Batten Down the Hatches!
 

http://fox.org/~vince/log/images/20040812/hurricane.JPG

Yar! Hurricane Charlie... she's a comin' inland!

Bottled water? Check.
Duct tape? Check.
Batteries and flashlights? Check.
Rum? Check.

This one might not actually be much of a party if she comes inland as strong as some suggest. At catagory three, I'm running like hell.

See you on the other side of the eye!

Good luck!

good luck. see if you can get some great pics, but keep your head down if it gets too nasty.
if it does get too rough we'll send in lj and jinx with their new kayaks to pick you up.

Good luck. I just got a page from my county (I'm in SE PA. They are so nervous about this stuff, but we have been having extensive flooding from a very wet summer so far) warning that Bonnie and Charlie both will be arriving here sometime on Saturday. I usually just get notices that something that won't actually hit is coming this afternoon.

And wouldn't you know that I'm planning on travelling a bit this weekend. Not far, just to York (yes, Dag, York. I'll be at the Horticulture Hall at the Fairgrounds Saturday and Sunday). I'm staying overnight with a FOAF, but not sure exactly where that is.

Well, if you're travelling to York...(which is right down the road from me)...wanna do lunch on Sunday before you head back to the greater Philly area?

Wow, Kitsune! Hang on tight. Keep a blown up air matress near by just in case! Let us know that you've ridden out the storm!

I got this email from a friend in Florida. :eek:

The Interstate Four Dead Zone in Seminole County, Florida, is a quarter mile stretch of highway known for its extraordinary high number of accidents and other reported anomalies. Beneath the asphalt in this section are the family graves of four people who died from yellow fever in 1885 and were buried at this once remote location.

In 1960 construction began on Interstate-4 but the graves were not removed. Instead in September of that year fill dirt was dumped on the little cemetery to elevate the new highway.......at the same time many miles to the South a powerful hurricane named Donna was cutting across the tip of Florida and headed for the Gulf of Mexico....then on the same day that the fill dirt was dumped on the graves Donna made an uncanny manuever that has never been heard of in hurricane tracking, she actually turned from her westward track to a northeastward track.

BUT DON'T TAKE THE PROFESSOR'S WORD, check it for yourself online, look at old tracking maps you will see Donna following a track from Tampa right up the right-of-way of Interstate Four.....her EYE crossed right over the grave site at approximately midnight. The storm exited into the Atlantic just north of Daytona. It was the worst hurricane to strike Florida's interior in nearly a century. But wait..that's not the story, the real shocker is what's coming........read on!!

In the past year, 2003-04, the graves have been disturbed again with the building of the new eastbound approach ramp to the new I-4 Bridge over the St. Johns River. Should we be alarmed....you bet!!
But SAVE YOURSELF don't drive through the Dead Zone!!

Now we have Hurricane Charley which is projected to follow closely the path of Donna, right up I-4 and exit at Daytona. The eye will pass over the I-4 DEAD ZONE at midnight JUST LIKE DONNA DID OVER 40 YEARS AGO!!. This may be your AMAZING opportunity to see the paranormal at work as this projection is being made before the fact and not after the fact.

....And one last thought which may be best left alone but I will clue you in anyway. Is it not uncanny that two of the dead in those four graves beneath the Interstate are named Charles and Madonna? Of course the names of the hurricanes Charley and Donna surely must be a mere "coincidence"....OR IS IT??

Whoa, Nellie! Glad I don't live in Florida. Hurricanes are one thing, but throw in the night of the living dead and I'm outta here! :eyebrow:

Images taken, today.

http://fox.org/~vince/log/images/20040813/charley4.JPG

No water on the shelves...

http://fox.org/~vince/log/images/20040813/charley3.JPG

...lines for water in the streets...

http://fox.org/~vince/log/images/20040813/charley2.JPG

...and the weather is so beautiful right now. You'd never know things would be much different in less than twenty hours.

Anyone notice the hurricane is headed right at the Cellar?

hmmmm... Right where all the dead bodies are stashed? Maybe there's more to the recent wipe-outs than UT is letting on. ;)

I was hoping Charley'd be a much more interesting storm to watch by the time it got up here but it looks like it won't be much more than an old and feeble low pressure center with a few leftover storms by the time it gets to DC Land...IF it gets to DC Land. *sigh* :(

I was hoping Charley'd be a much more interesting storm to watch

As of late last night and early this morning, everyone in town here, is in a panic as they realize exactly what is coming. Its quiet, but those that remain are rushing around.

Please, whatever you do, don't hope that this will be "interesting" for us. ;)

I just went outside and realized something. In what is usually a beautiful dawn chorus of birds, there is only silence. Not a peep. :worried:

Oh, shit.

Naw, I wouldn't do that. I have family down there in Charley's path as well. How about this, I hope Charley is as uneventful as a hurricane can be for yez. :biggrin:

Kitsune, are you in an evacuation area? And if so, why in God's name are you still there??

I'm not in an evacuation zone because we're up high enough that the storm surge won't be an issue. Even if a catagory five were to hit, we technically don't have to go anywhere. But, I can tell you that there is no way in hell I'd stick around for one that big. For us, the wind and heavy rain will be a problem. Current concerns as I go about the apartment putting things in plastic tubs is that the roof will leak, windows might break, and, if all goes completely to hell, the roof might decide to fly East for the winter. We don't see that happening, but this area hasn't seen a direct hit from a hurricane since the 1920s or earlier so no one knows how well any of the structures will fare.

Why did I stay? Well, there are a couple of factors, the biggest one being that this caught us so off guard. We went from "A catagory one is going to hit Naples, let's get booze and have a party" to "RUN" in less than six hours. There was very little time to prepare. I'm also staying because I'm not in immediate danger of storm surge or flooding -- I live near an "E" evacuation zone and only A, B, and C are being told to get out.

I also didn't leave because no one knows where the storm is going to go. My only option is inland, and that doesn't change much. Hotels are full, etc.

And, I admit, I stayed because I'm interested. This is probably a really stupid reason, but its oddly compelling.

There is a shelter nearby in case anything severe happens and the apartment become unliveable.

The sun just came out. So weird.

Keep us posted. I'm sure we'll all be wondering how you're doing as the storm progresses. May it be interesting, but not THAT interesting. Wierd about the birds, huh? Funny how animals so often know when something is up. Good luck!

We're all starting to grow more and more concerned as Charley is slowing down. We were originally supposed to start seeing effects at noon with it peaking at two and now its been delayed by six hours. We don't want this thing hanging out over the ocean any longer to gain any more power. That, and the waiting is starting to kill us. We've taped up windows, locked down lose stuff, and got supplies. This is the worst part, so far.

And I think this picture that my roommate snapped yesterday captures the mood of the local area.

http://www.net.usf.edu/~toivo/galler...2-0039-web.jpg

I HEAR THAT THE STORM IS HITTING YOU ALL NOW. yOU OKAY?

Wow -- were we lucky. In the final moments, the storm began to wobble, was upgraded to a catagory four, and then no one knew where it was going to go. We were going mad with nervousness, especially since we thought this was going to be nothing more than a strong catagory one or weak two.

And then they suddenly said it was going to become a five.

The poor people of Poor Punta Gorda got slammed. Charley was so small in diameter that were only got light rains and barely any wind at all. Originally, though, we couldn't have been more worried -- the storm track line was right over where I live.

And after seeing the video footage and roofs flying away, there is no way in hell I'm sticking around next time. If anything comes this way, I'm leaving.

I wish I had pictures of an extreme storm to show you guys, but absolutely nothing happened in Tampa.

And really, Tampa has me to thank. When the first rains started, I went outside and did my hurricane protection dance.

http://fox.org/~vince/log/images/20040813/dance.jpg

Close call.

Somebody blew it in the National Hurricane Center. They had the rare oppurtunity to name those storms Bonnie and Clyde. But I guess names are really assigned by a computer.

I have been watching these storm with the Atlantic satellite images. Notice how they roll out of Africa and proceede towards the Cellar and its neighbors. There are two more potential hurricanes right behind Charely. The next one is just approaching the Carribean windward islands. But to see how frequently a potential hurricane is being presented:
A looping IR satellite image of the Atlantic

This could be a very interesting hurricane season for Dr Gray and his students at U of CO.

Dr Gray's predictions were for a storm season that is slightly less than last year:
see chart entitled ATLANTIC BASIN SEASONAL HURRICANE FORECAST FOR 2004

I was hoping that the hurricane would pick up my apartment building and put it in a better neighborhood. No such luck.

Nice going on the hurricane protection dance, Kitsune. Glad to hear you're O.K.! :thumpsup:

People on my block are partying, complete with fireworks. The stress of watching, waiting, and the fear of the storm growing more powerful... it was really not fun. But, for now, everyone in Tampa is having a good time returning home and celebrating.

That is,
until yesterday begins again...

Glad to hear Charley was interesting enough for you without being interesting! We should keep this thread open though for those other two tropical waves that are creeping in. Don't exhale yet!

I forget if I had mentioned this before in another hurricane discussion ... one of my former coworkers (former in the sense that she went crazy and went away to a facility not mine) used to rent a place in the Carolinas during the height of hurricane season every year. She would refuse to evacuate with the sensible people, make up pitchers of Hurricanes for herself and her guests and watch the storm advance.

I am NOT hijacking this thread but this seems as good a place as any: wolf-how many of your co-workers have gone crazy? By my count this makes two. There was the boss who just stopped showing up and now this. Do you get Hazard pay? You should.

yeah, when I was living In Scarolina, post Andrew.. wow I remember having 'toe tag parties' (after the national guard rolled thru town hollering ' you need to evacuate, those who stay behing will be issued a toe tag'.. fine cookouts all! geez we stayed for 6 hurricanes? maybe 7... left for fran I believe although that was some 8 years ago)

Charlie chased me home from the beach today.

As of Monday, these are the potential hurricanes. One already exists and is called Danielle. One has proceded over the Carribean windward islands, is south of Hati, and will not encounter warm Carribean water - same water that turned Charely from a Category 2 to a Category 4 in only 5 hours. One is still developing in Africa. Preparing for its romp across the Atlantic: