For those of you in the path of the Hurricane

[Bill Wyko]

For those of you in the path of hurricane Gustav my family is praying for you and your families. We hope the dammage is minimal. We wish you the best of luck and safety. God Bless.

 

[jaegerhund]

Thank you Bill ----- they tell me the magnitude of these hurricanes goes in 30 year or so cycles ------- When I was a kid we didn't have too many of these Cat 3-5 guys.  You can keep them ------ ain't no fun.

Justin

 

[chippy31]

As somebody who has no experience of extreme weather I can only imagine what it must be like. My thoughts are with you and your familys. Derek

 

[jaegerhund]

Thanks Derek  ----- although the week or so warning time is for the best, it also is a time of tension as you could imagine ---- the constant weather alerts and national news "feeding frenzy" and hype over these events is something to experience for sure ----people around here use to have hurricane parties but with these cat 3-5 storms ---- well we all know.

Justin

 

[chippy31]

Justin, forget the party.

Batten down the hatches would seem like the appropriate response.

One of the things I love about the FOG is seeing pictures of the weather IE snow you guys get in the good old USA.

Fascinates me. We get 50mm in Ireland all at once and the Country comes to a standstill. Derek

 

[jaegerhund]

Hey Derek --- everything is battened down.  The storm is a cat 1 right now and passing over.  60 - 90 mph wind and water is starting to cause some flooding.  The utilities are holding up (which is a big deal ----- without air conditioning around here things are really unbearable) and we are really lucky so far.  The periods after a hurricane are very strange --- the days are very hot with clear skies --and a weird stillness in the air.  If it is bad enough, people go on property watch as looters are common .  Sometimes it takes weeks for utilities to be restored.  Anyway Derek and all, appreciate the concern. 

Justin

 

[Bill Wyko]

Glad to here things are holding together there. It appears that the defences put in place are holding. It does seem like those levies should be taller. If it would have hit dead on it may have been a different story. Possibly this will be just enough to get the gov. motivated to make more upgrades for the communities at risk. Again, glad to hear things are better this time around.

 

[jaegerhund]

Yeah Bill -- I don't know what to think about New Orleans really.  I hate to see money being pumped into a location that is a lost cause.  Maybe it isn't a lost cause but if you know the corruption of New Orleans and Louisiana politics in general, then one always has to look at the New Orleans thing with a careful eye.  I live near Lakes Charles (west Louisiana along I-10) so I'm somewhat removed from New Orleans except for relatives and really don't have any affinity for it --- I appreciate its history but don't care to go there.  What is somewhat aggravating if you live in Louisiana is to see how much coverage is given to New Orleans by the media.  After Katrina (which seemingly little coverage was given to the demolished Mississippi coastline),  Rita came through and did a good number on the West coast of Louisiana and wasn't given much interest.  This is all understandable from a national news perspective but within Louisiana it is kinda irritating ------ I'm straying so let me just say things have turned out better than expected and our new governor has done a good job ---- people seem to have learned things since the last hurricanes.

Justin

 

[Bill Wyko]

I was there once. I left on a cruise from there. I'll say one thing.....GREAT FOOD!! ;D LOVE the gumbo. When we left there on the ship there was millions of these giant bugs all over. That cruise left and we were at sea in hurricane Isabella. What a blast that was. We were supposed to go to Cozumel but they took us to Progresso instead. Right after we left Progresso its costal city got whiped out.

 

[jaegerhund]

Yeah Bill -- one of the things Louisiana has going for it is  the food.  What kind of bugs are you talking about? Were they Palmetto bugs (tree roaches)?

Justin

 

[Bill Wyko]

They were all over the side of the ship. Looked kind of like a big fly. They didn't really bother people, they were just everywhere. The cruise was in early 2005 if I rember correctly. When we were in the storm me and my family were the only people on the top deck leaning into the wind. Got some great pics that trip. Too bad there on 3-1/2" floppy :-[

 

[Tinker]

My good wishes and prayers go out to anybody who happen to be in path of any dangerous storm, be it wind, rain, snow, sleet, hail or anything else that happens to come along.  some storms can be downright scary, even for an idiot like me who has always felt a certain excitement in being out in the worst nature has thrown at me.  No cat 5 hurricanes, thankyou, but a blizzard here and there mixed in with a few lightning bolts around me. Hail like rocks!  Just really tame stuff.

My concern comes more in the form of warning about aftermaths of storms such as hurricanes, ice storms or any storm that manages to toss a few trees around as if they were toys to play with.  Unfortunately, there are always a few around who look at the cleanup of such damage as the chance to get out with their noisy toys to try to extract trees from unlikely places such as roofs, car tops or garden plots.

The papers (writers and publishers) can have a field day reporting about local yokels who ended up in pieces while being attacked by trees as they were joyfully and innocently sawing up the pieces that had invaded their personal property.

Just recently, a local MD found out that cutting up a fallen tree limb had a different set of problems than surgical procedures on a human arm.  They buried him a couple of weeks ago.  I had a friend many years ago who gave up police work to go into landscaping.  He made too late the discovery that trees do not abide by the laws of state.  He was hurled some 30 feet from a rooftop onto a stonewall, head first.  I immagine his wife and three boys are grieving still. 

So many are the stories about "Widow Makers" that i have niether time, nor space to relate here.  so please, my friends, any who are not knowledgeable in the ways of fallen trees, especially those that are apparently only innocently leaning, take heed.  If inexperienced, get help from the very experienced.  Your wives and children will love you all the more for your hesitances.

Tinker

 

[jaegerhund]

Tinker -- we have huge live oaks around here.  I think 3 or more people have been killed in Louisiana from trees falling on houses and killing the people inside. 

You are right about taking care of trees ----- a wrong cut and that tree can bounce in an undesirable direction --- and you don't want to be in its path.

Justin

 

[Tradersmoe]

They were all over the side of the ship. Looked kind of like a big fly. They didn't really bother people, they were just everywhere. The cruise was in early 2005 if I rember correctly. When we were in the storm me and my family were the only people on the top deck leaning into the wind. Got some great pics that trip. Too bad there on 3-1/2" floppy :-[

They were mayflies! I was with Bill at the time...

 

[jaegerhund]

Mayflies ?  Interesting ------ I've never seen a mayfly infestation in Louisiana ------ better mayflies than mosquitoes or something else  .  I don't know if anyone here has ever seen swarming mosquitoes before --- clouds of them moving towards you ----- I experienced such a thing on Grand Isle when I was kid.  I would rather mayflies  ;D.    For information's sake, Grand Isle is a little island vacation spot south of New Orleans ----- after this hurricane there might not be much left of it.

Justin

 

[chippy31]

Justin glad to hear you are okay

. I am currently thinking about emigrating to the USA or Canada. I think I will have to check out the weather history of wherever we look at.    Derek

 

[Steveo48]

Well shucks, we ended up getting a pounding from Ike, 1,000 miles inland from Houston.  Yesterday 90% of Dukes customers in our area were w/o power.  We ave VERY luck that our power never went out.

Nearly everything is shutdown.  The paper has a list up on where you can buy gas and groceries.  Mason Montgomery Road, which is normally packed with traffic at this time is oddly quiet.

We had minor damage to our roof and a broken deck rail from a falling limb.  Our yards look like a shredder went through the trees, we have piles of broken limbs and shredded leaves.

Very odd, very erie 

 

[jaegerhund]

Justin glad to hear you are okay

. I am currently thinking about emigrating to the USA or Canada. I think I will have to check out the weather history of wherever we look at.    Derek

Thanks Derek ----- both the U.S. and Canada are great countries with beautiful places to live.  I'm always day dreaming about moving northwest to Montana, etc,. or maybe even Alaska -------  but good luck with any choice you make.

Justin

 

[jaegerhund]

Well shucks, we ended up getting a pounding from Ike, 1,000 miles inland from Houston.  Yesterday 90% of Dukes customers in our area were w/o power.  We ave VERY luck that our power never went out.

Nearly everything is shutdown.  The paper has a list up on where you can buy gas and groceries.  Mason Montgomery Road, which is normally packed with traffic at this time is oddly quiet.

We had minor damage to our roof and a broken deck rail from a falling limb.  Our yards look like a shredder went through the trees, we have piles of broken limbs and shredded leaves.

Very odd, very erie 

Yeah -- I heard they were having hurricane force winds in the upper-middle part of the country----- sometimes these systems are worse for the North East as they cause flooding in the extreme ----- I hate hurricanes ---- my gut sinks a little when I hear "there is a disturbance in the Atlantic."  Hopefully, any Texans here as members handled Ike alright.

 

[Steveo48]

I talked to family in Weatherford TX last night, it was a nonevent for them!