Rafael Becomes a Hurricane in the Atlantic

Rafael became a hurricane in the Atlantic on Monday and is expected to pass close to Bermuda late on Tuesday, Hurricane Center in Miami reports.

At 6:45pm on Monday, Rafael had maximum winds of 75 miles per hour and moving north at 10 miles per hour, about 560 miles south of Bermuda, where a tropical storm warning is in effect for the island. Right now at 8pm it’s strengthening and has maximum winds of 85 mph.

Rafael is the ninth hurricane of the 2012 season.

Source: National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Noe I. for Windows of the World.

New York; Woman Shot in Head, Killed in Bronx

43-year-old woman Kenia Castillo-Reyes was shot Tuesday on Bronx street as reported on Windows of the World’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Kenia died after being shot in the head in Hunts Point at 4 p.m. and taken to Lincoln Hospital.

A man working in the area said he heard gunshots and thought were noises from a nearby construction site but when he came out to see what happened he saw a woman lying on the ground.

Police are still searching for a male suspect seen running from the area.

Photos; New York Remembers 9/11 on 11th Anniversary

A flag flies over the National September 11 Memorial before observances marking the eleventh anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012 in New York. (AP Photo/John Moore, Pool)

 

A person stops to read names in New Jersey’s memorial to the 749 people from the state lost during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, as One World Trade Center, now up to 104 floors, looms in the distance across the Hudson River, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012 in Jersey City, N.J. Americans paused again Tuesday to mark the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks with familiar ceremonies, but also a sense that it’s time to move forward after a decade of remembrance. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

 

Firefighters carry a flag as friends and relatives of the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center attend a ceremony marking the 11th anniversary of the attacks at the National September 11 Memorial at the World Trade Center site in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012. (AP Photo/The Daily News, Todd Maisel, Pool)

 

Friends and relatives of the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center attend a ceremony marking the 11th anniversary of the attacks at the National September 11 Memorial at the World Trade Center site in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

 

An American flag is inserted in one of the of names engraved at the north reflecting pool at the World Trade Center Memorial, during the 11th anniversary observance of the attacks at the World Trade Center, in New York, Sept. 11 2012. (AP Photo/Mike Segar, Reuters, Pool)

 

A New York City Police officer salutes a flag hanging from the One World Trade Center building, during ceremonies for the 11th anniversary of the attacks at the World Trade Center, in New York, Tuesday Sept. 11, 2012. (AP Photo/John Moore, Pool, Getty Images)

Weather Outlook; Tuesday September 11

9/11 2012 Anniversary Information

The 11th 9/11 anniversary is set to be held tomorrow Tuesday, September 11 at the National September 11 Memorial plaza located in the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan.

This program information is for publication, broadcast and release:

• 8:39 a.m. – Program begins
• Bagpipers and drummers lead WTC flag through memorial to the stage
• Young People’s Chorus of New York City performs the National Anthem
• 8:46 a.m. – Moment of silence (observance of time AA Flight 11 struck North Tower)
  (Houses of worship will toll their bells throughout the City)Family members will begin reading the names in pairs
• There will be 100 pairs (200 readers) who will continue until all names are read
• Music will provide a backdrop throughout the program
• 9:03 a.m. – Moment of silence (observance of time UA Flight 175 struck South Tower)
  Reading of names continues/music resumes
• 9:37 a.m. – Moment of silence (observance of time AA Flight 77 struck the Pentagon)
  Reading of names continues/music resumes
• 9:59 a.m. – Moment of silence (observance of time of fall of the South Tower)
  Reading of names continues/music resumes
• 10:03 a.m. – Moment of silence (observance of time UA Flight 93 crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania)
  Reading of names continues/music resumes
• 10:28 a.m. – Moment of silence (observance of time of fall of the North Tower)
• Reading of names continues to conclusion/music resumes
• Young People’s Chorus of New York City performs “Give Us Hope”
• Taps performed by three trumpeters (NYPD, FDNY, PAPD)
• 12:30 p.m. – Program concludes
• 8:00 p.m. – National September 11 Memorial Closes

Family members of the 2001 and 1993 attacks have been invited to participate in this year’s reading of the names, pausing during 6 moments; twice to mark the time the two towers were hit, twice to mark the two towers fell, and to mark the two moments of the attacks in the Pentagon and Flight 93.

Houses of worship have been asked to toll their bells at the time when the first tower was hit. The ceremony will conclude at approximately 12;30PM.

A complete list of the names of the 2,983 victims of the 2001 attacks at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and on Flight 93, along with the victims of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing will be posted on NYC.gov/mediaadviorsy prior to the start of the ceremony. Names will be read in alphabetical order as they are listed.

The tribute in light will be on beginning at sunset on September 11, 2012 and will fade away at dawn on September 12 with no formal program. They’re located at West and Morris Streets in Lower Manhattan and are best seen when it’s completely dark.

Like Windows of the World on Facebook for pictures and live updates on the event.

Noe I. for Windows of the World.

Isaac Becomes a Hurricane in Gulf of Mexico; Moving Toward Louisiana

Isaac formed into a hurricane Tuesday afternoon as it continued moving over the Gulf of Mexico toward Louisiana, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

As of 11 a.m., Isaac had maximum sustained winds near 70 mph as it moved northwest at 10 mph about 80 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River and 165 miles south-southeast of New Orleans, Louisiana.

The center of Hurricane Isaac will be near of over the Louisiana coast Tuesday night or Wednesday, according to the NHC.

Gov. Rick Scott said Tuesday he remained concern about flooding in the Panhandle but was confident

Although Isaac’s approach on the eve of the Katrina anniversary invited obvious comparisons, the storm is nowhere near as powerful as Katrina was when it struck on Aug. 29, 2005. Katrina at one point reached Category 5 status with winds of more than 157 mph, and made landfall as a Category 3 storm.

Still, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center warned that Isaac, especially if it strikes at high tide, could cause storm surges of up to 12 feet along low-lying areas.

In a brief news conference from the White House Tuesday, President Barack Obama urged residents of the Gulf Coast to listen to local authorities and follow their directions as Tropical Storm Isaac approaches.

Obama told Gulf Coast residents, “Now is not the time to tempt fate. Now is not the time to dismiss official warnings. You need to take this seriously,” he said.

In the Big Easy on Monday, Mayor Mitch Landrieu did not activate a mandatory evacuation.  Instead, officials urged residents to hunker down and make do with the supplies they had.

Federal officials said the updated levees around New Orleans are equipped to handle storms stronger than Isaac.

The hurricane warning from the Mississippi-Alabama border eastward to Destin, Florida is now a tropical storm warning.

A hurricane warning was in effect for east of Morgan City, Louisiana to the Mississippi-Alabama border, including metropolitan New Orleans, Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas, while a hurricane watch was in effect for Intracoastal City to Morgan City.

A tropical storm warning was in effect for the Mississippi-Alabama border to Destin, Florida and Morgan City to Cameron, Louisiana. There was a tropical storm watch in effect for east of High Island, Texas, to just west of Cameron, Louisiana.

Meanwhile, in Tampa, the Republican National Convention was expected to start it’s first full day Tuesday, after Isaac forced organizers to delay most of the events on Monday.

NBC News Reports.

Buenos Aires: Two more Mitre line trains derail, no passengers injured

Two trains in the Mitre line derailed on Tuesday afternoon in the areas of Palermo and Los Cardales. No passengers were injured in the incident.

The two accidents took place only one day after a train in the same line derailed and hit a sign as it approached the Retiro train station, injuring 30.

On Tuesday, a train that was carrying no passengers derailed in Palermo, while another derailed in the Greater Buenos Aires area of Los Cardales.

The service had to be interrupted after the accidents and was not resumed until both trains were removed from the tracks.

Both accidents made commuting even more complicated for people in the City, who already had to deal with a subway strike that has been in place for four days now and the interruption of the Sarmiento train line at night due to reform works.

Also on BAH: Mitre Line train derails in Retiro station; 6 hospitalized

Buenos Aires Herald Reports.

Colorado Fire Doubles Its Size

Fire crews outside Colorado Springs, Colo., expected more weather trouble on Wednesday in what the local fire chief called a “monster event” that doubled in size overnight and has forced 32,000 people to flee.

Heavy smoke made for unhealthy air in and around the city. After jumping fire lines Tuesday, the towering blaze has now burned 24 square miles and an undetermined number of homes.

While crews should get a break from the heat, a forecast for thunderstorms could mean unpredictable winds.

“We expect further trouble from the weather today,” incident commander Rich Harvey said at a press briefing. “We do expect all of our lines to be challenged today.”

Colorado Springs Fire Chief Rich Brown called the Waldo Canyon Fire a “monster event” that is “not even remotely close to being contained.” The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Tuesday night, the community of Mountain Shadows, northwest of Colorado Springs, appeared to be enveloped in an orange glow.

People were “freaking out” as they fled Tuesday night, local resident Kathleen Tillman told the Denver Post. “You are driving through smoke. It is completely pitch black, and there is tons of ash dropping on the road.”

“This is a fire of epic proportions,” Brown said at a briefing Tuesday night.

“It was like looking at the worst movie set you could imagine,” Gov. John Hickenlooper added after flying over the fire. “It’s almost surreal. You look at that, and it’s like nothing I’ve seen before.”

Brown insisted that “many, many homes” were saved by firefighters.

Hickenlooper told anxious residents that “we have all the support of the U.S. government. We have all the support of the state of Colorado. And we want everybody here to know that.”

He emphasized that Colorado was open to tourism, saying various fires had affected just a half-percent of all public lands and perhaps 400 of 10,000 campground sites.

Among the evacuees were cadets and staff living in one section of the sprawling U.S. Air Force Academy. Flames crested a ridge high above the campus on Tuesday, forcuing more than 2,100 residents there to flee.

A new class of 1,045 cadets will still check in on Thursday but at a different section of the campus. The academy said the entire campus would be closed Wednesday to all visitors and non-essential staff.

Colorado is battling 12 large fires, its worst fire season in history, and other states across the West are being taxed as well.

To the north in Boulder County, 26 homes were evacuated Tuesday when lightning sparked a wildfire. No structures were immediately threatened, but the National Center for Atmospheric Research closed as a precaution.

Read more on MSNBC.com

Photos: Queen Elisabeth II Jubilee

Left to right, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Price Harry wave to the crowds from Buckingham Palace Tuesday, June 5 in London. The royal family waved to well-wishers from the balcony, capping off four days of celebrations in honor of the Queen’s Diamond Jubillee.

The Red Arrows fly over fly in formation over Buckingham Palace and huge crowds on the Mall to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in London on Tuesday.

The crowd is escorted down The Mall during the Diamond Jubilee carriage procession following the service of thanksgiving at St.Paul’s Cathedral on the Mall, Tuesday in London.

Queen Elizabeth II travels by carriage to Buckingham Palace with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Charles, Prince of Wales after a lunch at Westminster Hall on Tuesday, in London. For only the second time in its history the UK celebrates the Diamond Jubilee of a monarch.

Britain’s Prince Andrew, Prince Charles, Prince William, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince Harry are pictured on the steps of St. Paul’s Cathedral after a thanksgiving service to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, in central London, Tuesday. Four days of nationwide celebrations during which millions of people have turned out to mark Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee conclude on Tuesday with a church service and carriage procession through central London.

Crowds gather in The Mall as they watch the Diamond Jubilee Concert on Monday in London, England.

Fireworks illuminate Buckingham Palace during the Diamond Jubilee Concert in London, on Monday. Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II made a regal appearance at a star-studded diamond jubilee concert without her husband, Prince Philip, at her side after he was hospitalized hours earlier.

Tropical Storm Alberto Path & Information

Updated May 21 11:15PM