Hurricane Irene is not only growing in size as a storm–potential Category 4 by the time it hits the United States, something that’s sure to make the countries that have already dealt with Irene feel better–she’s also a big hit for people in the U.S. who like to talk about popular items on Twitter.
One can only imagine what it will be like if Irene is a Cat 4 when she hits the east coast of the United States. The lead image–thanks, NASA–is an indicator of her size as of yesterday. If she’s as severe as some are speculating, the Twitter output could rival the Women’s World Cup, provided Irene doesn’t crush the communications infrastructure on the eastern seaboard.
If nothing else, such output will allow for some pretty amazing videos from Twitter once the dust settles, or, in Irene’s case, the water resides.
This is not to belittle the threat towards more than just human life such a potentially powerful storm represents, either. This is strictly from an Internet use angle, specifically Twitter, which has proved quite valuable during times of natural disasters. While the U.S. Twitter crowd awaits her arrival, they are certainly willing to talk about it. The results are about what you’d imagine:
@_Snape_
Professor SnapeHurricane Irene, Will and Jada splitting, and now a 5.8 earthquake in DC. Somebody call the Aurors, something wicked is in the US.
1 hour ago via web · powered by @socialditto
Retweeted over 100 times, too.
@CBSNews
CBS NewsHurricane Irene could hit US as a monster, affecting entire Eastern Seaboard; Now Cat 2, could build to Category 4 http://t.co/ok4jQHl 56 minutes ago via Seesmic twhirl · powered by @socialditto
Some are excited, however:
@msblueeyes1122
Staci LeAnn Pierceso .. me and @Marie_Carroll are going roadtrippin’ to NC thursday & apparently Hurricane Irene is on her way… hurricane party? ithinkso 3 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto
@SamBlackmer
Samantha BlackmerAlready hoping for no school next week because of hurricane Irene. 6 minutes ago via Echofon · powered by @socialditto
And then there’s this:
@DC_Earthquake
DC EarthquakeAnyone know if Hurricane Irene is single? 31 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto
And no, that DC Earthquake account isn’t a trick, either. It was started about an hour ago and already has over 500 followers. You have to love the Internet.
Aside from the Twitter reaction, YouTube has some awesome videos as well, and these have a little bit more meat on them than the average Twitter post:
The NASA/NOAA (National Hurricane Center) GOES Project has some incredible content as well, including high-resolution images and movies of both the east and west coast, although, with all the Irene activity, the east coast is where all the action is.
As fearsome as these natural events are, they are still amazing to look at, especially from the safe distance an Internet connection provides.