65 thoughts on “Hurricane Watch Block Party”

  2. Well I tried to help, clicked on save draft and my post disappeared, If I have time I will try to recreate it tomorrow. Ā or if it did save let me know.

    Jack

  10. Our firstĀ Irma casualty. Gentle breeze just turned into 15 mph gusts and dropped this dead limb with a thud. It is oneĀ our local woodpecker has been working on for quite awhile. He will be pissed.

  12. and we have lift off!Ā  the u.s.s. Jamie going where no man has gone before!Ā  well done, ke-mo sah-bee.

     

    jack, unless craig changed the page setup, to the right on the dashboard page your saved draft (the title that is)Ā  shows up in a list just under the box now blank (because your saved draft is somewhere in space) that says “what’s on your mind” in which you wrote your masterpiece in the first place.

    scroll to the list and click your draft title.Ā  it will appear in a form that allows you to edit and preview it.

    when finished prettying it up click the “submit for review” button to the right of it.Ā  the CiC will then do his/her thing and voila! you are a thread!!

  15. carl Hiaasen: Hurricanes bring certain certainties — despite uncertainties

    Meteorologists call it the ā€œcone of uncertainty,ā€ but we civilians refer to it variously as the cone of doom, the cone of disorder, the cone of prayer, or the cone of heavy pharmaceuticals.

    It is here in that critical path ā€” anxiously studying our location on each new forecast map ā€” we await a monster hurricane.

    Irma is poised to kick Floridaā€™s ass.

    This is the deal when you choose to live basically on a sand bar in the tropics. Sooner or later, you’ll get your ass kicked by the weather.

    […he continues in his usual funny fashion…]

  18. Jamie: Congrats on your new exalted status and Bravo or is it Brava?! šŸ˜€

    This is a fun little thread. I’d just like to add a useless silly rant: I HATE hurricanes! Why can’t they just make up their mind where they’re going day 1 and be done with it!  Yes #1 son reminds me that they don’t actually have minds šŸ™ But those wibbles and wobbles can mean the difference between mild to serious destruction…wind damage, flooding etc! I remember last year the last minute wobble meant that my son’s house missed a direct hit. But it was really at the last minute so the lesson there is that no matter how much I watch the weather channel, unless it’s actually hurricane day, anything can happen. I suppose if Sat night they show it actually out in the gulf, I’ll breath a sigh of relief, but that doesn’t guarantee that it won’t take a right turn again. Also, it now makes those on the east side think they’re in the clear, but Irma is very wide so they will still be getting hurricane force winds and storm surges, just to a lessor degree. (per weather channel) I wonder it there’s a 12 step program for weather channel addiction LOL!

    I feel bad for the folks on the west side. Apparently the Tampa, Fort Myers area hasn’t faced a dangerous storm like Irma since before most of them were alive. I wonder which is worse, complacent/resigned (east side) or clueless/confusion (west side)?

    Flatus: I love Tito but he better watch out. Red Sox had a big run of wins last year just before post season and got to the playoffs all tuckered out! Anyway, tell Tito we’re coming for a rematch!

    Speaking of Red Sox, gotta go, my game just started!
    edit: Oops! My actual 4 PM bookmark was for a tennis match…the game is at 7 PM. Bye again.

  20. I am finding the fools who are staying in place, sheltering in place is way beyond what they are doing, are idiots.Ā  Beyond the ones who have houses are the ones in trailer parks.Ā  You have to harden yourself to the great possibility they will die in a few hours.

    Of good news is that a replacement banana plant is in the ground.Ā  Pictures soon.Ā  Irma should provide a good dose of water come Tuesday or Wednesday.

    Life is good.

  21. bbronc, and what are your thoughts about the ones who are riding out the storm in their boats in the keys?Ā  what’s likely to happen to them other than maybe waking up atop sloppy joes roof or aground upside down on some far away Mexican beach or maybe hanging from an oil rig off Galveston in the gulf?

  22. usatoday:Ā Why boozing at your Hurricane Irma party is not a good idea
    As people this week have scrambled for essentials like water, fuel and lumber, they’ve alsoĀ been stockpiling cases of beer and bottles of liquor. It’s as much about relieving stress as anything else, they say.
    And there’s a lot of stress, naturally, with Hurricane Irma.
    “We ran out of Captain Morgan’s yesterday,” Tracey Ferguson, co-owner of Michael’s Liquor and Tracey’s Lounge in Suntree, said Friday.
    “We got another 12 cases this morning.”
    Michael’s and other liquor stores say it’s hard to pinpoint a favorite libationĀ but ice is usually also in the shopping cart. Many people are coming in after they’ve purchased hurricane supplies and have secured their homes.
    As much as a tradition that hurricane parties are, emergency management officials caution against over-indulging during the storm.
    There are many stupid things people do during storms. Think starting a charcoal grill in your kitchen to cook or taking a swim in the ocean just so you can have bragging rights. Excess amounts of Wild TurkeyĀ and Grey Goose only worsens that type of behavior.
    “We want everyone to be alert,” said Titusville Police Department Deputy Chief Todd Hutchinson. “And that would involve restraint when it comes to alcohol.”
    One South Florida website even fashioned a drinking game about Hurricane Irma. “20 Excuses To Raise a Glass Before and During the Hurricane This Weekend.”
    People are encouraged to watch TV news and take a drink every time a newscaster says certain phrases like “hunker down,” or “storm surge” or “feeder bands.”Ā While it’s a somewhat tongue-in-cheek suggestion to play the “20 Excuses” game, too much alcohol could easily lead to clownish, and then dangerous situations ā€” dangerous not only for individuals but also first responders who may have to rescue them.
    “We do not encourage hurricane partying,” saidĀ Don Walker, public information officer for Brevard County Emergency Management. “During times of emergencies, it’s important that people remain aware and alert at all times.”

  23. Granny, I hear you. I have always paid more attention to the entire cone of a hurricane projection. Not just the predicted path of the eye. The Hurricane Center has always been so careful to explain that the cone means it could go anywhere in that space and anyone in it should make preparations.

    IMO the local weather news people make too much of the precise path projection, which can be so misleading about what could ultimately happen.Ā But the Hurricane Center gets the blame if it goes somewhere else in the cone. Maybe they should just stop making exact path predictions and stick with the cone until there is more certainty.

  24. Jack

    I looked among the posts and didn’t see a draft, so not sure where it went. Ā Craig might know if putting something in review means he gets it somewhere other than the listed posts.

     

  28. Patd – hmm reply did not persist.

    Anyone who rides out any severe storm on the open seas in a small boat is risking life.Ā  With this storm they are committing suicide.Ā  Storms like Irma have sunk vessels of all sizes.

    I have ridden out several hurricanes, tropical storms, bad T-storms and a tornado on my boats.Ā  All except one was ridden out in a real hurricane hole.Ā  Even in the hole it could get a bit iffy because the top of the mast is above the tree tops and you get to experience all three axis at once, many hundreds of times.Ā  My trusty mate, Boo, helped get through those times. She loves ’em.

  31. Steinbeck wrote about the 1935 key west hurricane….I think TRAVELS WITH CHARLIE.

    Great hurricane writing at the end of Clavell’s TAI-PAN, also…

    Pat Conroy’s last novel took place in Charleston, during Hugo.

    And seems like Steinbeck was involved in and wrote about another……maybe 38 but on Long Island……

  37. We caught a taste of Gracie…..and while thy were still naming them Able, Baker and Charlie may have caught one of them too

    We always used to fill the bathtub and hunker down……..

  38. With gas stove, hurricane lamps, and no A/C or TV, power wasnt all that big a deal……..

    Hand pump didnt hurt…….

  39. I don’t recall Gracie; overseas? You were in the best/worst possible place (still are) for migrating Atlantic storms. As I’ve said, the door’s always open.

  40. Just watched a very sad segment, live on MSNBC, regarding people trying to ride out Irma on the Keys. In whatever they live in. Not hardened for anything. Just wood and glass. The talking heads realized they had been talking to people who would be dead in a few hours.Ā  The talking heads did not take it well.Ā  Those staying behind after days of warnings are committing suicide.Ā  The surge and the size of the hurricane will clean those rocks off.

    Something I find interesting coming from the West, is how the responders do not go out on the roads when the winds are over 40-45 mph.Ā  Out West that is normal breeze. Wind does not start until it is around 50mph and serious around 75mph. When it drops from that people and animals fall over from the lack of a support.

  42. When I lived in the flood zone — even though my house was lifted I always left…there used to be a motel in Santa Rosa that would take pets. Ā  Ā We also lived in a tsunami zone and actually got an evacuation order after the earthquake in Japan..that was odd. Ā We did not leave for that

  47. Info from a friend riding out Irmageddon

    Dear family and friends,
    We know this storm is scary, believe me. We are scared too. But most of us “crazy Floridians riding out this storm” are simply doing what we are told is best and most realistic for our families.
    The following is a list of things the news isn’t showing or telling people outside of Florida.
    1. Only areas right on or next to the water are being evacuated.
    2. They are NOT suggesting that evacuations are out of the county or state but to local shelters.
    3. The roads are crazy and it’s taking 15 hours to get out of the state which normally takes 5! There have been tons of accidents and there are no hotels or places to stay for during the ride out. The closest one we had was Atlanta.
    4. There is a serious gas shortage. Gas lines are averaging an hour and you can only fill up your car, no gas cans.
    5. While they are doing everything they can to get more gas, it isn’t even realistic to get 7 MILLION people out of the state when the storm is the size of the state! We only have a few main highways to even try to get out.
    6. Thankfully we have had days to prepare. We have food, water, batteries, lanterns, and other needed items to get through the power outages. We are boarding or shuttering our houses and preparing for the absolute worst.
    7. The storm is going to hit Saturday night through Monday. No need to be worried until then. We are all just playing the waiting game until then.
    8. Calling and stressing your family and friends out doesn’t help. It makes us more scared and stressed.
    9. The best thing to do right now is send love and kind words and pray for a serious turn in this beast of a storm.
    Hope this helps.
    Love you all!

  51. Irma use up all your energy on smashing Mara-ego to smithereens and only slightly damage Little Marco’s house

  52. KGC

    She already hit his property at St. Martin. Ā We don’t have a full report but I think Irma gave him a woman’s opinion:

    While the extent of the damage is not known, officials that control the side of the island where Trumpā€™s beachfront property is located,Ā told the Washington PostĀ that the territory suffered widespread destruction.

    ā€œWe know that the four most solid buildings on the island have been destroyed, which means that more rustic structures have probably been completely or partially destroyed,ā€ French Interior Minister Gerard CollombaĀ told AFP.

  56. Jamie: Interesting list about the retired hurricane names. In 1998 my son was living in Pascagula, Miss. during Georges. He was living in a houseboat on a bayou then but he had an uncle in a better location so he rode it out with him. When I went to visit for an already scheduled vacation a couple months later his houseboat was still sitting up on land about 40 feet in from its former home on the bayou. He apparently had some sense back then, when he was young. Now he’s in Titusville and probably playing one of those Irma drinking games.

    Pat Conroy is one of my favorite writers and certainly appropriate reading material for a hurricane block party. A sad loss last year. I always admired him and felt he was writing about my life, most specifically Great Santini and Prince of Tides. He is certainly a master in semi-autobiographical novels. I think it must have been very cathartic for him. He reconciled with his father in his later years, but I never did with either of my parents. He wrote about it in one of his later books. The Water Is Wide was one of my favorite books when it came out. Imagine my surprise when I next read The Great Santini. I’ve also seen all the movies based on his books. Santini & Tides definitely drew a few tears of memory.

    So far Irma seems destined to impact the west side of the state most directly after turning back into a cat 4! It seems like it’s moving a bit slower and main effects won’t be in the Orlando area till the wee hour Sun night/Mon morning. I hope people on the east continue take precautions at least somewhat…even those playing drinking games.

  59. Pat wrote what we were up against out here on the islands and the Santinis of varying degrees, and the beach music, and the marsh and tides, and the Citadel…….he was a wonderful writer.

  64. RebelliousRenee,

    In answer to your question from the last thread, my stinker cats are named Patches (she’s the Momma) Spot (her daughter) & Baby (her son.) I also had Bruiser, who was a beautiful golden kitty with a sparkling personality & tons of fun.Ā When he died, my heart broke. I understand how Blonde Wino feels about her special pet.

  65. Eric Larsen, Isaac’s Storm. The storm that remains the deadliest natural disaster in US history took out Galveston, TX on September 8, 1900. Isaac Cline, the head of the nascent NWS Galveston office, was born here on Monroe County, TN. Terribly sad story.

    We got three Tstorms, apparently a kind of last hurrah from Harvey, in as many hours this past Tuesday afternoon. Now hosting quite a few Irma evacuees, many of whom own summer homes in East TN. We’re battening down the local hatches on the possibility that Irma drives North and West and across Georgia to nail Knobite Corner and environs. A lot of school systems already closed Monday and Tuesday, and GSMNP and Cherokee National Forest will be closed beginning Monday.

Comments are closed.

Join the Trail Mix

Get an alert when Craig goes live, and the link when our Open Thread heats up.