[darkwing104]

Been there, done that, and it still sucks. Is everything alright with you?

[dware]

Glad you made it through to the other side... I have a friend who lives in Houston. Last I talked to her (a few days ago), she was yet without power, but had a wild ride and came through to the other side of the storm.

[DocRock]

I live in the center of FL where Charley, Francess and Jeanne crossed paths in ‘04... all within 6 weeks. All three had a completely different personality. Charley was quick, like a huge tornado, Francess dumped huge amounts of rain for a couple of days into an already devastated area and then Jeanne was a mix of extreme wind and rain for about 24 hours. My prayers are with you and the other victims and I hope your recovery efforts are quick. By now, recovery organizations should be well rehearsed and prepared.

[hole_n_one]

Technology is such that there is plenty of advance notice of an impending hurricane which allows for an orderly evacuation if warranted.

If one chooses to stay in the path of a "monster hurricane", one should be prepared to accept all that comes with it.

Now, living in SoCal, as I type this, the San Andreas fault could let loose with a 7.0+ quake and the only thing that I would have time to do is to try and get to the 50" plasma tv.

The cat is on her own.

[Americanwolfsbrother]

God bless you and glad you're okay. I have lived through tornados, earthquakes,floods,and blizzards. My Dad rode out a couple of hurricanes on the Chesapeake Bay and has told me nothing compares to them. and I don't ever want to experience a hurricane.AWB

[smokingfrog]

Best Photo of the Week

Pararescueman Staff Sgt. Lopaka Mounts receives a hug from a resident after Hurricane Ike, Sept. 13, 2008.

Blackfive.net

[gardengirl]

Been there done that, multiple times. Glad you’re ok. I blame a lot of this on the weathermen—every mullet blow is a cat 5 in their opinion. After awhile, people stop listening to tehm cry wolf, and that’s when you get in trouble.

The weathermen did that to us a couple weeks ago. Thankfully, anyone with any sense could look at the storm track and the winds, etc and see that this one wasn’t the monster it was being made out to be. We’ve had far worse thunderstorms here—coast of NC—this summer. Sigh. Jim Cantori was here, standing outside with a very calm ocean behind him. “Folks, there’s supposed to be a hurricane here, but as you can see, it’s a beautiful night.” Like we’re so stupid we can’t open a window, or read the radar ourselves.

Anyone who has never been through a hurricane has no idea. It’s like being in the middle of a tornado that lasts for days. The wind makes a particular sound during a cane and so does the rain. After is just as bad—the temp usually shoots up to around 100, the humidity is out of sight, and the insects come out of whatever holes they crawled into. Fireants, mosquitoes, biting flies, you name it.