricanes (SLOSH) model runs using the current National Hurricane Center (NHC) official hurricane advisory. Storm surge probabilities depend on the historical accuracy of NHCs forecasts of hurricane track, and wind speed, and an estimate of storm size.”

Click here for live photo feed and latest regarding Hurricane Irene and southern New Jersey shore area.

More cancellations due to Hurricane Irene.

The Atlantic City Ballet’s planned performances at the Jewish Community Center scheduled for Sunday August 28 at 5pm has been rescheduled for Sunday September 25 at 5pm.

The ballet’s show at the Paul Schmitchen Theater in Cape May was scheduled for Saturday August 27 at 4pm and has been canceled.

A new date is not available yet.

ATLANTIC CITY — With hurricane evacuations ordered throughout the country, the southern New Jersey shore area is preparing for the tropical storm and hurricane watches, in relation to Hurricane Irene, put into effect Thursday.

Experts say now that the track of the storm has shifted slightly, it could mean a big hit for the Northeast U.S. shore, possibly being the “strongest hurricane to hit the Northeast in decades.”

Category 3 Hurricane Irene is plowing through the Bahamas as of Thursday morning, with its sites set on the U.S., according to experts.

The threat level to the East Coast, from North Carolina to New England is “extreme” according to officials.

Here is latest tracker for Hurricane Irene:

In Atlantic County, officials are warning residents and visitors to the Atlantic City-Ocean City areas to “not wait to prepare” for this storm to hit our shores.

“‘Hurricane Irene is a dangerous storm that’s going to be knocking on our backdoor. Do not wait to prepare,” said Vince Jones, director of emergency preparedness Atlantic County, in a report published Thursday that also states:
Hurricane Irene is going to impact the entire New Jersey coast and inland areas, according to Vince Jones, director of emergency preparedness. Preparations are in place to activate a rolling evacuation plan from Cape May through Atlantic County, if the storm stays on its current path and the danger mounts.

A conference call between the National Weather Service, Governor Christie’s emergency operations and local emergency managers delivered no good news today. No steering currents are going to save the Jersey coast. Even if Irene stays 50 miles offshore, the rain will cause extreme flooding in the area. Wind damage could be severe.

Stay tuned. Get prepared. And learn about the threat of Irene hitting the greater Atlantic City region and when.

Also, it’s important to keep a watch on the storm via this tracker and to stay tuned for evacuation news from local officials.

As of 11:30am on Thursday, thunderstorms are expected for this afternoon through Sunday with severe rains expected.