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Ivan The Terrible!


neo33

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(sorry but this got a little long)

This is kind of in reference to the Frances thread from earlier but since it involves hurricanes, I thinik it fits.

I live in central east Florida about 7 miles inland from the beach and just sat thru about 16 hours of hurricane force winds from hurricane Frances. I had 8 family members evacuate from the barrier islands staying at my house. We sat up at night listening to the roof of my 3 year old house creek and pop and moan until we were just too tired and fell asleep but when it was all said and done, there's not a shingle missing from my roof! We were totally blessed to have come thru unscathed as many others did not.

I think that if you live outside of FL, you think everyone deals with hurricanes every year and that's just not true. That's the same as saying living in California means you will deal with disasterous earthquakes on a regular basis. I have lived here on and off for 37 years and have seen 3 significant hurricanes come directly thru this area. If you do the math, that's less than one for every 10 years.....and that's why you see people lined up at Home Depot and Lowe's to buy supplies. Who wants to store plywood and shutters and generators and "panic" supplies for a storm that's going to come every 10 years. It's just not feasable for everyone.

I have no place to store shutters at my home and just wasn't up for paying the $2,000 it would cost to cover all my windows so I chose to sit at Home Depot last week at 3:45 in the morning to get plywood. By the time I got there, 150 people were already ahead of me. The people at Home Depot were awseome! First of all....they were "there" at 3:45 in the morning! They pulled out the lawnchairs from the patio furniture section so we could all have seats and then they brought us all cold bottled water while we patiently waited on the next load of plywood to come in. The store manager came in at 5am and told us all that he was doing everything he could to get us plywood but it was out of his hands. They ran out of plywood within the first 120 people so I sat longer and waited for the second truck knowing it may not come but sure enough....I got my plywood and was out of there by 8:30 in the morning.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the media loooooooves hurricanes because they know you people (outside of FL) will watch it like the superbowl. I can promise you that the news team will not show up at my house becuase nothing broke! Take note that they probably spend 75% or better of their newscast time on mobile home parks and beaches where the most damage is visible.....otherwise....it's not news. Don't get me wrong. The media is a great thing and badly needed (minute by minute weather reports) but at the same time, if they can't show a "stop" sign in the background whipping in the wind, they don't get viewers!

Most of the time, we get so busy that it takes the big events like this to remind us of the things that really matter and sorry to say....life ain't about "stuff"..... Perspective is a great thing!

That's my two cents....(and I've saved my plywood for Ivan!) Ha!

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On 9/9/2004 1:35:21 PM endover wrote:

Another thing to keep in mind is that the media loooooooves hurricanes because they know you people (outside of FL) will watch it like the superbowl.

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You nailed me. I have a facination with hurricanes. I always feel very bad for the people who suffer their wraths, but there is something so powerfull so awesome (used in the real sence, not the Jeff Spacoli sence) about them. It's aweinspiring to see what they can do. 4.gif Again, I don't mean to sound as though I wish hurricans on Florida and what not, don't get me wrong, just that when they do happen, I find myself glued to The Weather Channel for days prior to landfall. Matter of fact, I'm working from home today and TWC is on right now. 4.gif

Good luck with Ivan endover. You see what it did to Gernada? 90% of the homes and residents there were distoryed. 8.gif

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On 9/9/2004 1:35:21 PM endover wrote:

Another thing to keep in mind is that the media loooooooves hurricanes because they know you people (outside of FL) will watch it like the superbowl.

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Don't take this wrong way, and I truly do feel for folks down there this time. Geez - 3 hurricanes in the span of about a month! Even a tropical storm thrown in for good measure! It looks like Ivan is going to hit the same areas that were trashed from Charley.

I had to sit through a hurricane or two myself right here in Virginia! Isabel last year. I was up listening to my house creak and moan during that, hoping at least my TV antenna does not blow away, let-alone the roof. Something else hearing all those trees snap and pop outside. Couldn't return to work for nearly a week, since there was no power there.

I watch the things like the Superbowl for the simple fact that they almost always end up effecting my area. The devastating flooding in Richmond from Gaston, and now the tornados and the flooding from Frances yesterday.

Here is an article from the Fredericksburg's local paper about what Frances did to my area. I've seen the damage personally from one tornado, since it went right across the highway that I use to commute back-n-forth to work.

Looking at the track of Ivan, if it stays along that course, I know we'll most likely get hit with that one as well. Maybe not with the winds like in Flordia, but the rain/flooding and the tornados can be just as, if not more, devastating.

And yes, every once and a while, we do also get hit with a full-blown hurricane, such as Isabel from last year.

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path.gif EENIE MEENIE MINEE MOE...WHICH WAY IS THIS BUGGER GONNA GO?. I've been watching hurricanes for many years (my mom lives in a strike zone) and the only conclusions that I have been able to come up with are....The number of strikes to a state is proportional to the number of miles of coastline.

Any one else notice that Florida is the only state in the Atlantic Tropical Storm Strike Zone that has both an East and a West Coast?

Endover- You have the story right, Everyone wants to join into the notoriety of being "involved"..oh yeah..

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On 9/9/2004 1:35:21 PM endover wrote:

I think that if you live outside of FL, you think everyone deals with hurricanes every year and that's just not true. That's the same as saying living in California means you will deal with disasterous earthquakes on a regular basis. I have lived here on and off for 37 years and have seen 3 significant hurricanes come directly thru this area. If you do the math, that's less than one for every 10 years.....and that's why you see people lined up at Home Depot and Lowe's to buy supplies. Who wants to store plywood and shutters and generators and "panic" supplies for a storm that's going to come every 10 years. It's just not feasable for everyone.

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I understand what you're saying. Im from NE Oklahoma, exactly where the film Twister was shot, and folks think that such a movie represents a typical Oklahoma weekend. I mean, it is possible -- every ten years -- that such a weekend exists but, well, "you get the idea". Oddly enough, the nearest I've been to a tornado was in Kansas City (attached). The home with the blue car is mine. The shot was taken well after closest approach but before I thought, "You dumbass, why are you outside with a tornado nearby?"

Thanks,

post-15432-1381925781766_thumb.jpg

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