CHARLIE CRIST DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY IN SOUTH FLORIDA!!

Jesus H. Crist!

next move, renaming it the Tar Coast, formerly the Gold Coast

i'd like to see some of those responsible tarred & feathered

TIME TO SEND PEOPLE TO FEMA CAMPS!

Yea, starting with all the oil exec's and anyone making money off this crap.

They always start evacuations at the furthest point. This is only the beginning of evac preps.

Gov. Charlie Crist proclaimed a state of emergency for Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties Thursday, as the risk increased that oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill would reach the state's shores.

Crist cited reports that oil had been caught up in the loop current, which sweeps around the Florida peninsula, saying this created a "potential threat to additional counties bordering the Gulf and the Atlantic seaboard."

The extent of the threat to South Florida remains unclear. Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said late Thursday afternoon that "only a very small amount" of oil had entered the loop current. But she was unable to quantify it, and she acknowledged that an unknown amount of oil remained under the surface.

BP acknowledged Thursday that the daily amount of oil pouring from the ocean floor was significantly more than the 210,000 gallons originally estimated. A live video feed of the leak posted online at the insistence of members of Congress shows what appears to be a large plume of oil and gas still spewing next to the tube that's carrying some of it to the surface.

"What you see are real-time images of a real-world disaster unfolding 5,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf," said U.S. Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass. "These videos stand as a scalding, blistering indictment of BP's inattention to the scope and size of the greatest environmental catastrophe in the history of the United States."

After holding off shore for weeks, heavy crude began pouring into Louisiana's coastal wetlands, A young brown pelican was found dead, its neck and one wing matted with oil, at the Breton National Wildlife Refuge.

So far, no similar threat has emerged for Florida. But authorities are trying to gather more information to better gauge the threat. Lubchenco said the government was deploying additional ships and planes to assess the extent of the subsurface oil and the trajectory of the oil in the loop current.

Crist, who had previously issued emergency declarations for the Panhandle and the upper west coast, also Thursday proclaimed a state of emergency in Collier, Lee, Charlotte and Monroe counties. A state of emergency allows the state to coordinate the emergency response and seek federal aid.

Whether any oil caught in the current will end up on beaches and mangrove coasts in the Keys and southeast Florida is unknown. Even if it comes this way, it could simply head north in the Gulf Stream and go out to sea. But officials have said that prevailing winds blowing west are likely to bring at least some oil to southeast Florida, most likely in a congealed, less-toxic form known as tar balls.

Facing the likelihood that tar balls will bob up along the southeast Florida coast, emergency officials from Broward County's coastal cities met Thursday morning at Hollywood's emergency operations center on Stirling Road.

Chuck Lanza, the county's emergency management director, said there was a "high probability" that tar balls from the Gulf spill will appear about 20 miles off the coast.

What's unknown is how much will wash ashore.

Authorities are preparing for their arrival by mapping out places along beaches where debris typically collects — such as areas near jetties — so they can know where to look for blobs of congealed oil.

"If it does escape from the Gulf Stream, we know where they will end up, based on the history of where seaborne debris ends up," he said.
[link to www.sun-sentinel.com]

Oh well...

I'm in Broward County.

How can tar on the beach be an emergency?

It's a problem but an emergency?

doesn't sound as good. a governor declaring a state of problem.

Order out of chaos. Its all in the plan.

Yeah that's every day....Orlando traffic blows chunks....

Those are all east coast counties!?

I guess he has already declared EVERY gulf coast county is under a state of emergency. I don't recall reading that.

Im glad someone pointed that out. I was listening to that micro show had Dr Ott and they were saying the water is already murky and smells all the way to the Carolina's.

Yeah, and this is why...

Thread: ~ v ~ ENDGAME ~ v ~

he needs to get funds to clean up the beaches. that is why the declaration of a state of emergency.

Florida attracts tourists and commercial ventures because of the beaches. The coastline is a vital part of Florida. And it's almost summer? Plus the everglades are in Florida. The everglades act as a natural cleanser for water systems. Please, dear god, do not let that fucking

oil get into the Everglades!!!

[link to www.conservancy.org]

quote
The Everglades is one of the largest wetlands in the world and is essential for cleansing and purifying water that flows from the north before it enters Florida Bay and Keys area off the southern tip of Florida. It also provides much needed storage for a state that receives its annual rainfall in a feast or famine scenario, with months of drought necessitating surficial storage of water to feed natural systems and the growing public water supply need.
unquote

==========

Remember that the marshlands of LA are also being hit with this fucking oil!!!!

Then there's the commercial fishing.

And it's not just the tar, it's benzene. Read the posts on GLP about what's happening to the workers in LA.

This is a real disaster.