Oh Boy, here comes Florence

[Rawleigh]

I feel for you down in the Carolinas. I will be prepping my boat on Wednesday for the impacts up the Chesapeake Bay. We appear at this point to be in the Northeast quadrant, so that is not good. We are expecting major flooding and surge. Plus, it is expected to stall and dump lots of rain for 5 days! We just had 6-8" of rain yesterday from the Nor'easter with very high tides, so we are not in the best situation for this storm. It reminds me of Isabell in 2003, and we were without electricity for a week then!

[Charlie J]

stay safe down there guys

[Carl]

Prepare as best as one can then heed the warnings and go if that's what's called for.
Stuff is replaceable, life isn't.

Hoping the weathermen get this one wrong and it downgrades and moves along quick.

[Tony Meola]

Stay safe. Tides are high up h are in HI.

This is not going to bode well for you guys down south. Tides up here are pre Sandy height. So hold on this is going yo be ugly for you guys if your tides are running that high this early before the storm.

[CamB25]

Not going to be fun. Wilmington is going crazy with storm prep. I came down Sunday to pull my boat off the dry stack, secure the little house, take pictures of the new house under construction, and get my parents out of here. We'll see if anything remains next week.

[Rawleigh]

Not looking good for the Carolina's!!

[Tony Meola]

They are now talking about 40 inches of rain in some areas. This is going to devastate the Carolina's. Plus it will be hanging around for a few days.

Stay sage all.

[Hueso]

For those facing that beast, Bless you all!

David

[Tony Meola]

David

Been wondering how you are doing. How is it going down there in PR? Has life started to become somewhat more normal?

[Hueso]

Tony:

Thank you for asking. In the metropolitan area we are close to normal but I cannot say the same for the rural parts. In many areas they are still without electricity, water and with tarps on their roofs.

Professionally speaking, on March of this year I ventured as a solo practitioner after 20 years in a medium size law firm. I know God will bless my family and me in the near future and I hope to give "Hueso" the redo she deserves for the years of service.

David

[ranjr13]

David - that's awesome - best of luck in your new practice, it will be great for your family, and Hueso.

[Tony Meola]

David.

Best of luck in the new venture. Unfortuna you, Puert Rico has struggles ahead of it.

[IRGuy]

After posting the text below in the "Politics Forum" I realized that there already was this hurricane string started here, so to consolidate things I am copying my two posts to here.....

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by IRGuy » Thu Sep 13, 2018 12:02 pm
Several of you have called, or sent text msgs and emails asking how we are doing now that Florence is heading to our front yard.

For those of you who don't know we live in Wilmington NC (otherwise known today as Hurricane Central), a mile north of Carolina Beach.

I decided to "evacuate" and we are presently in a motel in Kingsland GA on the GA-FL border next to Jacksonville, FL. Our daughter and her family (husband, wife, 15 year old daughter a dog and a rabbit) are in the motel next door to us. They came down with friends (husband, wife, 15 year old daughter, twin 14 year old daughters, a dog, cat, hamster and a goldfish). I am not sure how you entertain 4 teenage girls in a strange city for an indeterminate amount of time. God help us if they find a shopping mall!

The boat is secured in my slip in a basin at the end of a narrow canal about 1,000 feet from the ocean. As long as the tidal surge doesn't lift the floats off the pilings it should be OK.

I will post from time to time to let you know what is happening to us.

Thanks for all your prayers and kind wishes.
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Just an interim report.

Two of my neighbors checked on the boat and all seems to be OK The bow lines have rollers and slide up and down on pilings and one came off at the very high tide about midnight last night but they replaced id.. hopefully it will stay on through the high tide tonight. The house is OK and family are all fine.

I have recd many messages from you guys and others.. THANKS to all of you!

More later as we find out more.

Frank

[SteveM]

Frank, That's great to hear. I'm glad your family and the boat came through this unscathed.

[Carl]

You have some great neighbors!


Please keep the good news coming.

[Tony Meola]

Frank

I am surprised your neighniirs stayed. I had neighbors tggsst stayed during Sandy. They said never again.

I did one hurricane down in 76 and let me say it was a long night. 100 mph wind sounded like a freight train all night long.

Luckily the eye stayed 10 miles off the beach and she moved out to the NE so no flooding.

Ask your neighbors if they would ddtasy again.

[IRGuy]

We left Kingsland GA at 8:30 this AM and arrived at friends house in Pawleys Island SC (about 20 miles south of Myrtle Beach)at 1:30 this afternoon. Rt 95 had only light traffic which was a surprise. We will stay here until we can get to our home in Wilmington, about 140 miles away.

Wilmington is reported to be a disaster. Trees down everywhere, low areas flooded by the 20 odd inches of rain that fell in a day and a half. Wilmington is on the Cape Fear River which has overflowed it's banks and caused flooding in some downtown areas. As the rain finds it's way to drainage streams their banks will overflow causing inland flooding over the next week or so. Nobody seems immune. Some people have lost everything. Some had so much flooding they were driven up to their attics and had to cut holes in their roofs to be rescued.

About 12 years ago I bought a portable generator but have never needed it. When I heard our area had lost power I called a neighbor and told him how to get into my house and loaned it him. He is sharing power with another neighbor. When I return I might have to fight with them to get it back. Naturally all the food in our freezer and fridges will be lost.. thankfully the beer and wine supply will be fine.

I am not sure why we were personally spared.. maybe there is some karma floating my way based on the fact that about 15 years ago I helped a blind lady cross a street.

I volunteer with a charitable organization that assists military families and vets. We are trying to see where we fit in with the larger organizations so we can help.

Some poor souls have lost everything. I am sure there will be country wide pleas from charitable agencies soon.. please consider making a financial donation.. I am sure it will be appreciated

More later when I have something new to report, and again.. thanks to all who have contacted me offering their best wishes.

[IRGuy]

I am happy to report that we are back in our home in Wilmington. There is no significant structural damage visible in our neighborhood except for one house that had a tree fall on it and break a hole in their roof. There are lots of flooded homes in the low areas, and even South Carolina is expecting flooding as all the rain (30 plus inches) that flows from North Carolina rivers that pass through South Carolina will cause flooding there.

We here in our neighborhood fared much better than others not too far away. No flooding. We drove up from the Myrtle Beach area two days ago and were surprised at how many trees were down.. also signs and billboards were twisted or completely gone. Flooding and downed trees made travel difficult Power was lost for 3-4 days. When the power was out naturally our freezer couldn't work so everything defrosted and spoiled. Then refroze when power returned. So we had about 70 pounds of frozen rotten food to contend with. We were very lucky, our losses are insignificant compared with many others. Please think of them when the inevitable pleas for help come.

Now I need to get back to work finding more YCMTSU posts for you.

[Tony Meola]

Frank

Glad to hear that all is well. You ardd home and safe and there us a lot to say for that.

We have missed your words of wisdom.

[Wursty]

I moved from CT to Southport, NC in June. Took boat down July 4th weekend and it took 3 days and didn't take a spray of salt on the bridge...perfect flawless trip. By late July we received about 30" of rain in Southport, NC. Not too bad other than some minor flooding issues. Dried out in August then Florence hit Wilmington -Southport area and sat on top of us for 3 days and dropped another 30+" of rain and 90+ MPH wind gusts. I hunkered down for it. No power for 30 hrs, contaminated water supply still and countless trees down everywhere and debris piled 10' high. The 31 Bertram survived all this tied to the dock. Over 60" of rain in 90 days and close to 100mph wind gusts and only a little canvas work is required. Moral of the story, prepare many days in advance and be ready for the worse and pray for the best. So sad for those that lost loved ones. The recovery for those who lost property is ongoing and it will take a long time to re-build. Coastal Carolina is great but be ready for what Mother Nature can throw at you.

[CamB25]

Good to hear all is reasonably well. I pulled my parents out of Wilmington and others joined the caravan north. 2 old people, 2 young people, 2 large dogs, one baby, and my little Scout boat camped out at my house in VA for a week. Took us 27 hours to get back last week....rivers flooding closed everything. My houses were essentially untouched, but lots of trees down in the yard and along the street. 2 days with neighbors, chain saws, and a tractor cleaned up most of the mess. The marina down the street lost everything protruding into the ICW. I pulled my Scout of the dry stacks during the evacuation. This was good move as the entire facility is locked down.