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We have released a new Travel article today about some of the most and least affordable cities in the world. The leaders in each list might surprise you-- New York City and London didn't even make the top ten most expensive cities! Check out the new article here to find out what the world's most expensive and most affordable cities are. Did your city make the list?
On another note, Hurricane Ernesto has moved past Puerto Rico after delivering some serious damage, and is now setting its sights on the island of Bermuda.
Ernesto originally formed in the middle of the Atlantic as a potential tropical cyclone, meaning that it is a system that is expected to develop, and stayed that way for two days until organizing into a tropical storm on Monday. Then, it strengthened slightly but continued its rapid pace toward the Lesser Antilles, making landfall on the small island of Guadeloupe yesterday morning with winds of 40 mph and some heavy rain. As Ernesto was not too strong of a system, the rains were the primary problem, and they still are.
After hitting Guadeloupe, Ernesto quickly moved on. The system strengthened its winds by 25 mph, reaching sustained wind speeds of 65 mph, as it headed towards Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, both US and British, with more heavy rain. Before Ernesto arrived, tropical storm warnings were put in place around all of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, and a hurricane watch was later put in place after warm waters led the system to strengthen earlier than expected.
It made a second landfall on the island of Tortola, which is the largest island in the British-controlled archipelago, but dumped rain across both sides of the boundary. All of Puerto Rico was under flood watches until 7:45 am this morning, while the northern portion of the island, including the capital of San Juan, is continuing with a flood watch until tomorrow morning as Ernesto's outer rain bands continue to batter the region. Widespread totals of around 4-6 inches are expected once the rain has finished off, with localized totals reaching up to 10 inches in some areas. Flash flooding and power outages are already taking place, and it will take time for them to recover-- Puerto Rico's power grid is already extremely fragile after the continuous battering of storm after storm each year, beginning with 2017's Category 4 Hurricane Maria.
Ernesto is now a Category 1 hurricane with 75 mph winds moving through extremely warm waters, which are prime for what is known as rapid intensification-- when a system strengthens 35 mph or more in under 24 hours. This could set the system up for becoming a major hurricane in just a couple of days, and this phenomenon is just becoming more and more common due to climate change contributing to warming oceans.
Ernesto is now setting its sights on the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda, which is very isolated from any other landmass. Bermuda, home to around 64,000 people, is commonly hit by stray systems that move away from the mainland United States, but Ernesto could have a major impact on the island territory. Forecasts show the storm being as strong as Category 3 with wind speeds of over 115 mph as it reaches Bermuda, which is already saturated due to some strong thunderstorms going on already in the area. However, Ernesto will only reach the island by Friday, meaning that we will not know how far the storm will be from Bermuda until later this week.
Fact of the Day (Reader's Digest): Bamboo is a grass, not a tree. It is actually the largest member of the grass family.
Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): If life gives you lemons, don’t settle for simply making lemonade – make a glorious scene at a lemonade stand. (Elizabeth Gilbert)
Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Sentient (adj)- Sentient is a formal term that typically describes beings conscious of or responsive to the sensations of seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting, or smelling.
In a Sentence: An avid gardener, Dorothy has recently been absorbed in books that examine the question of whether, and to what degree, plants are sentient.
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