Hi Everyone,
I'm wondering how many of you are in the path of Tropical Storm Debby? GK and Kiska, are you two feeling the effects of the storm?
Margie
Hi Everyone,
I've heard from Kiska today, so I know she is OK, but not Glenna. What's worse is that she is in an area that is cut off because of flooding. She may not have electricity and unable to email. GK, hope you and IM and the little furballs are safe and staying dry. Here are a couple of links telling about St. Petersburg, FL where GK lives.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jTFnmmufhO5gJtXkSywBzPe66T3A?docId=640f7f5be87f4f40bd7da2e6c0fbe1e5 (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jTFnmmufhO5gJtXkSywBzPe66T3A?docId=640f7f5be87f4f40bd7da2e6c0fbe1e5)
http://www.wtsp.com/weather/article/260991/3/Debby-floods-homes-cars-in-St-Petersburg (http://www.wtsp.com/weather/article/260991/3/Debby-floods-homes-cars-in-St-Petersburg)
Margie
What a mess. You just never know where trouble is going to hit.
That doesn't sound good, hope Glenna's home is OK!
Hannie
No problems. I'm in NE Alabama.
I hope GK is ok and everyone else in the path of this storm.
I hope GK is OK too and wish I had her phone number (if a cell as landline is probably down) to call. It sounds like there is massive power outages and that is not going to get better anytime soon. Tonight will be when high tide and the surge should hit. On top of that is the problem that the storm is moving very slowing and dumping hugs amounts of rain. Here is the CBS Monring video and text:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57460303/ts-debby-relentless-in-soggy-assault-on-fla/ (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57460303/ts-debby-relentless-in-soggy-assault-on-fla/)
Margie
GK, stay safe !!!
My first thought on hearing about Debby was for GK. Hope she, IM, and the furballs are safe.
Hi Everyone,
I just got off the phone with GK and she and IM and the furballs are all safe. She hasn't been able to get on the Internet as a neighbor's tree came down on a line and they are without service. Thanks to David Greensberg for calling me back with a phone number.
GK will post when things are up and running. The one thing I couldn't believe is that she is in a safer place than if she was in Tampa. I look at the map and she is surrounded by water, but I guess that acts as a buffer.
GK, we can all heave a sigh of relieve that all of you are OK!
Margie
Hi OPRsters,
We're back online and our little area held up very well. I just watched the coverage that Margie posted here, since our cable TV line still isn't on and probably won't be until tomorrow. I had no idea the thrashing some of our county took. One of the most frightening things about living on the peninsula of Pinellas County is that when there are high winds and water, there's no way to leave except straight up the coast. The Skyway bridge is closed, because it's so high that the winds are very dangerous. The approaches to the two bridges to Tampa are usually under water. And many times, north county is under water. When that happens, there's nowhere to go. Fortunately, there's something about our being surrounded by water that keeps the worst of most storms north of us. Even the summer thunder storms usually batter the northern part of our county, and sometimes we'll get just a few sprinkles. Here in Gulfport, which is the tip of the peninsula on which St. Petersburg lies, our house happens to be on one of the highest points in the town. We're not even in an evacuation zone, and we're only 2 miles from water. So most of the time we get the winds blowing water under our doors, tree limbs down (one tree came down a few years ago - we think a tornado took it, but we didn't hear anything), but not much worse than that. The park across the street has a large pond that has to fill before we'd get any flooding, and it would overflow in the opposite direction of our house and back up before we'd have a problem. Short story long, all's well with the Boyettes. The cats were spooked half to death for a couple of days. Scooter disappeared and we still don't know where he was hiding - but he's back out and seems fine. They really sense when the weather's nasty, especially the winds. And there were a couple of very loud booms - probably power grid explosions.
Thanks so much for your concern. I'm happy to report that we came through the storm just fine. I'm just terribly sad that so many other people didn't do so well.
Margie, I just don't have words to tell you how much your call meant to me. I'll get all weepy if I try.
Bless
GK
Have boat must travel. Glenna, I'm thankful that you all were safe. :hug:
Thank goodness you are okay Glenna :hug:
Pat
GK, I don't have words to express how relieved I was to hear your voice and know that you and IM were safe.
Margie
P.S. And the furballs too!
Good news!
Thanks for the report Glenna, it sounds like you are in a unique spot that is relatively safe!
So glad to hear you and your loved ones are not in harms way, take good care of yourself.
Best wishes,
Hannie
Glad you're okay! The newscasters seem excited that now the drought is over for Florida - but they don't have to do the cleanup!
Tori
Good news GK, living on a hill always seems like a good idea
Apart from the Presidential race, all we seem to be hearing about the US is fires, storms and floods. You are all very brave to live in such a dangerous place ;)
Athol
Athol, we've certainly had our share of disasters in the past few years. I just saw a drawing of the wildfires out west, and it's terrifying. It looks as if the whole southwest is being burned down.
I just talked to my daughter-in-law, and since they live in the middle of Florida near Gainesville, they're like us; they don't get the worst of the weather. But she was saying that the Suwanee River is supposed to crest this weekend to over 5 feet above normal, which means terrible flooding in Florida's Panhandle. My grandson, who's in the National Guard is doing damage clean-up in Live Oak, which is near the Florida/Georgia border. The panhandle really got slammed.
No matter where you go in the States, there's some sort of threat: earthquakes on the west coast, tornadoes and drought in the midwest, extreme cold and snow and ice storms in the northeast, and hurricanes and tornadoes in the southeast and Gulf Coast. We get to pick our potential disaster of choice. Since ours is hurricanes and floods, we just prepare as best we can. We stock up on water and have a propane stove and lantern, lots of flashlights, batteries, a generator, MREs, canned food, and hand-crank radio, a first aid kit - and we make sure everything is well stocked before hurricane season starts. Every year we add something new. This year, IM bought a photovoltaic array for the garage roof, so we can run electricity with that if necessary. Also imperative this year is metal shutters for the windows. Then all we can do is hide in the middle of the house and pray that we don't get a direct hit. I've lived here since 1968 and we haven't had one so far. Lots of damage from outer bands, but not one coming ashore. Here's hoping our luck holds!
The drought is definitely over - but now we have sinkholes everywhere because the water is causing our aquifer to collapse. Too many people using too much water when there isn't enough. But the contractors have to keep building and bringing in more people until the state can't support them. Typical. And sad.
Anyway, enough of that frivolity! Thanks for caring about our well-being.
GK