Wish us luck with Hurricane Frances

Kind of make's you realise how fortunate you are sometimes re where you live - If flooding gets to my front door half of my local town will be under water...

andy c!

Current headlines and stories from Bhoyo's area
Pictures ad Stories of Frances

Derek

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[This message was edited by Derek Wright on Mon 06 September 2004 at 11:37.]

[This message was edited by Derek Wright on Mon 06 September 2004 at 11:38.]

Speak to us Davie. I really hope you make it through with minimal trauma.

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Speak to us Davie.

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Rasher, he may simply have decided to stay in the shelter.

Greetings from the Sunshine State.

Well, that was fun. We're all OK (as was the system, vinyl and CDs last time I checked on the lockup).

The power went out at 2:30 pm Saturday and hasn't come back on. You forget how much you rely on hot water, the fridge and air-conditioning.

Damage has pretty much been limited to trees, signs, fences etc. I took a tour yesterday and it's a mess, but doesn't look too catastrophic.

The storm itself was memorable. It sounds and feels like a freight train roaring round your house repeatedly.

Still no shops, gas stations, or power for millions of us, and we're under a curfew.

Mick asked why so few houses here are built with brick. That seems to be true across much of the US, and I've never really known why. A possible reason in Florida is that you can't dig deep foundations. Also, wood frames have more give in them, which is useful for tropical weather.

Thanks again for your good wishes. I may be calling on them again by the weekend. I'm now back at work and am looking at this thread at my desk. Everyone who walks past and sees that big tracking map of Ivan the Terrible is shaking their heads and laughing grimly!

Regards,
Davie

Keep your heads down because it looks as if another one is on the way - skirting Venezuela now.

Mike

Foolishly I just went down to Florida this weekend since it was already a planned trip. I went last wednesday evening and returned this evening (monday). We stayed a t a friends holiday home which he has recently had built and very nice it was too. Over on the west coast (near port charlotte) so in the end Frances passed to the north of us so we just had strong(ish) winds (you could still go outside easily) and rain.

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Mick asked why so few houses here are built with brick. That seems to be true across much of the US, and I've never really known why. A possible reason in Florida is that you can't dig deep foundations. Also, wood frames have more give in them, which is useful for tropical weather.

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My friends said new legislation down there now means all new houses (buildings?) built have to be able to withstand 130mph winds and his place is build out of bricks.

Scroll back to see the latest version of the Ivan forecast in EJL's post - it now appears to be forecast to go up the middle of Florida early next week

Derek

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Yup The Republican Party sure got lucky with Francis & Co

Ivan's minimum central pressure is now down to an ear-bleeding 920mb, with 160 mph sustained winds. And it is projected to strengthen!

Reading the latest NWS discussion, all the models currently predict a Florida landfall. Looks like Jamaica and Cuba will take the worst of it, though.

The building codes here were toughened up after Hurricane Andrew in '92. The main areas of weakness are not the walls, brick or otherwise; they're roofs, windows and doors. If doors and windows are breached, it's likely a roof will come off. No matter how stringent the codes, very little will stand up to a Category 4 or 5.

Anyway, fingers crossed for Jamaica and Cuba.

This has been an awful hurricane season so far - and it's not over until November 30.

Davie

Bush has declared Jamaica a disaster zone enabling it to recieve Federal funding ?


Graham George Of It'sarumdo

I have been aware of Hurricane Ivan since Monday evening - however the the BBC UK news programs only started talking about it last night. I suppose it is the need to have hard bad news with damage pictures to talk about and to entertain the viewer rather than informed awareness of an impending disaster.

Derek

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Channel 4 News last night focused on what happened in Grenada, which I suppose is a breakthru as far as UK TV coverage goes.

Hope you keep the hatches successfully battened down for Ivan, Bhoyo.

Regards,

JonR

Although Fidel and Ivan have always been good buddies, one truly wonders what those brave Patriotic guards at Camp Delta will be thinking whils't dealing out the macs and hot sweet tea to their charges during the blustery days ahead ?

Graham George von Poohsticksortao ?


N.B. You read it here first innit:

Grrr. Ivan not only refuses to weaken, it's now aimed straight at us (I'm just east of the MS/AL border, by the water). At least he largely spared Cuba and Jamaica.

I'll report back when the power returns (in a few weeks, probably).

ejl:

Run for the hills!

Seriously, I hope you've got your hurricane preparations in order. Ivan is a killer.

Regards,
Davie

Indeed. Be safe.

And just when you thought it was safe o go outside --- along comes Jeanne



Derek

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Originally posted by ejl:
I'm just east of the MS/AL border, by the water...

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ejl,

From the looks of things, that's about where Ivan came ashore. Hopefully you were no where close to it when it did, and ejl Manor is there when you return,

cheers,

Dan

ejl,

Let us know the spirits and condition of you and yours.

Best,
Ludwig

Aftermath

Dan, Bhoyo and Ludwig,

Here's a picture I took today while supervising the grounds crew clearing debris from the estate:


Although the eye passed only a few miles away, the forest around our home buffered the wind so well that there was almost no damage. In fact, I was able to sit on the front porch drinking beer until the inner eyewall arrived (standing in the street was impossible, by contrast).

A Colorado native, this was my first hurricane. Damned exciting, I must admit.

Eric

Glad to hear from you, Eric. A relief to hear that you missed out on the destruction along the Gulf Coast.

Most of the fallen trees here were ficus (banyans) which are non-native and shallow-rooted. Palm trees fared much better.

Regards,
Davie

Ditto -- glad to hear all is well. I got to say tho' that you're completely mad sitting on you porch while that thing was just a few miles away.

Dan

Ditto again, and way to supervise the cleanup effort.