That was un-fun

[Russ Sylvester]

And now it looks like we're going to get to do it again sometime next week with an even more powerful storm. :shock:

The house came through with minimal damage. Mostly just a lot of shingles blown off. Lost two trees, one of which decided to fall to it's death all over my neighbors fence. Lost two bracing pieces off of the pool enclosure and the pool water is a lovely shade of forest green.

Thankfully the boat came through without a scratch. I got about a quart of water in the bilge and one of my inflatable dock fenders decided to live somewhere else. Two boats a couple of slips down got completely dis-masted. Another boat to the south is riding REALLY low and is beating the hell out of itself against a piling. Lots of boats with roller furling got their jibs torn to shreds when the wind would open it up and destroy it.

One entire marina complete with restaraunt down south got totally destroyed. All boats lost. Several other marinas have either boats destroyed or sunk.

I'm hearing that many many hotels and condos on the beachside are now condemned because so much beach erosion occurred that the foundations were compromised. It will be interesting to see if they are allowed to rebuild. I'm sure that no insurance company would ever touch them again.

Most everyone I know is staying boarded up for Ivan. It's interesting to see all of the macho types who decided to brave out Francis are now saying no way would they ever do that again. I personally went to Brunswick Georgia. Nice place but did you know that you can't buy a beer on sunday in Georgia?? What's up with that?

Russ (Still alive and watching Ivan like a hawk!)

[Guest]

Thanks for checking in and hope for the best for all. This has not been fun for some folks. We went throught several years of repeat hurricanes, and it wears thin on the nerves and the economy, with insurance being a real problem after the fact. It is very hard to get any types of polices to cover damages incurred during these times.

The no beer on sunday is from the years of what we call the "Blue Laws". The bottleggers loved the laws. Many of the houses were run by the local "authorities, too.

If I may indulge in this one, and for folks that live in other parts of the world, here are two articles for your reading pleasure.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1205/p01s02-usju.html

http://www.thehollandsentinel.net/stories/091700/new_bastions.html

[Craig]

Oyster the same things are happening here. The tourist $$ cross the county lines on Sunday and tax money goes with it. Many panhandle county comissions are rethinking all of this. There is a safety issue here as well. It is better to kleep the drunks close to the hotel as opposed to having them running up and down why 98 all day and night.

Russ, you will be suprised at how fast the hotels and resoprts are rebuilt. Once they get the FEMA money thay are seemingly back up before anythig else. Our island structures were all but gutted up the the third floors with Opal but damned if they wern't all rebuilt bigger and beter. As long as the owners don't have to pay for the repairs there is just too much $$ in it not to rebuild. The FWB/Destin/San Destin area is getting to look like St Pete. Three rows of high rises between the road and the water. We were "discovered" about 15 years ago and the county comission has managed to "sell" most all of it to the developers now. It sad as this was a nice place and now it looks like a poor cross between South Beach and Panama City Beach! However, you can drink on Sunday!

[Bruce S Kershaw]

Glad to hear things are ok, Russ!

My plywood's still up from Fran. I think I'll take it down when the Christmas lights go up.

We were supposed to be heading to the Keys on vacation. They started evacuating non-residents this morning.

With Francise, I was worried about loosing power for a week again.

At this point... staying alive will be cool. :wink:

Never thought I'd be looking forward to winter.

Ya'll stay safe!

[Russ Sylvester]

Just saw the latest forecast predictions and it looks like Ivan is going to go the EXACT same path as Charlie! What is going on around here?!? Four major hurricanes going right up the state in one year and the seasons not over yet. This is just way too bizarre!

Was just talking to a couple of people about Ivan and the prediction is that we will only get winds in the 80's or 90's when it gets here. Several of us just brushed that off as just a minor wind storm. Strange how your perspective changes during these things.

[Bruce S Kershaw]

Just saw the latest forecast predictions and it looks like Ivan is going to go the EXACT same path as Charlie!

Man, I hope that changes. That's right up my, um... ally.

Charlie's eye passed way more than close enough.

How do I wish this thing to go somewhere else, without wishing it on someONE else??? It's gotta go somewhere.

I've lived in the Fort Myers area most of my life.

Before this year, we haven't had a hit since 1960.

As much as you say, "It's got to happen some day." You eventually believe that it never will.

This summer's given me a feeling something like lost innocence.

I'll never look at life in the tropics the same way again.... :cry:

...Yeah, right! It beats the midwestern tornados that I grew up with by a long shot. Quakes sound like a really bad gig, and I already know that I don't like cold.

Am I ranting?

Sorry.

I'll go crank up some Buffet, or some Marley.

Let's Reggae!

[kydocfrog]

What is going on around here?!? Four major hurricanes going right up the state in one year and the seasons not over yet. This is just way too bizarre!

It is, of course, despite certain political tendencys to ignore it, called global warming. Global warming doesn't simply mean it gets gently and politely warmer. It means that there is more energy in the great heat engine of the atmosphere, and that means more storms and more extreme swings of temperature. More hurricanes, more snow storms, more steep gradient variability.

End of mini-rant.

KyDocFrog

[Frank Hagan]

Just saw an article and map in a magazine that put the blame on warmer ocean currents, responsible fo both more storms and the exceptionally warm summer Europe had last year. Same root cause, but it was the water temp and not the air temp that mattered in this article.

[Russ Sylvester]

I can't speak to global warming but I do know that this is very unusual. Storms of the size and power like we have been getting normally only happen every few years not multiples in the same year.

Anybody know a good roofer??

[Mike Henderson (Oregon)]

I wonder when the next ice age is due? :wink:

[Frank Hagan]

I wonder when the next ice age is due? :wink:

I still remember the Time Magazine article that expounded on the theory that we were headed for a new ice age because of global cooling, a finding extrapolated from the temperature readings that 30 years later help support the theory of global warming. We only have a few hundred years of data, so its pretty hard to predict with any certainty.

[ken connors]

last january, when new england had the coldest month in almost one hundred years, i didnt hear a lot of global warming chatter. 8)

[markfitz]

Actually, the stats show that hurricanes occurred less often in the latter half of the 20th century than they did in five earlier 50-year periods. From 1701 to 1850, when surface temperatures were cooler, there were nearly three times as many hurricanes in the Caribbean than at the end of the 20th century.

And you really can't blame warming on the path the hurricanes take either, because a similar pattern occurred in the 1920s and 1930s that also walloped Florida multiple times.