Here's a spicy new thread for the likes of tropical weather discussion of all varieties. I can't help it since I'm a storm chaser at heart AND a sitting duck...what with being on an island and all...let's roll the dice and see what happens!

girl, your killin me! can i have your brain? just the laid back part, or is the whole thing laid back?

d

(ill be praying while youre chasing, or sitting like a duck)

On that note...we can start with:

Tropical Storm Arlene

...who gained her status when she blew over a ship and they recorded her tropical storm worthy windspeeds. She's a tad disorganized, way to my west, and headed for the Gulf and the US mainland...let the games begin....stay safe, all!

it's somewhat of a thrill...given that I'm not entirely aware of the true devastation that hurricanes can cause. I'm currently just stocking water and cans of food and buying big (water resistant?) garbage bags in which to throw all of my stuff. I'm even planning t-shirt designs...

For example:
FRONT ::picture of hurricane::
BACK ::I PAID for this::

etc....

I'm allowed the humor only because I have faith that I'll survive and the knowledge that at some point, I'll be able to escape back to my midwestern cornfields...the locals, however....well, I'll just say that there are STILL roofs off of buildings and people living in shacks from hurricane whatshisname from years back...(George?)

So think of any humor in this thread as dry...but at the same time naive and lighthearted...and then lean back in your chair, have a good chuckle and think, 'she doesn't know what she's in for!'

But hey...it's kind of like living life on the edge....I'm standing here with an apple on my head and I'm just waiting for the arrow!

As I did last year, I'd like to go ahead and throw out the welcome mat for you SE'ers (GA, FL, AL, etc) who may find yourselves needing to evacuate. La Casa de jame$ is rolling out the welcome mat...that is unless *we* get hit with a hurricane. Then you're boned.

Ok people...I don't think this is technically considered part of Arlene, but it hasn't stopped pouring since it started at 5pm yesterday....and my car windows don't roll up....I'm not even sure if I'll be able to make it to school what with the ghauts from the volcano carrying all of that rain to the ocean...

woohoo! puddles, rivers and lakes!!!

yeah, we've had mostly rain for the last 3 days or so. it's a nice change from stagnant air and seering parking lots.

::sigh::

Tropical Storm Dennis is leaving behind rain bands and tendrils of gloomy cloudiness. Not only is my car SOAKED, but the sun is nowhere to be found....and my laundry has no chance at all of ever drying.

On the other hand, it makes for interesting surfing on the wind swells. There's something cheery about being slammed down to the ocean floor by a 6 foot wave...no really, I'm serious...it's like my own private roller-coaster

Also...sadly the choppy ocean washed out two (that I saw) leatherback turtle nest sites. Poor endangered babies never had a chance...

Bonne chance gulf-coasters with Tropical Storm Cindy.

BTW - this is the first time in recorded history that 4 names storms have appeared in the Atlantic basin so early in the season

In which case, you should come stay with one of us.

Looks like She's headed towards Texas (if at all anywhere stateside).
...maybe She'll quench those fires

...so far a cat 2 (took her nearly a week to reach that status though)....but my has She blossomed...

Lovely rain she's giving us...it's fun dancing in the river...I mean, road.

Click to view attachment

If she's anything like Brandon's ex-girlfriend Emily, she's going to be trouble, the little slut-bitch.

So...you talk about moving away from hurricanes to the safety fo midwestern tornadoes? That doesn't make much sense to me.

Then again...I'm also one of those people that hears "tornado warning" and immediately goes outside to try and locate it.

mmm....green sky!...as long as you're a REALLY FAST runner, I think it's fine to disregard the sirens...although they do send a spectacular chill through a person's heart.

I love it when people from the south or coast ask...'do ALL you folks have storm cellers or basements?...why?'

a basement won't save you from a hurricane.

Head for open water. In the stew you gotta stow the sails, lash down everything on the deck and secure all your gear and stores in a safe hold, get the engine running and crank up the bilge pump. Turn into the wind, stay on the rudder and keep the engine running hard. Eat a package of dramamine and break out the rum. It's the only way. If you have a basement you're obviously not on a boat.
My brother tells me he'd rather be on the boat in open water than be in a house on the coast during a hurricane. So.. I suppose the moral of this is that if you find yourself looking at the sky from where your kitchen ceiling was or swimming in your basement when the hurricanes come around, sell your house and buy a boat.

Michelle,
I keep looking for your spot in stormy paradise on GOOGLE EARTH. The sattelite pictures of the island aren't so great.

Where are you going to hang your VET shingle?

Actually, that could be a good thing--she'd just stop talking to you for a week and then break up with your island and never talk to you again. I wish more hurricanes would be like that.

I really don't know...haven'd decided. On one hand, Illinois is familiar and friendly...but on the other, all the world's my stage...I'm banking on something popping up and saying 'COME HERE!'

yep.

and yeah...the sats don't pick up St. Kitts very well...maybe it's because no one cares, mon

Yeah, but first she'd make you spend all your money on her, spend hours talking about how dumb all the other hurricanes are, and ask you repeatedly why none of the islands around your island seem to like her.

I terribly miss the obscurity of living in a place no one cares about. Do they accept veterinarians as potential immigrants in New Zealand? Neil (orange peel) might be able to clarify that ... if so, I might have found a reason to pursue some academic goal. I've spent a damn lot of time on farms and ranches working with animals.

i remember when a tornado hit pittsburgh several years back. i just remember looking outside and the sky was orange. orange! my dad and i drove around after everything had settled...

i think the saddest thing were the trees...the old, old trees that were destroyed. *sigh*

uhhhh ... the end of new orleans as we know it?

Hoping for the safety of all in her path.
Hoping you apples in southern states...LA, MS, AL, GA and FL etc pay attention and keep yourselves safe.

Yeah, at least when a 'cane is out in the Atlantic, there's always the hope that it'll turn north and die in the cold water.

But there's nowhere Katrina can turn w/o trashing some well-inhabited towns.

To those involved, be safe, and get out of the way if you can.

Yo ... have you guys been checking out this thing's projected path? It's gonna be carrying rain to friggin' Canada by the end of the week. Folks in the Ohio river valley should probably start stocking up on sandbags now.

Yup. They say we're going to be pretty wet here tomorrow & Wednesday.

Oh, it has arrived! And it's very rainy, and stormy and floody. Good thing i live in an upstairs apartment. Especially good thing that i dropped 35 dollars on that floaty thing for the pool. I may need it to go to work.

The devastation and loss of life in Harrison County is just unbelieveable.

I'm so sorry for the lost and broken lives in the wake of this hurricane. It seems MS took the brunt. I'm really glad you seem to be OK, Ben....at least you have computer access for now. Did you have friends or family affected?

It has been raining in Lexington almost non-stop since Saturday, so I'm told...I know we have gotten several heavy downpores just since we got home yesterday...

Our prayers are with everyone and families of everyone in the wake of this storm.

I just watched a clip of a man who couldn't hold on to his wife in the flood waters. Their house was torn in half. He said she told him, "you can't hold me. Take care of the kids."

No words.

I'm relieved to see recent posts from Tina and Ben. Bill, if you could break your silence momentarily I'd feel better about things.

Best wishes to all of you living with this devastation.

The devastation is just so overwhelming I'm at a loss.

We're absolutely fine here in Starkville, just a few trees down. Our families live in other states.

But my students will be another story. Classes start back up tomorrow, and honestly doing the roll I'm going to be asking about a third of them (I write down where they're from next to their name in the gradebook) if A their families are alive and B if they have homes anymore. With B, I pretty much know what the answer's going to be based on location. And remember, it's not just the coast. 80% of the state is without power, and Jackson, Hattiesburg, Laurel and Meridian all sustained extreme damage. I'm from North Carolina, so I've seen some Hurricanes with serious death tolls, and nothing compares to this.

In Bay Saint Louis and Gulfport they are cutting into houses. When they find dead people inside, they put a red X on the door with paint and leave because they can't get the coroner's vehicles in there. It sounds like the freaking apocalypse.

To say nothing of New Orleans and Plaquemine/St Bernard Parishes.

Old timers say it took the state till the early 1990s to recover economically from Camille.

If you haven't already, please give money to Red Cross 2005 Hurricane Relief

Saw that.

All my prayers go out.

prob. more than you wanted to know about katrina.

praying,
zayne

I can't believe the news today. I can't close my eyes and make it go away...

I am completely overwhelmed at all the news coming out of the South. I received a phone call at work of a family moving into San Diego from New Orleans with nothing but clothes on their backs, and their kids will all need to be in school when they arrive. No records, no paperwork - just homeless and relocating and trying to stay alive.

No offense intended to anyone in the Orchard, but the Pet Peeves thread just seems so menial at this point compared to the utter devastation that happened.

I just found out this same family moving here with their kids apparently have three other children they lost in this ordeal - no idea where they are. I cannot even fathom that grief.

I have no words, I can not even begin to imagine what it must be like.

how horrible.

i can't imagine the devastation, the sadness, the loss.

i agree...there are no words.

Not sure if anyone has seen this, but I thought I would post it.

http://www.livejournal.com/users/interdictor/

Posting from downtown New Orleans, from a DirecNIC data center.

My niece, Renee, is unable to find out anything about her mother, her sister Heather and Heather's son, Branden. They did not evacuate and are in Gulfport, Mississippi. As you know, that's where Katrina hit full-force ... in Biloxi/Gulfport. If a miracle is needed, it's right now. Please, please, please pray.

(She's a niece by marriage, thus the strange phrasing I used describing her family, if anyone was wondering. She's the mother of my nephews, and of my sister's grandchildren, and she's family, I love her, and I'm so sad and scared for her. Besides us, that's the only family she has left.)

Edited to add the family details.

My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by Katrina. This is heartbreaking.

my cubemate is reading the news on the web right now, and told me about a woman who gave her baby to someone else, begging her to take care of the baby.

what devastation will do. *sigh*

Reading and listening to the news the past few days has become an exercise in heartbreak and frustration. I wish everyone trapped in all the misery and despair in the gulf states right now the strength and grace to survive this holocaust and rebuild their lives.

FYI: Lowes Hardware is matching Red Cross donations made at their store up to $1million. If you haven't donated yet, this might be a good way to go!
~m

Also, check with your own companies to see if they're doing any sort of donation matching. The owners of the place I'm working as a receptionist decided they're going to match employee donations taken through next week and give the money to the Red Cross in a lump sum. (It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to suggest it if your company hasn't done something like it already.)

My first-cousin Frank Paskewich (my maiden name) is a Captain in the Coast Guard stationed in New Orleans. (Check out his picture at his new assigment a few weeks ago by clicking here.)

ANYWAY ... he'll be speaking on FOXNEWS TV (cable) tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern time. I don't know if it will be by telephone or video broadcast, but it's kinda cool. He's my favorite cousin and I'm pretty curious to hear him speak, not only as my cousin, but speaking for the Coast Guard. In all of the coverage, I have seen a lot of Coast Guard activity, but haven't heard much from them.

Tune in! (He looks just like my Daddy, who looks just like his late brother (Frankie's dad).

Peace & hope,
Joyce

For folks who buy cds from cdbaby.com, they're donating profits from all cds whose artists have given approval to the Red Cross.

The list is here.

We had a lot of floods on the South Coast of Australia in the 70s, but really never anything like major hurricanes!!! I remember one very weak tornado hitting Oak Flats, my hometown 80 miles south of Sydney and I will never forget my dad's face as we both looked at the black funnel form from over the hills.......and that was a weak one!!!!!!!!!!!

Rob

Evidence of how tragically unsurprising the present NOLA situation really is can be seen in this 2004 National Geographic article, among other places. It makes me want to punch things.