Last nite in Imperial Beach we experienced a deluge that signaled the start of our rainy season. We suffered the remnants of Hurricane Rosa up from Mexico that the wall on the border didn't prevent. We all remained vigilant throughout the nite and although there was little wind we got 1/20th inch of rain. We did learn something from the Puerto Rico fiasco though as we took the precaution of stocking up on paper towels.
Just wanted to update everyone: Our family is alive and surviving. We were in an evacuation zone on the beach, so moved to a family member's house in town who was not in an evacuation zone. We huddled in a cupboard under the stairs for the worst part. Very Harry Potter. Gotta admit, it was a little terrifying. Our ears were popping from the pressure changes in the air when the eyewall was passing. My SIL's shed literally just fell over. Gigantic pines and oaks just completely uprooted from the ground. What you saw on the news is really what it looks like. And (other than Mexico Beach, which was just flattened) they probably aren't even showing the worst because they can't get to it yet. The Beach fared better than Panama City proper and points east. We already have power and water back at our house. Still under boil notice though, so because of health issues I'm up north and my husband's at our house playing innkeeper for family and friends that still don't have water or power. My other SIL basically lost their house. Sunroom completely annihilated, kitchen and bedrooms caved in. Just from wind damage. My friends house had 9 huge pine trees fall on it. Panama City/Lynn Haven had a lot of really old, cool trees, but because of that they ended up causing a lot of damage. For every 10 trees in the county I'd say there's only 3 or 4 left standing. Lynn Haven has to completely rebuild the power grid and likely will be without power for a couple of months. The Air Force base lost every single piece of base housing and I believe almost every structure has damage. It's rough. It's going to take a long time to rebuild. Slight silver lining-- because the beach fared better and it isn't tourist season, hopefully people can rent condos til they can get their property fixed. Props to all the linemen and women. I've never seen so many utility trucks in my life. They are working nonstop and doing a great job. People are really coming together. Insurance adjusters are out in full force, too. Chainsaw gangs and tree services from out of state. Let me know if you need firewood. Lol.
Honestly one of the worst parts has been communication. Verizon and Sprint have been down since the eyewall hit. Of course, most people have those carriers. AT&T and T-Mobile have been the only ones that can get service. You can now, a week and a half later, get spotty text and call service on Verizon. If this isn't a giant billboard advertisement for AT&T and T-Mobile, I don't know what is. We had to go 3 hours out of town to buy Cricket phones so the family could communicate. There are some people who still haven't been able to contact their families to let them know they're alive.
Sorry to hear about your woes flower girl. At least you and your family stayed safe. When Irma hit us last year it toppled a lot of trees and fences, mostly pine trees, but they were not so common down here in the south. And what you mentioned about AT&T and Tmobile is absolutely correct; all the other carriers lost signal but we were able to still talk and even access internet from time to time. The recovery will be long and tortuous but hopefully they will do it right, with stronger standards and more solid materials. However, we really need to pressure our lawmakers to acknowledge that climate change is happening and that this willing be the new normal, a very strong storm hitting the state every year..
Glad you are safe flowergirl. Kinda ironic, but in 2010 when the 3 hurricanes went right over Orlando, I was talking to my mom during one of them as the eye went over her house...on her Verizon cell phone.
Climate change has got to be a major priority and it isn't going to happen with Republicans in charge. I keep hoping that all the stuff that's just happened this year (hurricanes/floods/wildfires) will finally wake people up that we need to start acting quickly and on a very large scale. My little compost pile isn't going to cut it.
Exactly. We try to recycle as much as possible, take reusable bags when we do groceries, take our own bottles for water, etc. Then my children school is packing apples individually, not to mention all the single use stuff that is still around. We’re also lucky that we really don’t have to drive much around, but that’s not the reality for most people, and all and all it probably doesn’t add to much and is quickly cancelled out if we take a plane trip or something like that. We really need changes to be implemented on planetary scale and soon.
About a week ago I did read an article about opinions of Republicans in North Carolina shifting on climate change.
More Republicans believe in climate change than before. You'll have to search the Washington Post for the article.
That doesn’t tell us much. IIRC a lot of them believe in Climate change but they believe that is either not caused by humans and/or part of the Divine plan for apocalypse and rapture...
If you think Puerto Rico was neglected by the hurricane wait until you don't hear about the Northern Marianas, whose residents are US citizens.
You are not wrong, it has not been on any news feed that has popped up for me. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ener...st-storm-hit-us-since/?utm_term=.ccea1cc5334b
They need a bigger lobby. The storm that hit them was unbelievable. I'm a bit of a weather nerd and seeing the structure of that storm was incredible.
biggest since 193somehing. Had that storm passed anywhere close continental USA, this story would have been everywhere from the past 2 weeks to the next 2 weeks.
Help is on the way. The surplus paper towels are being shipped from Puerto Rico as we speak and should reach it's destination in about 2 Months. It will be sailing ♫ "All Day And All Night" to the Marianas!
You're giving me fake news... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariana_Trench Mind you, maybe the wench was named after the trench? OK! You're my friend again
You seem to be a pretty fart smeller smart feller. Is that wench wrench she's wielding S.A.E. or Metric?