Hurricane Isabel

[Bill Stoneberg]

Hurricane Isabel is heading towards the east coast. Its impact will be felt all along the coast from North Carolina to Long Island. Hurricane force winds extend 200 miles outward from the center.

Right now they show it hitting near Morehead City NC but a small shift in the direction could bring it significantly north of there.

Folks the time to get out is now. Dont mess with this storm it will be bad. Remember Andrew and how all basic functions were gone after it hit Florida in '92. No food, no water, no nothing until the Red Cross and National Guard came. Prepare now.

Not trying to scare you but I have been through these before and they are not fun. If they tell you to leave take their advice. Nothing is worth being hurt.

Good luck and God Bless.

[DugsSin]

Our Fall Buick Picnic is planned for this Sat right in the path of Isabel in Central Pa. Man we just can't get a nice weekend this year. Bring on 2004!

[jaxops]

This will be a bad one. Even after it "stumbles over" the outer banks of North Carolina, it will have a lot of punch left in it. Nothing to fool around with- especially you in Sandbridge (the name says it all with a hurricane coming..) and the Category 1-3 flood areas of Hampton Roads. The Navy Metoccen web site has it tracking for Morehead City, NC now.

Good luck and God bless you all. Stay safe.

[Ron Green]

Weather last night said we could have 70mph plus winds Thursday evening here in central PA depending on how this thing tracks. Chester PA south of here got nailed with 8 inches of rain the other day from a different storm. Been thru 2 major floods in 72 and 76 and am staying put. Besides I have a Amphicar this time around to float up and down the streets if flooded when things die down. Of course my wife would swim first. Lets cross our fingers and hope everyone is safe especially you coastal folks.

[Guest BruceW]

We had 6 inches of rain here yesterday between 8:00am and 2:00pm. A vertical band of rain.. only about 10-15 miles wide.. but extending from southern Pennsylvania down into Virginia made a straight due north run right across our county. Don't think the counties on the left or right of us got much if any but we had lots of flooding and roads closed as a precurser to Isabell.

Checked this am.. Isabell is now down to a Cat 2 storm but still aimed at the same spot to make landfall.

[Amphicar BUYER]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have a Amphicar this time around to float up and down the streets if flooded when things die down</div></div>

Ron,

Be sure you have her moored in the garage so she doesn't go anywhere without you! <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

[rocketraider]

Let's not even think about it. The damn thing is headed right for us if it follows its projected track. Coastal NC is already under evacuation orders, the nuke powerplant in Southport is powering down, and the Governor of VA has already declared state of emergency in the Commonwealth. Picture I-40 changed over for westbound traffic only. That's what they're doing, trying to evacuate the NC coast.

Used to be tornadoes were something they had in Kansas, and hurricanes were in Bermuda. Looks like anymore NC and VA are ground zero for them. A guy at work swears they're voodoo revenge for the slave trade. They usually originate off the western coast of Africa and hit the US near the ports of Charleston and Wilmington.

I'm hoping for no high winds and not much rain. I had to repair wind damage to the siding back in March, and I really don't want to go thru that again. I've already battened down everything around here, mostly porch furniture. Neighbor across the street is getting a jump on things. She's got a tree service over there right now (9:40 pm) finishing up taking down three large old pines that she figured would go if the thing came thru here.

And believe me, we haven't forgotten Fran and Floyd. Agnes and Camille were no picnics either, and Mama still talks about Hazel roaring thru here in 1954. She said they had no real warning what was happening to them as they had no TV and forecasting wasn't accurate then either. She remembers the tobacco and corn crops laying sideways in ruins after it passed. As farmers often did in those days, they attributed it to "equinox".

Talked with a contract worker today, 22 yr old from Illinois who has never seen a hurricane. Told him he hadn't missed much, but be prepared for it.

[Guest JT]

I never imagined a hurricane could do so much damage 200 miles inland until Hugo came through with 100mph winds. Due to the large number of trees here there wasn't a street in town that wasn't blocked by trees or covered in debris. The power was out for weeks and it took months and months to clean up. It sure caught everyone here by surprise.

Rocketraider, yes Hazel still seems to be the granddaddy of hurricanes around here. As a kid I remember beach trips several years after Hazel and seeing vacant lots and what was left of foundations. Of course that was before most beach houses were elevated.

[6219_Rules]

I have lived through a few hurricanes while I lived in Houston, and that was plenty. Growing up in north central Missouri, I remember tornados and terrible thunder storms, the kind that would have me under the covers with tremendous lightning. And the noise. I pray you all are safe, you, your loved ones, and all who live in the path of Nature's fury. Take care, my friends! God be with you!

[R W Burgess]

You fellows trying to scare me. Looks like it's coming right into my area. Am I prepared? Let's see, plenty of canned food, generator to heat it with, brick house on hill(won't blow away, certainly won't flood), basement(real handy during a toronado), tub will be full of water. Yep, I'm straight. I'll be driving tomorrow to keep all those feed mills going, so the cats and dogs of the world don't go hungry. Not to say anything out of the way, but this country insists on letting people build in the flood plains, pretty, but dangerous. Be careful, Wayne

[Guest imported_SKYSTHELIMIT]

Wish me luck as I will be working in this stuff. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> Don't even Know why we go out in fierce weather like this the only thing you pick up in the rain is water. Oh well, guess I'll be having all the fun while everyone cowers indoors. If ya don't see me posting anymore I've probably been sucked down a sewer drain and gone for good.

If no more post are seen FREE

70 Buick Skylark

85 GMC Suburban

03 Ford f-450

You must pick up I will not be able to deliver <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

[R W Burgess]

Sky, "Why I do it..." For the excitement, man. I've never climbed a mountain, never had a trip on "dope", never had many!? wild women, never even been 200 mph, although I'd like to, so I drive in lousy weather for the excitement, and to drive the old ladies crazy, "What kind of maniac was that, Lois?" Going out to have fun now. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Wayne

[John N. Packard]

I remember Hazel in 1954. I walked two blocks from the dime store where I worked to home and got soaked to the skin. Had a big TV antenna on the roof and it toppled over. Things got calm all of a sudden (eye of the hurricane); so I got up on the roof and took the antenna down. Only a teenager would do a dumb thing like that!

We're in Myrtle Beach for this one. Looks like it will pass us by. Was out on the beach this afternoon with only modest surf; but a stiff breeze. Cloud cover moved in around 5 PM. Forecast for tomorrow is showers and windy.

Bruce, did the power go out during that six inches of rain? If it did we've got a flooded basement back home. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

jnp

[Guest BruceW]

John,

I think you got lucky.....we didn't lose power here during the dump of rain the other day.. and I don't know of anyone else that did either. So your sump pump probably did its job.

Although with Isabell..I think things may be different as to power outage.

[John N. Packard]

Thanks Bruce! We'll keep our fingers crossed. The wind has picked up here in Myrtle Beach this morning and it is raining. We're on the back side of the storm here.

jnp

[R W Burgess]

Hi all, My son in Wilmington, NC just called and said everything was ok down there, Like John in Myrtle Beach, Wilmington just got a heavy type rain/thunderstorm. As of noon in my part of Virginia, it's just raining hard at present. The low lying areas are going to have a problem with water at high tide, as it's already over some docks in the area. Filled up my wife's antique kerosene lamps yesterday. She's happy, I'm happy. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Wayne

[rocketraider]

The thing is just now starting to clear out of here after nearly 6 hrs of heavy rain and high wind. We clocked 80 mph wind speeds at work just before I left at 1900. Imagine driving 30 miles home in that!

Fortunately I had no damage that I can see, except a yard full of sticks and leaves. However, this was the first time in 22 years here that I've lost the lights- ironic, considering I work for the power company, eh? Even Fran didn't get me lights.

Other areas in and near Danville had a lot of trees down, and about a third of the city is still in the dark. I count meself lucky mine were only off a couple hours. We had the generators at absolute minimum stable load all day because so many Progress Energy lines were down- can't sell what you can't transport, now can you?

I just hope the rest of you in Izzy's path are as fortunate as I was. I have seen up close what these storms can do, and there are areas near Rocky Mount and Tarboro NC that are still not healed after Fran. I worked with the company storm team cleanup down there and I don't think I've ever seen more total destruction than that. People actually cried when we came in to start cleaning up and rebuilding.

There but for the grace of God go I...

[Ron Green]

The storm tracked futher west then expected so we did not get the rainfall they predicted however according to the news we had 62mph gusts of wind around 10 last night and the storm was to hit us at 2 in the morning. Went to bed and awoke with no power and lots of trees down with a business meeting scheduled for this morning. You know a Dodge van heater works good for drying your hair. Hope everyone made it through ok.

[Guest imported_SKYSTHELIMIT]

Well I made it through the night. A little soaked however. My feet look like prunes after I took my boots off. I realy need to get a new pair.

The only thing on the parking lots were leaves and branches. It was fun changing the garbage cans taking all the weight out of them then watching the cans bounce down the lots. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> I don't know what the heck was going on but it seemed as if drivers had it in for handicap parking signs, bushes and small trees. It couldn't have been the wind tearing them up. The wind wasn't strong enough in Whitehall. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> The Best part was trying to dump the truck. Lift up the lids to the dumpsters jump back quickly into the truck and back up into the dumpster before the wind blew the dumpster doors shut. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> Took about 15 trys at the Giant in Palmer. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

Anyway safe and sound now at home so it looks like I'll be keeping my cars and to all who wished I didn't make it so you can get em as Yosamity Sam would say you no good rackin frackin serta flackin........................... <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

[John N. Packard]

Glen,

We're going back to Myrtle Beach! Got back home to Maryland to find that the power had been off for twelve hours and there was two inches of water on the basement floor. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> On the way up I-95 we saw caravans of power company trucks from Florida, Georgia and South Carolina heading out to help. It was an impressive sight and I was awed by their willingness to help others in this difficult situation. All week long in Myrtle Beach we had sunshine, electric power and all the associated amenities. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I think I'll head back down!

jnp

[rocketraider]

Progress brought 850 of its PE-Florida workers up to North Carolina for storm repair, and all the power companies have reciprocal agreements in place for such situations. Plenty of contract line and service crews out too. I've also seen the convoys roll out and it is an impressive sight. I've heard Dominion has 2400 people working storm repair, and there are crews from Kentucky and Tennessee here working Danville's municipal-owned system.

The L&S boys love this sort of stuff since most of them are adrenalin junkies anyway, and they make outrageous overtime pay doing this. (Did you know they have Linemen's Rodeos, where this crowd struts their stuff for bragging rights?) There is a downside though. It's dangerous work and I know of one who has already died in this repair effort- 29 years experience and was electrocuted in a substation Thursday night.

If you see these guys, thank them. They do good work in adverse conditions, but the power companies often catch undeserved heat when the lines go down and it takes a while to get the lights back on. Someone should have punched the Durham NC city manager right in the mouth for the comments he made during last winter's ice storms, especially since Durham's tree-trimming ordinances contributed to the problem.

You know, as is often the case after a hurricane, yesterday and today were two of the most beautiful days we've had here in months.

[R W Burgess]

Did you guys miss me? Well, at least Pedro called to make sure I made it through the recent discomfort. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> The attached picture is of my neighbor's house. The 3rd tree to come down got our attention when it hit his house. We watched the first 2 come down on my property line. I went over in the neighbor's back yard to check on the damage and the daughter's husband met me at the back door a little disoriented and babbling something about a tree "in" his house. Another neighbor and I went inside the house to help out. We had to move furniture out of the bedroom as it was still raining very hard and water was running into their 1/2 bathroom floor. A 6 inch limb was sticking through their bedroom ceiling. I hit my head on it twice while moving furniture. You don't usually have to look up. A couple of other neighbors showed up with a power saw and they managed to cut enough tree away to cover the hole in the roof with plastic. I'll show his garage in the next post. Wayne

Post Script; Our home was one of the lucky 20 to have electricity for since last Thursday. Half the town is now back online, but neighboring areas are still without power and all schools are closed tomorrow.

[R W Burgess]

My neighbor's garage above. I gave you guys a hard time about worrying about the storm last week. I got home at about noon on Thurday, just before the winds picked up. The trees started falling at about 3:30pm. Amazingly, we never lost power. We were ready though, as I restarted and checked out the generator, moved my car trailer again, away from the 100 foot pine trees, and had our flashlights handy. The winds got pretty bad at about 7:30pm, I'd say about 80 mph gusts. The Northern Neck of Virginia has 3 ways into our peninsula, 2 by bridge, 1 by land. The state threatened to close both bridges, which they did for different reasons. The bridge nearest us at Tappahannock, Va. for flooding, the one down south next to White Stone, Virginia just yesterday to rerun a new power line, which supplies most of our area with power. Of course the route by land was closed down with many downed trees. I tried to leave on another truck trip at 4:00am Friday morning, got 2 miles out of town and had to back up 3/4 mile because of a tree across the road. I checked the other route by car and came up on power lines all over the highway and hanging to low for my truck to pass under. I managed to get out of town by 2:00pm on Friday. Our area was the hardest hit of the 400 mile trip to Northern Pennsylania that I was on. Wayne

[R W Burgess]

This is my other neighbor's cinder block garage, flat as a pancake. He moved all his yard stuff in this building for safekeeping. The lawnmower is in pretty bad shape. There were about 13 tall pine trees down in our backyard area. Another thing about our town. Of the 20 or so businesses "open", there were 4 resturants, 1 gas station, 1 grocery store and a Rite Aid. The gas station had police directing traffic as the double lines across the old Ames store parking lot was getting a little out of hand. People were coming from as far away as Richmond, Va. 60 miles away to get gas. The grocery store ran out of bottled water, but kept getting resupplied. The local radio station was relaying every business that was open and what they had in stock, what roads were closed, and what neighborhoods that were offlimits completely. One whole town, Colonial Beach, Va. fit that catagory as boats were 3 or 4 blocks "inland" and a couple of resturants got washed away down river. Death toll in Virginia--14! Wayne

[R W Burgess]

Ok last one. This is my outbuilding with a few things in it, saw with no blade, mower I will fix one day, and old tires that don't fit anything in particular, you know valuable things. The weird thing is that the first tree just missed the shed on the back line side and the second is still not touching the building, because our nice cedar tree gave up it's life to protect my shed. Am I living right or what? I'll probably get the shed moved before we take the trees down. I'm grateful for so little damage. Wayne

[nearchoclatetown]

R.W. about 8 or so years ago a tornado touched down close to here. Friends lost lots of trees from their yard. Insurance wouldn't pay for the trees unless they hit something.

[Guest JT]

Wayne, glad to hear you made it through safe and had little damage.

[R W Burgess]

Thanks everyone. Just wanted you to see what some of the neighbors are putting up with in Virginia. Wayne

[novaman]

Alamance County in NC had several thousand without power. I'm not sure if everyone is back online as of today (Sunday). I know there were some still without power yesterday. Some trees were downed but I think most faired resonably well in this area.

[Dynaflash8]

We came on back to Florida Saturday following the Glidden Tour in Huntsville, Alabama. We had been keeping track of the situation in Virginia. Electric went off Friday around 1 PM and has not returned. They are promising it "no later than" Friday, and the electric company told me today it would be "at least" two to four more days. As a result Judy and I planned to pull out of here in the morning to come up and clean out the refridgertor and freezer, but my very good friend, W.A. Scates, volunteered to get the soggy food out, log what he could of it for insurance purposes, and take it to the dump tomorrow, so we don't have to go up there until next weekend. Otherwise, we were very lucky. One tree fell between the house and two garages in the only place it could fall without hitting anything. Other trees fell around the shed that has the lawnmowers and yard stuff without hitting it, only blocking the door. My friend will cut them away as well. No shingles lost, no siding lost. Montross has no electric, and the local Food Lion lost everything because they didn't have a generator. The nursing home where my aunt & uncle are did have a generator and were using it when I last talked to them. Some mention Hazel. I remember being let off school and hearing the wind, etc., but remember it not being as bad as I'd expected as a teenager. Speaking of Myrtle Beach, Hazel leveled the boardwalk there. Frankly, from my personal point of view, we were extremely lucky. If that tree had fell on the new garage, I'd probably have lost my favorate antique car, which is parked on that end of the building.

[Guest BruceW]

HELLO!

First day back at work. Luckily the company I work for is in one of the areas that has electricity so I can log in the DF for the first time since last week. We were lucky in that we didn't sustain too much damage in the area but a lot of trees and power lines down.

We lost power at the house on Thursday night and we still have no power this morning... and they say we may not have any power until maybe Friday!!

No electricity means NO WATER since last Thursday either... Boy I would love to have a nice hot shower right about now!!!!

[Terry Bond]

Just checking in quick to let everyone know we survived here in Chesapeake Va. Power finally came back on sometime last nite (Sunday) so we're almost done with that "pioneer" thing. It's been rough but our five acres fo trees survived except for a couple that thank goodness fell back into the woods. Two small trees that I was going to cut for a clearing to put in a new garden shed disappeared saving me some work, but the cleanup and repair in the yard and driveway will take a couple of weeks. Some big limbs and pieces of trees dropped but missed the house and barn. It wasn't any fun riding this one out as it pretty much came directly at us here in Chesapeake Va. Hundreds are still without power and the area looks like a battle-zone. One benefit of this was a rare chance to visit with my Son Ken, the Coast Guard sent him and the rest of the Atlantic Strike Team down from NJ to do their environmental and hazmat stuff in this area. Too bad I couldn't have them come over to help with the cleanup.

Good luck to everyone in the path of this - please check-in and let us know you are ok.

Terry Bond

[John N. Packard]

Wayne,

Thanks for the pictures. Very sobering. On our way up from Myrtle Beach we saw several houses in the Emporia area with similar damage. No power in Emporia so we couldn't gas up there. Went on the Stony Creek via 301 and found a Texaco open and pumping. I was down to 24 miles left according to the computer. Spent the morning cutting up a Bradford Pear for a friend who lost it in their back yard. They are pretty when in bloom but are not a sturdy tree. It's raining again tonight. We had sunshine in Myrtle Beach! <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

jnp

[Guest BruceW]

Yeehaa......

Power was restored tonight.. after only 5 days.... some people in the area may not have it until next Mondat they say.

Utility trucks been driving past the house all day long, every day since Friday... finally they stopped here tonight.. and within 10 minutes had power restored.

And having electrical power means we now have WATER!

I'm off for the nice hot shower I have been waiting to take since Thursday....phew!

[Dynaflash8]

Bruce: Did you mean "phew" or "PU" after 5 days <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

[R W Burgess]

Roger on the "PU". I knew I smelled something strange from up Bruce's way. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Wayne

[rocketraider]

As of yesterday morning Dominion had nearly 10,000 people on storm repair- all the Progress folks headed up to Richmond/Williamsburg once their work was done in their own territory. Apparently Richmond took a real hit. Papers said ice trucks got mobbed if they appeared anywhere, and most drivers simply started throwing icebags off the truck to whoever could catch it rather than get bushwhacked.

If we're lucky, this is the only one this year. Hurricane gets old real quick.