What do you do if you live within sight of an angry Atlantic Ocean, with Hurricane bearing down a mandatory evacuation order imposed by local authorities?
You stay put.
At least if you are Craig and Deborah Mayor, veterans of countless storms since they moved into their Fort Lauderdale home 22 years ago.
“We are going to have damage,” said Mr Mayor looking at the white caps frothing on the Atlantic Ocean no more than 100 metres from his home, “it’s just a question of how much damage.”
He and his wife are the only people in his street who have ignored the mandatory order to evacuate. Perhaps another 10 families have stayed in neighbouring streets.
For veterans of Florida’s mighty hurricanes, there is no safer place to be than home. Particularly when your cinder-block home – built in the 1950s when buildings were made to last - has been sandbagged, shuttered and stocked with enough food and water to last for weeks.
So while thousands of people around the city have moved into the sanctuary of schools and public buildings designated as shelters, Mr Mayor and his wife Deborah will settle down with board games tonight as Hurricane Irma blasts its way ashore.
But Mr Mayor, an antique dealer, admitted that the warnings about Irma and her 250 kph winds suggested this would be a bad one.
“It makes me think twice,” he said. “We don’t take this lightly.
The preparations have taken all week. Steel shutters line the downstairs windows.
The garden has been scoured for anything that could become a missile. Potted plants have been moved inside. The weather vane has been taken off the roof. A barbecue has been tethered to the terrace. And the water in the koi pond has been lowered to take account of potential flooding.
The couple, whose children are grown up, have stockpiled enough petrol to keep their generator running until power can be reconnected. And there is not a receptacle in the house that has not been filled with water.
Even though the Mayor’s home is within sight of the churning sea, at an elevation of three and a half metres it is safe from all but the very worst storm surge.
“Where we are sitting now is the highest part of Broward County,” said Mr Mayor over a breakfast of freshly baked dark Boston bread and fresh coffee.
His wife – who spent three hours putting up the steel shutters and removed the weather vane – has also made sure the larder is well stocked. A roast turkey, chicken soup and two types fresh bread will get them through the first days.
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Read more:
Hurricane Irma will 'devastate' parts of America as 6.3m people are asked to evacuate
Monster Hurricane Irma batters Caribbean islands
Hurricane Irma turns Barbuda to 'rubble' as storm the size of France churns through the Caribbean
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“It’s the Italian in me,” she said. “Don’t worry, just cook.”
Their ice maker has been running non-stop to help keep food chilled once the power goes.
It is a system that has worked before. They had no electricity for six weeks in 2005 thanks to Hurricane Wilma. Neighbours clubbed together, sharing the Mayors’ generator and dining around a picnic table in the street.
“Whatever was the next thing to go off, that’s what we ate,” she said.
But they added that staying at home was not right for everyone. They have spent years installing toughened glass and doors that can withstand high winds.
“Some people stay to protect their things,” said Mr Mayor. “We are staying because we feel safe here.”
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Green ambitions
- Trees: 1,500 to be planted, replacing 300 felled ones, with veteran oaks protected
- Lake: Brown's centrepiece to be cleaned of silt that makes it as shallow as 2.5cm
- Biodiversity: Bat cave to be added and habitats designed for kingfishers and little grebes
- Flood risk: Longer grass, deeper lake, restored ponds and absorbent paths all meant to siphon off water
The specs: 2018 Infiniti QX80
Price: base / as tested: Dh335,000
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 400hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 560Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.1L / 100km
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Transmission: six-speed manual
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Speed: 0-100km/h 3.9 seconds
Price: Dh230,000
On sale: now
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
THE%20SPECS
%3Cp%3EEngine%3A%204.4-litre%20twin-turbo%20V8%20hybrid%0D%3Cbr%3EPower%3A%20653hp%20at%205%2C400rpm%0D%3Cbr%3ETorque%3A%20800Nm%20at%201%2C600-5%2C000rpm%0D%3Cbr%3ETransmission%3A%208-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E0-100kph%20in%204.3sec%0D%3Cbr%3ETop%20speed%20250kph%0D%3Cbr%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%20NA%0D%3Cbr%3EOn%20sale%3A%20Q2%202023%0D%3Cbr%3EPrice%3A%20From%20Dh750%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
COPA DEL REY
Semi-final, first leg
Barcelona 1 (Malcom 57')
Real Madrid (Vazquez 6')
Second leg, February 27
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile
Started: 2016
Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel
Based: Ramallah, Palestine
Sector: Technology, Security
# of staff: 13
Investment: $745,000
Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
