Good luck South and West Florida and S. Alabama

Tropical Storm (Hurricane by tomorrow in all likelihood) Isaac seems determined to hit Key West on Monday, then run up the west coast of Florida to west Florida and South Alabama. I don't think we have any IBCers in Key West, FL, but we have a few along the West Florida coastline (Ft. Myers, Naples, Sarasota, St. Petersburg, Tampa) and in the the Florida Panhandle and into Southern Alabama (where it should turn into a tropical depression and wend its way up to us in western North Carolina on Wednesday or Thursday (LOTS of rain!).

Good luck to all IBCers in its path. The 70,000 folks at the Republican Convention in Tampa will be all wet (as usual <G>) <-- That's a JOKE guys!<--- but should survive it. I have a daughter and grand- and greatgrand-children on St. Pete Beach who will probably have to evacuate since their property is waterfront and about 2 feet above high tide level and with the storm out in the Gulf of Mexico, storm surge is gonna be the biggest concern for coastal residents.

Russell, you oughta get a little wind and a LOT of rain, so be prepared.



The storm, BTW is 700 miles across. That's bigger than Texas. So ALL of Florida will be very wet next week. The outline around this track -- the line of S's and H's in the center is the concensus track -- is the possible area where the center MAY go. Obviously for Florida, the farther west the better.

Thanks Jim, as 70 year old natives of the Florida Peninsula Carla and I are familiar with hurricanes.

Yes, we've had a few around here too. This is a good time for prayers.

Libby

Libby, as of Sunday morning, we're now "ground zero". Either way, this week is really going to suck.

The next couple of days will be busy ones. Move all of the livingroom furniture against the wall and put down a giant sheet of visqueen, and start hauling in the bonsai. Times like this make me wish my collection was shohin. Then pick up or tie down crap that will get blown around. Don't forget pots that are stored outside. Cut the foliage off of my banana tree collection, that one really hurts, but they'll recover quick enough. Gas, food, water, GENERATOR....

Ivan hit just east of us in 2004 and we lost power for a week. Eleven months later Katrina hit just west of us, no power for even longer. That was the end of August, and it got hotter than hell afterwards. Here we go again....

Yeah, down here we were without power for a slap solid 2 weeks! After
Ivan and then Katrina. We ate more MRE's than I ever thought I could.
I figured out how to handle everything else but sleeping in the heat.
The only thing I'm holding on to now is the fact that these things almost
always turn one way or another when they get within 100 miles of the
mouth of the bay. Please God let this thing stay small and weak!

Libby

Looks like Isaac's track is moving more and more westward towards New Orleans, with a landfall date of wed Aug 29th, seven years to the day of Katrina...spooky.

My wife stayed in New Orleans throughout Katrina and has related a lot of "inside" info about how things really went down during that debacle as she was a New Orleans native. One thing she has told me is that the Army Core of Engineers has only barely patched the levees that failed. They have not been fully restored, nor have the pumps that continually evacuate ocean water from the city of New Orleans every minute of every day. A direct hit at this point even from a category 2 could be a major problem.

-Jay

And Katrina didn't even hit New Orleans, let's not forget the total destruction of the Mississippi coast. Fact is that Isaac is going to have to move a lot farther west to not cause major problems for us. I liked it better when we were on the west side! Hey, doesn't Texas need some rain?

Map updated.

Good luck, all.

Yep.

The track is now for the Mississippi Coast, but the models are even farther west. Still anyone's guess, it's way too soon to know anything.

If you read the discussions on the National Hurricane center website, you will see that there is increasing uncertainty as to where Isaac is going to wind up. About half the model predictions are taking it further west (even toward Texas), while the other half are sticking with the Alabama/Mississippi/Florida panhandle solution. Lots of people should be preparing at this point. Be safe, everyone!

Russell Coker wrote:Hey, doesn't Texas need some rain?

Yes we do! At the rate it is going, we might get a bit of rain but sadly probably not far inland enough. Looks like you will be spared the worst this time. It might even veer farther west as it hits land/Louisiana.

Still it is nice to be prepared and not need it, than need it and not.

Well, as it turns out this should be under the heading "Good luck New Orleans and Mississippi". Good news is that Isaac isn't headed up Mobile Bay, bad news is we are on the east side and still too close for comfort. This is a big, slow moving storm so I'm glad it's not any stronger than it is. We are fortunate indeed.

So my livingroom is full of bonsai and the good pots are under the bed. Spent the afternoon cutting the leaves off my banana trees, but that's better than having a twisted pile of remains on the ground. They are telling us to expect over 10 inches of rain, and gusty winds. Not really that bad considering what we've been through in the past. Hopefully the power won't go out...

R

We have had some rain here on the Space Coast but not much else. A possible tornado did tear up a trailer park in North Indian River County. There are two bonsai nurseries in Indian River County (Jim Smith's Durastone and the Turners Old Florida Bonsai) but I don't think they were affected.

Wish to all of you safety and lesser casualties.
God be with you all.

We survived just fine ! And no damage at my house. Couldn't get back home until
this afternoon because the roads were blocked with water and debris. but we're home
now and all is well. Some closer to the water than I got some damage, and the beach
is terribly eroded, again. Looks like we dodged the bullet this time.

Libby

You all are in my thoughts down there. We are expecting rain from the remnants of Isaac.