Hurricane Helene

[rosarugosa]

I hope everyone is OK. Flowers, Happy Hiker, would you please let us know when you get a chance?

[Tradd]

Heck, we’re even getting wind from it in the Chixgo area. Power out in Indiana!

[happystuff]

Prayers that everyone is safe.

[flowerseverywhere]

It barely had any effect in the middle of the state in my area. Some rain and wind, so some trees were down and minor flooding. It was crazy watching surrounding areas get hit with huge storm bands.
There are lots of Facebook pictures of large areas totally washed away. Tampa and Ft Myers had a repeat of the Hurricane IAN effects, which happened two years ago. Being in the middle, there were many electrical trucks etc. staged here ready to go where needed.

i cannot imagine how people in the hardest hit areas will ever get house insurance. And so many people were in grave danger of harm or death. Some of the storm surges in Cedar Key and Steinhatchie were over 15 feet. But it looks like even on land, the flooding was horrible as it tore through Georgia, Tenn., and the Carolinas. At least 50 dead. It was so sad to watch.

[bae]

Possibly related:

https://www.gfdl.noaa.gov/global-warming-and-hurricanes/

[Tradd]

It looks like there could be another storm in the Gulf in the next week or so.

[Tradd]

World Central Kitchen is active in FL so if you want to donate… I just did.

[gimmethesimplelife]

What alarms me regarding Helene is that Asheville - seriously inland and at over 5K in altitude - was devastated from Helene. This is a new one for so far inland. Are any of us really safe from climate change? Will any of us be able to afford homeowner's or renters insurance in a few years?

The climate, it be a-changin'. Rob

[Tradd]

They had a ton of rain a few days before Helene. So they were screwed.

And people wonder why I live in the Great Lakes region. My area doesn’t flood. No hurricanes. Yes, we get tornadoes, but they don’t wipe out a region’s infrastructure like a hurricane does. Winters are definitely milder.

And the best part: we have water - the Great Lakes.

[jp1]

And now another hurricane, Milton, is expected to hit somewhere in the Tampa area Wednesday night, likely as a Cat 3. That's just about the last thing they need right now.

[Tradd]

Tampa has not had a direct hit since 1922. If they get hit just right, a ton of water will be pushed up Tampa Bay.

[jp1]

Tampa has not had a direct hit since 1922. If they get hit just right, a ton of water will be pushed up Tampa Bay.

Probably the worst would be a hit just north of them. Hurricanes spin counter clockwise so that would make the storm surge hit the city directly.

[Tradd]

A friend lives in the Tampa area, just outside the evac zones. Same with her elderly parents, who don’t want anyone to spend money on a hotel room, so they’re not evacuating. Friend refuses to leave parents, so none of them are evacuating. The parents can afford it, friend told me. Old coots being very stubborn. Might end up dead b

[iris lilies]

People who have the means( $$$) and ability (not required to go to a job, capable of walking, not tied to a place for healthcare reasons) who do not evacuate really annoy me. They just put themselves in a place that requires others to rescue them. And/or they put their pets in danger.

I would definitely leave and would be loading up the car with pets in carriers, all financial records, and would grab a bunch of cash from the bank on the way out of town.

But then, I am one to be casual about tornadoes any more. In my youth I would gather all the pets and go to the basement, bei g annoyed at my parents for staying upstairs to gaze at the sky. Now I just hang around the house with an eye to the weather. When I was in Iowa a few months ago, a big tornado went through and my cousin and I went down to the lower level of my my brother split level house, but we did not go to the very lowest level, which was the basement. Tornado skipped right by us though

[catherine]

What alarms me regarding Helene is that Asheville - seriously inland and at over 5K in altitude - was devastated from Helene. This is a new one for so far inland. Are any of us really safe from climate change? Will any of us be able to afford homeowner's or renters insurance in a few years?

The climate, it be a-changin'. Rob

Yes, inland storms are more and more common now. What about Irene in Vermont in 2011? I was there, on vacation with my family. It was incredible to see entire roads and bridges gone. I saw a whole front porch sitting in the middle of Rt. 100 in Londonderry, just like when Dorothy's house landed in Oz. We had to bring visitors to public transportation, but it was like a labyrinth trying to get them there.

There have been other major hurricane-related flooding events in the US lately. I would never move to a coastal area now--at least not in the Southeast/Gulf area

bae's link to the NOAA analysis is chilling, but of course, no one really takes information like that seriously.

Where have all the flowers gone?
Young girls have picked them, every one
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?