Another year of storms begins again

[Merika]

We took apart all the new awning over the patio yesterday. Put all the plants in my bathtub (one good use for a garden tub), and have tied down everything else that is lose. I stocked up on water and can goods that easy to eat items and don't have to be cooked.

Normally, we would go to my parent's house but it looks like they will get hit first and then the storm crosses the state and hits here. In cases like this you don't get the water surge damage, but you get the wind damage (tornados and hail) that comes with these types of storms.

It amazes me how long people can live here and not respond accordingly then whine and cry when things go wrong even when they put out warnings like this:

It is also important to realize that a tropical cyclone is not a point. Their effects can span many hundreds of miles from the center. The area experiencing hurricane force (one-minute average wind speeds of at least 74 mph) and tropical storm force (one-minute average wind speeds of 39-73 mph) winds can extend well beyond the white areas shown enclosing the most likely track area of the center

45-74 mph winds can cause extreme damage...but yet there is no law to make people pick up and secure all their stuff in the yard. I find that to be nuts since a whole lot of them just don't bother or wait until last minute.

I'm sure tkdlady and stone know exactly what I'm talking about.

tkdlady...here's a real good site for you to bookmark:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/grap...324.shtml?3day

It's going to be a long week for all of us........... :?

[Luba]

Dear God, I hope you all will be okay!

[Star]

i couldn't imagine living in a place where this is the norm. it's scary for me! I hope you all will be okay.

[Merika]

The lastest track has the main part of the storm veering north into Georgia before it hits directly. That is good news for us. The bad news is that it has elevated into a hurricane warning thru the panhandle coming in somewhere between where my parents live and tkdlady's home. I'm sure none of them are having a happy day.

It IS a pain Star but it used to not be like this. Within my whole life of growing up in Florida I can remember a handful of hurricanes that did damage. It's only within the last 5-6 years that it seems to be happening more often.

I think it just happens in cycles. This is from a newspaper.

Hurricanes of at least Category 3 strength making landfall on Florida shores, surprisingly, were quite rare in the latter half of the 20th century. Six hurricanes of such intensity hit the Florida coast in the 50-year time span -- roughly only one per decade.
However, an unprecedented number of strong hurricanes, including the most powerful hurricane ever measured - Hurricane Wilma, caused unprecedented devastation in 2004 and 2005. Eight hurricanes rated Category 3 or higher blew past Florida in just two years.

[TKDLady]

I have that site marked already as well as a couple others, but thanks Merika. I was headed out of town on the 13th of June so I would have missed it myself but my family was home. Fortunately, it didn't come close enough to do damage. It does look like we are in for another bad year. Our winter wasn't cold enough nor long enough.

[BattleaxE]

judging from all the rain we have been getting I bet we are in for one crazy summer. I hope everyone made it through the storm

[Merika]

BA.....the rain you guys have been getting this week was part of the same storm system. It dumped lots of rain everywhere. My parent's house, because they actually do the measuring thing, got 5 inches. The good part is that in most of Florida it is absorbed very quickly and only some places have big flooding problems.

Tkdlady....I look for it to be a nasty year for storms again too. The predictions are for the eastern coast N. FL on up for the heaviest. Other sources say the gulf will suck them in due to the waters still be highly 'brackish' from all the debris from Katrina. I guess we'll find out soon enough who is right and wrong.

[TKDLady]

It should be an interesting hurricane season. Hopefully it won't be bad at all.