Hurricane Helene

Chris

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I know that some of you are in areas affected by this storm. I hope all of you are safe and sound. Let us know how you’re doing. 🙏
 
No issues here in O-town, Tampa has their bridges closed for now. I have clients in Marion that are without power along with Citrus, waiting to here from our Alabama associates who handle the panhandle how it faired up there.
 
Rains from Helene arrived at around 5:30 this morning. It has continued to get a bit heavier each hour and it could continue for most of the weekend. Five or more inches of rain is expected, but we should be fine.
 
My father is in Greenville, SC. Lost power about 7am and still without. Heavy rains and some flash flooding.
 
Well, we dodged a bullet. Friend in Sarasota (Siesta Key on a bayou) lost everything... Another friend in the St Pete area also lost everything. As of 4pm yesterday, my sister in Anderson SC still had no power. Once again, Ft Myers beach took a beating, water running across the island into the bay. Guess we'll see what next week brings...
 
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Still waiting to hear from Boone. Hopefully nothing more than the power going out.
 
It is so sad to see all of the destruction in my beloved Southern Appalachians. Occasionally, I see videos of areas where I have hiked/camped that are badly flooded or damaged. I know the waters will recede and the damage will be repaired, but it still saddens me so much.

I used to love camping and hiking in all kinds of storms in this region, but not a storm of this kind. I can't recall one that was this bad/destructive. It's like a reality beyond imagining. I would typically load up my 1967 Land Rover (aka, The Tank) and there were a few locations where I could drive to higher elevations and find a good area to park. I would open up the cargo area of the Rover and spread the first large tarp over it. Then, a four-person tent with openings in the front and back. Then it would be five or six additional large tarps to protect from winds and heavy rain. I'd always carry enough supplies for weeks, but never needed that much, lol. A few days later (and after the tarps were dry), I'd pack up and head home with some good memories.

It's just so difficult to think of Western Carolina being shut down. I know the region will get through all of this, but it will take time.
 
We had a couples trip planned to Tennessee in a couple of weeks and just canceled. It’s pretty bad - you are correct Ken.
 
Man, it's going to be years to recover / rebuild up there, so sad. We're still rebuilding / repairing infrastructure 2 years after Ian, and our flat geography is easier to work with than the areas effected now. They do need to send in mobile hot-spot trailers in to these areas fast. It made life much easier being able to contact the outside world. Don't know who supplied them... but they set them up in shopping center parking lots and it worked well. I was well prepared for Ian, but know what it's like to have no power for well over a week after Charlie, and 4 or 5 days after Irma. That's when I got the generator... If there's one redeeming point, it's fall and the heat shouldn't be as much of an issue for recovery workers, and residents.

What is a bit of concern, is what's brewing in the same area this hurricane started...
 
the whole thing is western NC/TN is just incredible and heart breaking.

They’re saying now that some areas of western NC received “a 5,000-year event” in flooding. I didn’t even know such a designation existed.

Worse, given the way the area is shaped, there’s not anywhere for much of that water to go. It doesn’t have an ocean to recede down essentially flat ground back into the ocean. Some of these places are essentially shaped like bowls - surrounding mountains sending water in with no easy way for it to get out.

I think it’s going to be a while for some of these areas. Like years. And I think there will be some that never recover, like parts or New Orleans. I saw a picture of a lake just filled with house debris. Can’t even imagine how you clean that out and make that lake usable again…

Incredibly sad. The stories of people watching loved ones be swept away from the house never to be seen again… it’s just heartbreaking.
 
The Southern Appalachians typically receive more than 100 inches of rain a year, so they know about heavy rains and flooding. However, this system was unlike any other that this region has seen since humans have been roaming the area.

We have seen heavy totals in many of the towns in Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia. The numbers are astounding - a foot of rain or more. However, the totals are not known at most of the higher elevations and elevated areas in the Southern Apps will get a lot more rain than the lower terrain.

We'll never know, but it's likely that 20-40 inches of rain fell on most of the higher mountains. And that water had only one direction to go - down. Water is still flowing from these mountains and will do so for many more weeks.
 
175 mph sustained winds? JFC
 
To all of our Florida, Georgia, and other members in the region in the path of this thing, please be safe even if that means getting out altogether.

This looks like an incredibly mean one.
 
This is going to be ugly, expected to drop over 10 inches of rain and 100 plus mph when it hits Orlando, it's going to be a mess, my prayers for those on the east coast near Tampa, this is not a storm to f with.
 
They still don't know quite yet where it's going. Still saying the Bradenton / Tampa area, and we're on the southern edge of the cone. Twice they have predicted strikes in those areas, and twice we've gotten the shit kicked out of us when it hit much further south, so time will tell. Done as much prep as we can, with just a few loose ends tie up. I have confidence in the house holding up. Built in 78, it been through a lot of storms... 14 since we've been here, and 15 any time now. We've done a number of improvements since Ian 2 years ago. We had "wind mitigation" done, which is installing additional brackets ( called third nail ) on the roof trusses. We went for the gusto and put on a metal roof instead of shingles. The cool part is, it lowered our homeowners ins a few thousand. We had all new windows done, which are up to date code hurricane glass... Only one vulnerable spot, and that's the sliding doors on the back of the house. Hoping to hurricane proof those this winter. Biggest issue is surge for us. They predict up to 12ft in my area. 10ft might put a little water in the house using NOAA simulator. Where my house sits hasn't had surge flooding since Dora in 66, about 4ft.
Always prepared for the worst, I have a spot in the attic for myself, Cindy, and the dog if the water starts getting deep. I have a hatchet, baby sledge hammer, and pry bar if the water made it to close to the attic and we needed to get on the roof. Life vest for all, a few good ropes if we do have to hit the roof.

So, we sit and wait, feeling guilty about hoping it hits someone's community far away from mine. I don't like having the "better them then us" mentality.
It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, my therapist said that I'm feeling good.... won't ya be my neighbor ?
 
Good thoughts you and your family’s way Pete!
 
I am worried about Miles & SO. Best of luck, brothers!
 
I am worried about Miles & SO. Best of luck, brothers!
So far so good. Record amount of tornados all around the area. Next band should start hitting hard soon. It's going to landfall north of us, and latest forecast has the surge estimates less at this point. So, things are about as good as they can be. No clue when we'll lose power. They're smart, and shut down the grid as it prevents damage to the system. Gonna be a long night. SO should be okay. Unless his place tends to flood from heavy rains, he's looking at a cat 1, which aint too bad.
 

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