Isabel

[TexasPhil]

If you live on the East Coast... wake up!

This one does not look friendly!

[Frank Hagan]

Yep, it looks pretty bad. Hope it turns and goes north, and east, out to sea.

[Knut]

I hope Isabel knows that she is better off staying over the ocean!

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[Greg Luckett]

Having grown up on the Texas Gulf coast and experiencing hurricanes and typhoons while in the Navy, I fear for my friends and family living on the east coast. I pray Isabel heads out to sea and dies there.

[Guest Anonymous]

I never had a girl friend named Isabel and things are not looking up. I'm busy gettings as ready as I can but if teh water gets really high, my shop is in trouble. Had a foot of water inside in hurricane Dennis in 1999. Moving boats and second car to higher ground and we may leave our house for the first time in a blow.

Hope everyone has a chance to get off the Outer banks. Went out there a couple weeks ago and the number of huge megabuck houses on the oceanfront has multiplied. May be fewer of them next week.

Gotta go get the window boards out.

Tom lathrop

Oriental, NC

[Johannah]

It's been awhile since we did this drill. I can reach back to the wild hurricane years of the mid-50's and early 60's (our first day of boarding school coincided with a hurricane 2 years in a row) in New England and further back to my mother's tales of the great storm in the '30's that came right up the Connecticut Valley into central New England. The high water marks from that one were 10 and 12 feet above the roads that ran near rivers, even small ones. In the mid-Atlantic region, people have been acting as though such storms are a myth from the past. Million dollar homes line the Jersey Shore, many right on the beach and the Carolinas are just as bad. We're just hoping that we luck out and that all that house insurance for both houses is there when we need it. Is it proper to say roof prayers? The last terrible storm I have experienced was a near-hurricane that struck coastal southern New England in '79 or '80 in the form of a blizzard for the ages. Guess it's time to sit down to make a list of what should be on hand. Batteries bought well in advance have a way of being drained off by kids in a hurry. Let's see, camping stove, propane, oil for lamps, spare tarps, etc, etc. Not much we can do for the Eastern Shore house, but it has a new roof and windows. The boats are in a shed open on one side, but there's nothing really to tie the boats to that wouldn't jeapordize the structure itself (an old chicken house). So it goes. Best wishes to everyone else bracing for the storm!

[TexasPhil]

OK, here is one of my secret web sites...

http://weather.unisys.com

This site was originally developed by Purdue University (the school I attended as a 3rd generation) and now run and operated by unisys. Their weather forcasting seems to be considerably better than NWS. Here is the current image of Isabel's path:

[TexasPhil]

Johannah,

I'm not sure where your boats are.. in a shelter, but is that on the water, or even close? If so, you may want to drop the anchors and let the rode out. Plant the anchors on high ground. make sure they grip tight and wont budge.... from any direction!

Good luck!

To whom ever Isabel goes after.... I hope you batten down and LEAVE. Nothing in your house is worth dieing for! I could see staying in for a cat 1 or 2... 3 is pushing it, but a cat 4 or 5 will never find me, AGAIN!

[Johannah]

Phil, our shed is on about as high ground as there is in Somerset County, Maryland, where 90% of the land is "Wetland". Flooding is common on the neck of land where the house is located, jutting out between the Monie Marsh and the mouth of the Wicomico. People who live a bit further out get cut off with some frequency. But flooding on the Chesapeake gets well spread out on such a huge bay and tends to be wider than high. Flooding here in Philly has severe effects in parts of the suburbs and increases polluted runoff in the city. I need to finish the backed up laundry so there is none on the cellar floor which gets damp in any big rain. Drainage problems are standard for old, closely built cities with high rainfall. Where are my rubber boots?

[Guest]

Hum, bulls eye, I see. Looks like the lady is going to visit me. It hasn't really turned as much as it should have by now, if it is going to hit the tip of the banks. I am starting to think maybe the northern side of the border of the Carolinas is where the eye has its sights on, right now. it is really getting into the great circle area of Gulf Stream. If it tuns, the front coming across the state has really got to roll across to the east coast, in order to do much good in pushing it out to sea. It is a beautiful high pressure fall day here, today. It doesn't seem to be much movement in the weather system offshore.

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[Johannah]

Take care of yourself Mike and don't let the winds mess up your new shed! :shock:

[TexasPhil]

She looks like she might possibly break up before hitting too hard. She has already been down graded to Category 3 and her shape is not so much a perfect circle anymore.

I sure hope that she continues to weaken.

[Guest Anonymous]

Hey Arster,

We had a great sail on Bogue Sound Saturday in a nice breeze with Bob Sension in his Caroina Sprits'l. Did not see a garvey there though. What happened?

My tools and stores are about as high as I can reasonably get them. No matter what I do, if Isabel hits us, some things are going to get trashed. Cut down a couple of suspect trees this afternoon. My new/old 53 Merc Mark 20 is way up though.

Tom Lathrop

Oriental, NC

[Guest]

This is the storm that many of the old timers speak about around here. This storm moved up the coast and as you can read, caused damage, and to this day, the island of Assateague, known for its horses and its roundup of its ponies, still exists, as a natural barrier island. In the second report is the comparisons of the amount of rainfall, in some of the larger storms known for extensive damage. Floyd created the flood of the century, causing damage to land and houses, as far inland as 150 miles. This storm caused a type of storm surge, from just the rainfall runoff, up stream, of many of the rivers overrunning its banks, that whole cites were wiped completely out. Every house in several towns were gone. For those of you that are not aware of this Hurricane, it was only a catagory 1.

Hey guest,[Tom] my bride wanted to go fishing, because she has duty all week at the Leon Mann Senior citizens center, here. I had to wire the generator for house service. I am glad that you got in a nice day, on the sound. I looked for you coming down the creek, but didn't see you. I ahd my camera, but it was hard to do it all, i a day. We are all ready for whatever hits us, as much as we can be. I boarded up the shop, and will do a few of my windows tommorrow. Are you staying at home for this one?

The Great Hurricane of 1933

While certainly not the first hurricane to bring winds and high water to Assateague, the hurricane of late August 1933 is notable for turning the Assateague peninsula into an island. Waves over twenty feet high swept over the Assateague dunes, and, as is often the case, this hurricane pushed water from the Atlantic into the bays on the west side of Assateague. With the water of the bays rising and the wind and waves striking the coast, an inlet was forged at Ocean City that remains to this day. In the years since the hurricane, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has maintained the jetty of boulders that protects the Ocean City inlet.

News reports counted six dead on the Eastern Shore, many homes damaged beyond repair, and roads destroyed.

The Eastern Shore News reported the following on September 1st, 1933:

"Many families were driven from their homes. Some escaped in boats, others swam to safety while others floated on wreckage until rescued. Homes were flooded by salt water and the damage to furniture and household goods will run into many thousands of dollars. In many homes, windows and doors were battered down by the pounding waves. High winds did tremendous damage, felling trees, deroofing buildings, and destroying crops.

Thousands of chickens and many horses, cows, sheep, dogs, and other animals were drowned."

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/huricane/1999/atlantic/wfrptakq.htm

This is an unedited report from the National Weather Service.

PRELIMINARY POST STORM REPORT...HURRICANE FLOYD...CORRECTION

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA

415 PM EDT MON SEP 20 1999

...GENERAL INFORMATION...

HURRICANE FLOYD WAS A CATEGORY 1 (MINIMAL) HURRICANE AS IT CROSSED

THE WAKEFIELD WFO COUNTY WARNING AREA. SUSTAINED TROPICAL STORM FORCE

WINDS WITH GUSTS TO NEAR HURRICANE FORCE OCCURRED OVER THE NORTHWEST

QUADRANT OF THE STORM OVER INTERIOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST NORTH

CAROLINA AND ALONG THE COASTAL WATERS OF THE WAKEFIELD MARINE AREA.

FLOYD TRACKED ACROSS THE AREA IN A SIMILAR FASHION TO HURRICANES DONNA

IN SEPTEMBER 1960 AND MORE RECENTLY HURRICANE CHARLEY IN AUGUST 1986.

THE CENTER OF THE STORM CROSSED THE COUNTY WARNING AREA ALONG AN

ELIZABETH CITY...CURRITUCK COUNTY TO SANDBRIDGE VIRGINIA BEACH AXIS.

THE BAROMETRIC PRESSURE IN NORFOLK WAS THE FOURTH LOWEST FOR A

HURRICANE THIS CENTURY. HERES HOW FLOYD COMPARES WITH OTHER

HURRICANES THIS CENTURY.

HURRICANE DONNA 1960 28.65 INCHES

HURRICANE 1933 28.68 INCHES

HURRICANE CONNIE 1955 28.77 INCHES

HURRICANE FLOYD 1999 28.85 INCHES

[tdrown]

Isabel is supposed to be pretty bad all the way in Allentown. We already have a flash flood warning tonight from Henri or whoever that is raining on us. We normaly get just the tails of large hurricanes.

[Guest]

I saw your water problems in Penn.. That is very simular to the Floyd runoff. This is a long ways from being any comfort in this motel. If you can notice, a nice waterline exists about 1/2 a story of the first floor, in this motel 80 miles from the coastal area.

[Charlie Jones]

having JUST gone through the eye of Claudette, who was a tiny 'cane, I sure hope this one DOES break up a bit beofre she gets to you folks. I sure do have a lot of friends over along the east coast at risk this week, from NC up to NJ.

Laura and I are watching and hoping right along with you .

[Guest Anonymous]

No matter whether you stay or leave, hurricanes are still a bummer. We have never left before but will this time if she does not moderate her attitude. Category 2 is my limit for staying and at 4 or more, we are gone. Luckily, we don't have to depend on motels or restaurants. From past experience of others who left in other storms, that can be a real mess. Stuck in a motel room with no power (no air conditioning) and no opening windows. Most of the restaurant not working. Roads crowded and return delayed for several days.

There is an old prehistoric beach line sand dune that runs through the county that is about 40 feet above sea level. We can either take our camper up there to the community college or go to relatives at 200 or 300 miles west. Problem is making the decision soon enough to be able to get out over low areas that can be flooded. This is a problem common to much of the south Atlantic coast so we are not alone. Moved the cruiser to a field about 10 feet elevation this afternoon. Last thing will be to finish putting plywood on the exposed windows since it makes the house so dark.

Tom Lathrop

Oriental, NC

[TexasPhil]

Oyster,

That story of the 1933 hurricane sounds quite similar to the 1969 hurricane Camille, that hit Biloxi Mississippi!

Before Camille TOTALLY flattened Biloxi, she dug a big channel through the middle of Ship Island. Several miles wide... Now, there are two islands; Ship Island East and Ship Island West.

Cat 3 is still too much for me... I'd leave! I went through himmicane Frederic in 1979... Cat 4 when he hit. No way would I go through that again.

Be Safe!

[TexasPhil]

This must be the hurricane Oyster is refering to:

Hurricane # 8, 17-26 Aug 1933