TS Hanna is coming

[petey]

Tropical Storm Hanna is on the way to North Carolina!  She's expected to make landfall sometime between midnight and 4 a.m. on the South Carolina/North Carolina border tomorrow morning (9/6) -- that's about 45 miles from us.

Living where we do, Marvin and I have "weathered" many hurricanes in the past; our house has flooded on three occasions (one time it was almost 18 inches of water in my den), and we usually lose power.  However, after we saw what happened with Katrina in New Orleans, we said, "Never again will we ride out a hurricane."

Well, Marvin decided we would ride out this one.  Hanna is not intense (she's still a tropical storm), and Marvin doesn't think she'll be too bad.  Since the other hurricanes, we have raised the floor in our den so it's no longer on ground level and hopefully won't flood.  While I've been working all week, Marvin has been preparing for the storm.  He got our generator out and ready to go again (we bought this years ago when we went 10 days with no power one time); his friend came and moved it so it's almost right outside the window of the room where he's set up his "home clinic."  He's bought extra heavyduty drop cords to run out the window to the generator.  He's tied down all the lawn furniture and outside stuff.  He went to the grocery store and bought honey buns, potato chips, bread, more honey buns, bottled water, cans and cans of spaghetti and Spaghetti-O's, and an extra box of honey buns (can you tell that Marvin loves honey buns?).  He made sure he had 10 days of meds and eight days of "bags" (dialysate for emergencies and traveling).  He bought extra batteries and candles, and he found every flashlight he's ever owned (I think about 20 total) because I'm terrified of the dark.

My mom and dad are beside themselves!  They live inland about 2 hours from us.  They wanted us to pack up Marvin's machine and Hop-Sing (my dog) and come to their house.  Daddy has called Marvin eight times since noon today, saying, "Son, are you sure you want to do this?  Come and stay with Mother and me...or do you want us to come and stay with you and make sure you're okay?"  (Mom and Dad -- bless their hearts -- are both 71 years old.  Though they're in pretty good health, they have no business trying to come and take care of us.)

Marvin's having a treatment right now and watching the Weather Channel.  This is the first one we've been through since he's been on home hemo; please remember us in your prayers and thoughts during the next day or so.

[G-Ma]

you two take care of yourselves....my prayers are with you and puppy..let us know how things are going.
Ann

[del]

Hope you get through the storm ok!!    Hanna is headed for us too!!!   Only supposed to be a tropical storm when it gets here.  Supposed to pass over Newfoundland Sunday evening and Monday.  Forecasting winds up to 90 km/hr and 25 - 50 mm of rain for most parts of Newfoundland.

[del]

Hope you get through the storm ok!!    Hanna is headed for us too!!!   Only supposed to be a tropical storm when it gets here.  Supposed to pass over Newfoundland Sunday evening and Monday.  Forecasting winds up to 90 km/hr and 25 - 50 mm of rain for most parts of Newfoundland.

[G-Ma]

del, you take care too....they were talking on our local station today about winds up to 70 mi per hr...I hope not cuz it was 50 mi per hr that put a tree on my front porch a few weeks ago..... 

[monrein]

I'm thinking of you guys and really hope that Hanna isn't too severe.

[kitkatz]

  To Hanna.

Good luck to you all!

[kidley]

Sounds like y'all are very well prepared.  I'll be saying a prayer anyhow - just in case.  I recently moved back to Houston - just in time for hurricane season and I know how scary it can be.  Take care!

[okarol]

I hope it all blows over! 

[paris]

Hurricane Fran hit Raleigh exactly 12 years ago today.   We respect these storms very much now.  We had no power for a week,  few stores were open, no gasoline, etc.  I prepared just like they tell us to and my family thought I was crazy.  But, they thought I was brilliant during the next week when we had food, ice, batteries and water!  So, today, we put away the lawn furniture, wind chimes, etc.  I have stocked up on batteries and all the essentials.  Most schools between here and the coast closed early today, including colleges.  Winds should be down to around 50 mph by the time it gets here.  They say there could be 7-9 inches of rain.  But, it is a fast moving storm, so by late afternoon tomorrow, it will be on its way to Virginia.   And then there is Ike.   Sounds like Florida will get hit with that one.   Everyone on the Atlantic coast, take care over the weekend. 

[pelagia]

Petey - Flooded three times?  How can you stand it?  We were flooded once from Hurricane Isabel and despite flood insurance we found the recovery to be costly financially and emotionally.  We has to demolish a third of our house due to water damage and mold issues.  I could never handle something like that again.

They are saying tropical storm for us with Hanna, with wind gusts up to 80 mi/hr.  What will make all the difference here is where the storm passes relative to the mouth of Chesapeake Bay.  In 2003 Isabel hit land just to the south of us and then went slightly to the west.  Even though Isabel, which was a category 5 on September 12, 2003, was barely a category 1 on September 18, 2003 when it got to Virginia, the upper right corner of the storm passed over the mouth of the bay and caused a huge storm surge all the way up to Baltimore.  In the end, there were 32 storm-related deaths and $1.85 billion in damages in Virginia.  

[twirl]

Petey
been there done that
tie your doggie down
hope you do not lose power
do you have a generator
prayers to you and your

[skyedogrocks]

Good luck to those in Hanna's path.  She is expected in Massachusetts around late Saturday night/early Sunday morning.  We live inland, so we are ok.  When Hurricane Bob hit in the 90's I was living w/my parents and our house got flooded.  Not a fun time!

I'm not too worried about Hanna, we have had Nor'Easters far worse than her.

[paris]

The rain has started to pick up.  It is around 1:30 am and I can't sleep, so am watching the nonstop storm reports on tv. Mayor put a 9 pm curfue to get people off the streets before it gets bad.  Some people have moved to shelters; those who live near the rivers and flood areas.  The area is under tornado warnings.  And my husband is sound asleep!  He told me to wake him if it gets bad.  During Hurricane Fran, he said the same thing, but I never woke him up. He was shocked the next morning when all our streets were closed with large trees down everywhere.  My son and I sat on the front porch watching the storm until we heard a large crack and realized a large tree was coming down and we couldn't see where it was!  Lots of areas have already lost power.  Hopefully, we won't.  I like my airconditioning

[twirl]

Paris
stay cool and dry
my husband slept during Alicia and I was about to give birth
I was nervous and afraid
good luck to you
prayers to you

Sweety Petey
what's up with you
hope you are cool and dry

W&W
praying for all of you
please tie puppies down
they would make cute kites
love
cheryl

[paris]

All is good here.  About 6 inches of rain, some areas flooded, but we sit high so we never flood.  Winds weren't bad at all. Lots of tree stuff to pick up in the yard, but really just a good storm and nothing like the hurricanes we've had.  So, now I hope all of you in the path do well. It is moving fast but has lots of moisture.  I'm tired!  Need a nap!

[willieandwinnie]

Wind blowing pretty good here. Trees down and all kinds of power outages (we have a generator). I could float a boat in out backyard, and lots of crap to pick up in the yard. They are saying that the Chesapeake, Potomac and Patuxent River will crest later in the day and then again overnight. That is when we have so many problems, too much water and no place to go. They just reported that winds are at 50 mph and they are closing the bridge that connects our county to the next, you have to go out of the way about 50 miles to go around. I bet there are going to be some pissed off folks.  I'd just find a bar and hunker down until later.  Here's a map of where we are.

[twirl]

OMG
do you have floaty wings for W&W
I am so worried about you guys
we have been thru similar circumstances
so I am worried
stay in touch
love and dry towels to you
cheryl

one summer in years to come----- we are coming to visit you

[pelagia]

I think it's past us and that's a good thing because high tide here is at 2:30 this afternoon.  Our road didn't even flood, which is amazing because it often floods in nor' easters. 

W&W - St. Mary's county - I go there a lot because I sometimes work with folks at the marine lab in Solomons.  Maybe we could have lunch sometime!  When we get flooding here, we have the same problem of having no place to go because there is water everywhere and all the roads off of the peninsula we live on get flooded.  You have to make the decision to leave really early. 

One year, I think it was for Hugo, I had to evacuate by myself because Stephen was out on tour.  I put all the furniture up on cinder blocks, took the rugs up, put important documents, guitars, photos, animal and son in van and drove to my mother-in-' in Richmond, about an 1 1/2 away.  Could not get home for days because all the roads had been damaged by flooding.  When I finally did, all was okay.  When Hurricane Isabel hit I had already been in Seattle for a week and Stephen and Will were in Kansas.  Neither of us could get home because the airports were closed.  I finally got home on Sunday (think the hurricane was on a Thursday) and already knew of the devastation I would find from the neighbors report.  Had I been there with my cinder blocks my furniture and a bunch of other personal belongings would have survived.  Couldn't have done much for the garage, which had more than 2 feet.   

[willieandwinnie]

Linda, it would be great to meet you for lunch, you just let me know when you come and I'll be there. It's so nice to talk to someone that knows where in the heck we are. There's a long story to tell you about someone that worked at the Solomons Marine Lab (Brian Albright), did you know him? He past away in 2001. His wife Patti is an angel.

Right now it is pouring rain and I have the scanner on and they have closed the bridge to Solomons and also to St. George's Island. We love living here but sometimes it can make you nervous. I am still looking for pictures we took when Isabel and Ernesto came through. The flooding was horrible. My daughter lives near Point Lookout and had 8 feet of nasty water in her house. The whole house had to have the dry wall, insulation, furnace, hot water heater, tile, flooring, washer, dryer and all furniture, plus personal items thrown in the dumpster. She has an above ground pool and you could not even tell where it was. They just got the house back together and they are calling for flooding here. I pray they are wrong, but with high tide coming she is worried.

Most of St. Mary's County was without power for 10 days after Isabel and thank God for our generator (Len was on dialysis) and we didn't lose any food and could run fans at least. Our house is up on blocks and the water went under our house and we had to replace ac and heating duct insulation and I got under there and sprayed a bunch of bleach for the mold, but nothing like what you and my daughter have gone through. It is heartbreaking to say the least. We lost 7 big trees in Isabel and 2 in Ernesto. We only have about 6 large trees left. One large maple hit our house on the gargage end but only screwed up some singles. Thank goodness.

twirl, don't worry, we have lived here for 30 years and know all the escape routes. We have friends in the fire department and rescue squad and they'd get us out of here if we needed to. By the way, Willie and Winnie stuck their little heads out the doggy door and back right back in. I put pads out in the garage and they went and did their business out there. They are laying on the back of the couch looking out the window. Talk about spoiled. I would love to have you come for a visit, anytime.

[kellyt]

My thoughts and prayers are with all of you that are in Hanna's path.  I had family that went through Katrina and it was horrible!  Take Care and check in as much or as soon as you can!!!

[petey]

Okay, I'm back on line now.  Hanna wasn't bad at all for us (thank goodness).  Marvin and I stayed up late (like after midnight) and had a few heavy squalls of rain and a little wind.  I woke up about 5 this morning, and I think that was the worst for us -- more rain and 50-mile-an-hour winds.  In about 45 minutes, it was all over.  When the sun rose, it was shining brightly.  All total, we got about 5 inches of rain from yesterday afternoon until early this morning, and there are twigs, pine cones, and small limbs all over the yard -- but nothing big is down.  We never lost power (it did blink off once for about 30 seconds), but we lost our internet/cable/land phone lines at 5:30 a.m. -- didn't get back up until about 7:30 p.m.  We went out riding around town early this morning -- no damage to speak of.  We feel fortunate.  We understand those in the upper/middle of our state had a lot more trouble with flooding than we did (Paris, this is your area -- you okay?).

Hurricane Ike looks wicked, and I'm glad he's not predicted to come our way.  Those in his path, please get ready now.

[del]

Glad you guys are ok.

According to okarol's map and the weather forecast Hannah is headed directly for Newfoundland ( it's the funy looking island just north of the hannah's projectory).  It will be weakened a lot by the time it gets here. Latest forcast is about 20 -40 mm of rain and 40 km/hr winds for the part of the island where I live.