Prayers for the Gulf Coast (Katrina)

[Raf]

I had no power through the night. It was kind of strange. This all stopped for us as suddenly as it started. As we approached 10 p.m. was the worst of it, and at 10:05, it was over. I was home, in the dark, windows open, trying to get some sleep (because there was nothing else to do). The rain and wind were as bad as anything I've ever seen. And then it just stopped. I figured another band would come through later, but it never happened.

What I didn't know, couldn't know, was that the storm had taken a rough turn south. It battered the hell out of Fort Lauderdale, but we were on the northern edge of it. It made landfall south of us, a city called Hallandale (just north of Miami-Dade County). Then it shocked us all by continuing its southward trend. By the time I woke up this morning, the skies were cloudy but otherwise showed no sign of what it had thrown on us the night before. Homestead and Southwest Miami-Dade got battered worse than we did.

And did I mention it was the 13th anniversary of Hurricane Andrew?

The rest of the track isn't looking good: it's slated to turn north and hit the Panhandle region next week. As if they need it.

For me, this is over. For Florida, far from it.

[Raf]

[Belle]

Glad to hear you're safe and sound, Raf. :)--> I hope everyone else is. Heard that four people were killed, but three of them were hit by a tree after being told to stay inside during the worst part of the storm. :(-->

[Raf]

Yup. We lost four.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/weather/h...-home-headlines

[krys]

Raf:

Do you think you'll ever move out of hurricane territory?

[Raf]

Who knows? I never thought I'd move into it.

[Raf]

I just took a drive, and saw...

blue skies!

[moony3424]

quote:

And did I mention it was the 13th anniversary of Hurricane Andrew?

Didn't even think about it. Wow. I first moved to FL 2 weeks before Andrew (of course this was my initiation to FL). At the time, I lived in Sarasota and it was supposed to be the kids first day at their new school.

Memories. Whew! Now I'm about to be a grandma for the 3rd time. (Waiting for the phone to ring. My daughter had a doctor appt this afternoon and she is dilated 2cm. She "didn't feel well" after the appointment, but went to work this evening anyway. Will baby RJ be born this weekend?)

[coolchef1248 @adelphia.net]

gosh you folks should move to maine]all we have is black flys[ouch} 30 below{burr} moose on the highways,and snow up to your arse! you all would be welcome at camP! -->

[moony3424]

30 BELOW!!!

I think it is waay too freezing if goes all the way down to 30 above! No thanks. I'll take the heat and hurricanes any day before I move to the tundra.

[Raf]

Amen to that.

Four hurricanes a year is worth it, just so we can have December, January and February.

[gc]

I'm heading out, the last forecast has Katrina heading straight for the New Orleans area!

Seems the soup bowl might just get filled up :(-->

bye ya'll :)-->

[rascal]

(((((((gc)))) take care

[Raf]

Prayers are with you, gc.

Katrina was pretty bad here, and that was Cat 1. I shudder at the thought of her future plans.

[Belle]

Charlie was a Cat 1 by the time he hit Orlando and out of all the hurricanes I went through last year that was by far the scariest and worst regarding damage and sleepless nights at my house.

(((((GC))))) Take care!! Sending many many prayers your way!

[Xena]

Prayers coming from Montana tonight. You Southerners - we've got room for you up here. Please be careful. -X

[Linda Z]

Praying for those in Katrina's path...stay safe!

I saw some woman in Miami commenting on CNN yesterday morning. She was quite surprised that winds of "only" close to 100 mph could do so much damage. Well, duh!

Edited August 28, 2005 by Linda Z

[Zshot]

Katrina is now a cat 5.

According to the predictions, it does not look good for New Orleans. The city of New Orleans could very easily become "lake" New Orleans.

People there are allready leaving the city.

[Linda Z]

It's a miracle that New Orleans is still there. With all those streets of old, attached buildings in the French Quarter, I'm surprised a modern-day fire hasn't wiped it out, never mind the floods and hurricanes.

Suz, if you're lurkin', your son's in my prayers, along with gc and a friend of mine down there and the rest of the city. It would be great if Katrina were to suddenly veer off into some uninhabited area or take an unprecedented U-turn back over the gulf waters and just fizzle.

Nevertheless, I hope people have the sense to get the heck out of there.

[Belle]

I'll be calling family in Baton Rouge, Jackson, MS and other southern cities who will be in the path of Katrina and the Waves to make sure they are hunkering down and taking it seriously.

Charlie came into FL from the opposite side of the state from me, but still, what 100+ miles away?, he was a Cat 1 and still caused catastrophic damage with "mere" --> 60-85 mph winds.

Prayers are needed for all those in the path of Katrina. If she, indeed, stays as big and powerful as she is this morning, those on the coast are not the only ones in danger.

Praying fervently for those in the path.....

[Linda Z]

Belle, I was just thinking that as I watched the pictures of the looming Katrina on TV. One weather guy said Katrina's like a gigantic F3 tornado. Very scary.

At least when we have tornado warnings in my neck of the woods, we can take to our basements or, lacking a basement, can hunker down in the center of the house or in the bathroom, where the plumbing stacks offer some structural support. But if this hurricane causes massive flooding, as expected, that obviously won't be an option. They're now saying go to the third floor. Well, that pretty much sucks for someone with a one- or two-story house!

I can't imagine why anyone in New Orleans would opt not to leave. Some people have such a cavalier attitude toward these storms. I used to think I might feel that way until a month or so ago when I got caught driving in an isolated but powerful storm that rolled in off Lake Erie. It was said to be equivalent to a category 1 hurricane, with winds around 90 to 100 mph.

Good Lord, if that was "only" a category 1, I don't even want to imagine the force of a category 4 or 5. It tossed small planes and helicopters around at the small lakefront commuter airport like toys and popped the windows out of buildings and cars.

The region of the country in or near Katrina's path for sure needs our prayers.

[Catcup]

Evan, I hope you and yours got out of the way. Looks like she's headed straight for 'Nawlins.

[rhino]

I assume you're talking about Evan P... he is in Baton Rouge, which is much better situated than New Orleans, though still not great. I lived in New Orleans for 15 years post twi, so have lotsa friends there. The "great flood" they talk about probably won't happen, but it could, and this looks exactly like the nightmare scenario. I hope I still have a place to stay if I wanna go to Mardi Gras :)-->

[TheEvan]

We'll be okay, and I just LOVE losing power for a week. :)-->

[moony3424]

quote:

Originally posted by TheEvan:

We'll be okay, and I just LOVE losing power for a week. :)-->

I lost power for 4 days during last hurricane season.

I was watching CNN & they said that the ones that are staying are those that don't have any way out. People that don't have cars or tourists and business people. They don't have any planes or trains going out or rental cars available.