To all the People in the Hurricanes Path

a reply to: SRPrime

Before you close the lid on that coffin, let me relate a true story from my trucking days.

Hurricane Katrina did not hit New Orleans; it side-swiped New Orleans. It actually hit Biloxi, MS. A couple days after !-10 was re-opened, I got a load going through there. The devastation was literally Biblical. The city was gone... just a field of destruction and debris. Every exit was closed. Both sides of the Interstate were piled up with debris as high as my truck... I saw refrigerators, whole sections of cars, sections of houses, all just shoved into the break-down lane. That went on for miles and miles. The signs that once dotted the road were simply gone... you could see those sections of 60" XXXS pipe that once held them up twisted and mangled like someone had taken a power drill to a bendy straw.

I drove through there in shock and awe... such a beautiful city, gone. Erased. No more.

I came back through a couple days later. It looked the same, except for one noticeable change: one sign was back. It stood proudly above the continual pile of rubble. In the lower corner was the copyright, just big enough to see; it was erected by one of the casinos. But it didn't advertise anything... it simply said, in big bold letters across it: BILOXI WILL BE BACK.

A year later, while New Orleans was still digging through the trash, Biloxi, MS was back. Maybe not completely, but the city was open again and rebuilding. Today New Orleans is still suffering effects of that long-ago hurricane that took a quick slap at them as it went by on its way to remove Biloxi, but Biloxi is back and as big as ever.

If Cape Coral wants to return, Cape Coral can return. If Cape Coral doesn't want to return, Cape Coral will not return. I hope it does.

TheRedneck

a reply to: TheRedneck

I drove through there in shock and awe... such a beautiful city, gone. Erased. No more.

I don't know about Biloxi but what broke my heart the most when I was in the deep south and saw the aftermath was the ancient trees that were down.

There was an ancient oak that had the typical Spanish moss on it, it had succumbed to our hurricane and took half a block of sidewalk with it. What a sight to behold! We were very lucky we have several downed trees but they all fell away from the house.

a reply to: Nyiah

Been in touch with my mom who usually lives in her condo in Fort Myers, but was luckily out of town helping my brother with his new daughter. It has been very difficult to get in touch with anyone there. Both the bridges to the barrier islands are out. The one to Sanibel is about half a mile from them. The inlet there got probably some of the worst storm surge and a lot of that area was 5-9' underwater for the night. We have a friend who just moved to cape coral too but have not been able to contact them as well. We hope because they are new to hurricanes that they evacuated...if not they are probably stuck now. As soon as we can hear from anyone currently there I will drop another update. Aside from the flooding and wind, the fires are wreaking havoc and last I saw no one can really get to them to put them out.

a reply to: TheRedneck

Personally I think the sheriff was right in his initial statement in deaths in Fort Myers. Just knowing the area and people there...I would bet over half those who live there stayed. Already heard from my folks about footage of bodies floating in the streets.

originally posted by: RickyD
a reply to: TheRedneck

Personally I think the sheriff was right in his initial statement in deaths in Fort Myers. Just knowing the area and people there...I would bet over half those who live there stayed. Already heard from my folks about footage of bodies floating in the streets.

i keep hearing what a disaster in human toll but no one has put out any preliminary numbers.
we lived along the st lucie canal in martin county in the 60's.
prayers for everyone affected and the responders.

originally posted by: sarahvital

originally posted by: RickyD
a reply to: TheRedneck

Personally I think the sheriff was right in his initial statement in deaths in Fort Myers. Just knowing the area and people there...I would bet over half those who live there stayed. Already heard from my folks about footage of bodies floating in the streets.

i keep hearing what a disaster in human toll but no one has put out any preliminary numbers.
we lived along the st lucie canal in martin county in the 60's.
prayers for everyone affected and the responders.

I get so sick of "experts" (weather, medical, political, etc.) making everything seem so dire before the "thing" hits, and while it is occurring.

Right now, this global warming fanatic, who happens to be a meteorologist, is on CNN describing how IAN unexpectedly converted back to a hurricane and will wreak havoc on Charleston, South Carolina.

The media/weather people kept IAN tracking right over Tampa-StPete, causing large scale death/destruction, until a few hours before the storm actually came ashore in less populated areas to the south.

I bet IAN will be kept targeting Charleston with a direct-hit, as long as possible....even as the real-time track shifts AWAY from Charleston.

We won't see bodies floating around Charleston either, to the disappointment of the Media and their "Experts".

a reply to: carewemust

Well I am pretty sure that there has been video from the initial area hit that did show bodies floating a la katrina style. But yes the SOP these days does seem to be "scream the sky is falling".

originally posted by: sarahvital

originally posted by: RickyD
a reply to: TheRedneck

Personally I think the sheriff was right in his initial statement in deaths in Fort Myers. Just knowing the area and people there...I would bet over half those who live there stayed. Already heard from my folks about footage of bodies floating in the streets.

i keep hearing what a disaster in human toll but no one has put out any preliminary numbers.
we lived along the st lucie canal in martin county in the 60's.
prayers for everyone affected and the responders.

Right now they are saying 14 confirmed, there will be many more.
They were interviewing a man who decided to “ride it out” in his boat. Luckily him and his wife made it but their boat didn’t.

It isn’t just the storm that will kill people. I’ve seen it first hand. After a hurricane people start going outside and doing the dumbest things you can imagine. Swimming in the water, walking by downed trees.
There are a lot of preventable accidents.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Why do you think engineers spend so much time trying to "idiot-proof" things?

Worse, it rarely works for long... the world just makes better idiots.

When fast food restaurants have to place signs above the deep-fryer proclaiming "HOT OIL! DO NOT PUT YOUR HAND IN THE OIL!" and fan belts come with a warning to "Turn off engine before replacing belt," you just know technology is the only reason we haven't gone extinct!

TheRedneck

a reply to: JAGStorm

If one is that stupid, they should not expect, nor should they receive any sort of help until such time as it is safe for the first responders to safe things up.

Probably stupid northerners....or worse, Canadiens.

a reply to: JAGStorm

I’m in the eye right now. Kinda cool in here.

originally posted by: lakenheath24
a reply to: JAGStorm

If one is that stupid, they should not expect, nor should they receive any sort of help until such time as it is safe for the first responders to safe things up.

Probably stupid northerners....or worse, Canadiens.

I’m lol right now. When I lived in Florida I had Canadians as neighbors and there were some things they truly didn’t understand living in Florida.
I was from the Midwest, but at least I had some previous time spent living in the deep South.

I slept through Hugo. Had no power for over a week in winter, that wasn't so good. And other hurricanes.

We're not looking at a direct hit from the Atlantic and thankfully(for us) South Carolina is going to suck away alot of that energy.

We're worried about high winds and flooding. Flooding can get bad.

A good tool I found to double check the forecasts is here. Global Wind Map

Right now you can see the eye of the storm is around 33 N 79 W , about halfway between Charleston and Myrtle Beach SC.

Looks like it has weakened to category 1 now, and forecasts have it weakening if it continues northward up SC.

The back side of the storm still hasn't made landfall onto SC...

Sure would be nice to hear from TAT and All of you effected by this storm in FL and SC ,hope you’re all safe. 🙏 It’s hard to get the full picture from MSM at this point.

In Key West we got over a foot of water inside our house. Staying in a hotel, hoping FEMA comes through to get a hotel voucher. Not sure how kong before our home will be liveable again.

I have been using a shop vac to soak up the remaining water...I well get a spot mostly dry, dump the water and come back to it being nust as deep.as before. Not sure where all the water is still seeping in from...maybe the walls.

For the storm, we stayed in a hotel room. Definitely the right decision.

Here is a picture of A1A with and without surge. That sea wall is over 6' above the mean water line.

a reply to: JAGStorm

I'm midwest as well, and thank God for that.

Canadians got no idea of what's between their border and Florida, except for that one gas station they stop at on every single trip somewhere in rural Tennessee.


And aint a damned one can BBQ worth a hoot...eh.

Here is a video of the surge coming in. If you see the images in my previous post, you can see what the road look like with no water.

a reply to: TheRedneck

The worst storms never obey their forecast. Hugo was supposed to weaken before landfall. Andrew took an unexpected SW "jog", Charlie turned east and strengthened unexpectedly, Irma took a WSW dive to visit Cuba(that ultimately saved the Keys from a likely cat 5).

And now Ian just did what he wanted.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Insurance increases are what have me concerned.

My monthly insurance cost is already close to 30% of my mortgage (including interest but not property tax).

There may come a point when I can't afford to insure my own home. I don't live in anything fancy either, it's a 36 year old 1600 square foot home.