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Hurricane Gustav
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Hurricane Gustav // Roundtable
Post by TomG // Aug 30, 2008, 1:58pm
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TomG
Total Posts: 3397
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Hi all,
Just in case I disappear for a few days this week, letting everyone know in advance!
Hurricane Gustav will be arriving on top of me in E Texas on Wed, with effects starting on Tue. I'm out in the country, so very susceptible to power cuts, very easy for lines to come down.
Katrina knocked power out for 3 days here, and this looks like it will be a bit worse in this part of the country (a tropical storm still, or perhaps even a category 1, since they can never know exactly - of course it may be even weaker than tropical storm, we can always hope), so I am guessing I will be without either power, phone and / or internet for several days this week.
Just in case you don't get replies to forum posts or emails, thought I'd let everyone know!
For those more directly in the path, and down on the coast, I hope all goes well.
Thanks!
Tom |
Post by splinters // Aug 30, 2008, 2:55pm
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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You have my sympathy Tom and my thoughts are with you and your family. I have not heard from a client in a few days, she is in Pensicola, Florida I believe. Last I heard she was bracing herself for a hurricane, is it the same one?
Keep well. |
Post by kena // Aug 30, 2008, 3:13pm
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kena
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Hope you don't have any more trouble with Gustav than I did with Fay. |
Post by prodigy // Aug 30, 2008, 3:13pm
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prodigy
Total Posts: 3029
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Best of lucks.... and the best wishes for all the people living there.. |
Post by Délé // Aug 30, 2008, 3:39pm
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Délé
Total Posts: 1374
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I have not heard from a client in a few days, she is in Pensicola, Florida I believe. Last I heard she was bracing herself for a hurricane, is it the same one?
Yeah...the tracking models I've seen on the news all have it expecting to hit landfall somewhere between Galveston TX, and Pensacola FL. I sure hope that your client is getting out of there.
The weather folks are all saying that it will likely be at least a category 3 by the time it hits. This is the last thing the Gulf coast needs right now, especially New Orleans.
I hope everyone in that area stays safe and that there isn't too much damage. |
Post by RichLevy // Aug 30, 2008, 10:18pm
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RichLevy
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Good luck TomG.
Rich |
Post by splinters // Aug 30, 2008, 10:21pm
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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Cheers Dele, I just heard from her so she is still there. She is a nice lady and a very professional client and I hope all is well for her and everyone who may be affected by this. We had serious flooding in the UK last year and a little village very near (just over a mile) was under several feet of water for months. We were very lucky to be on higher ground but I really feel for anyone affected...most have still not returned to their homes after more than a year....:( |
Post by parva // Aug 30, 2008, 11:32pm
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parva
Total Posts: 822
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Really frightening :(
I wonder if this happens each year maybe more then once, if there is no technical skill to protect buildings (special contructions similar like for earthquakes) and environments better?
Maybe I'm too naive :rolleyes: |
Post by W!ZARD // Aug 31, 2008, 12:30am
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W!ZARD
Total Posts: 2603
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There seems to be a lot of this sort of thing about - we've just had the wettest winter on record in these parts. Just 100 miles up the coast from here had twice their average monthly rainfall for this time of year - all in 24 hours!
Of course they do everything bigger in the US so my thoughts and best wishes go out to you and your family Tom. Here's hoping you get through Hurricane Gustav with the minimum disruption.
I bet it's not often you find yourself missing the weather of Scotland! ;) |
Post by frank // Aug 31, 2008, 3:00am
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frank
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Hope all goes well your way, Tom!
We're in south Mississippi, so we definitely expect to feel this one as well. |
Post by adriani // Aug 31, 2008, 2:58pm
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adriani
Total Posts: 89
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Good Luck friend :( :) |
Post by W!ZARD // Aug 31, 2008, 4:48pm
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W!ZARD
Total Posts: 2603
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The New Zealand Meteorological Service has just released a forecast for 'record breaking wild weather' to hit parts of the South Island over the next 3 days.
In a weather warning issued at 8:59am this morning, the MetService is predicting a weather front to stall over Fiordland and South Westland which could bring in excess of 500mm of rain to the Westland Ranges and Southern Alps.
That would exceed the 200mm Hurricane Gustav is expected to dump on parts on the United States when it hits, according to MetService Weather ambassador Bob McDavitt.
"The difference is, Fiordland is used to this much rain but New Orleans aint," he said.
The wild weather is the result of a record-breaking, 1040HP high-pressure system, which McDavitt said is a first for New Zealand
"It's breaking all records, we've never seen a high this big over the country before".
The rain should fall mostly on uninhabited mountain areas but they are also forecasting very high winds for this part of the country and 100 to 120 mm of rainfall.
Maybe we should all move to Scotland!! |
Post by brotherx // Aug 31, 2008, 11:05pm
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brotherx
Total Posts: 538
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I don't know if you would remember this Tom but when I was about 14, mid 80's probably, (about 20 years ago ish) a massive storm hit the N/E of Scotland and in Aberdeen which is relatively sheltered in the whole grand scheme of things, winds where around 80mph, gusting at about 110mph.
My dad is a joiner/carpenter and was called out because a school roof was coming loose and needed to be secured - he worked with a company that mainly dealt with schools.
So he headed out and took my little brother out with him as my mum was actually out that evening, not sure where. Anyway, driving around in the company van a fence post, pointy bit first crashed through the windscreen passenger side. Thankfully my little brother was in the back of the van at the time...
Here in galway, we constantly get hit by storms over the winter with winds gusting around 100kph, or more, nothing compared to that storm.
I know it's not quite the same as a hurricane but that was a crazy night. I can kind of imagine what a tropical storm might be like but not a hurricane... |
Post by Nez // Sep 1, 2008, 12:32am
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Nez
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Yikes - would that be the big storms that hit the UK in '87? The famous Michael Fish forecast gaffe...
In our neighbourhood, there were 4 or 5 huge oak trees, more than 100 years old - the one in our neigbours garden fell during that storm but fortunately across a load of gardens without hitting any houses - most of the root stystem came up too, ripped up most of their garden. The 2 in our garden survived the storm but both had to be cut down for safety afterwards...
Parva - in response to your query on construction techniques etc: well, yes, to some extent we can build to protect against extreme storms etc but it can be incredibly difficult/expensive to deal with extreme wind. Part of the problem with events like New Orleans are less directly due to the weather but about where we choose to build. Up until the industrial revolution, folks generally only built on high ground which protected them against flooding/tides. But since then we've built extensively on river floodplains and low coastal areas which are then at huge risk... a lot of New Orleans (and other parts of the world - e.g. Norfolk in UK, Netherlands, etc) are below sea-level, which makes dealing with floods and severe rain incredibly difficult. At least in NZ, there's lots of high ground, but the mountainous terrain means heavy rain is likely to result in streams/rivers overflowing (similar problems in parts of UK - e.g. Boscastle floods a few years back). Another big problem in US is often the form of construction - a lot of the timber-built houses don't take a battering too well (common problem in tornado-prone areas). In the UK we generally use brick and heavier construction which are a bit more robust, although we don't tend to get such extreme weather.
There's plenty of us on this side of the pond thinking of you over there in the states (and in NZ W!zard) - hope you all come through OK. |
Post by brotherx // Sep 1, 2008, 2:46am
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brotherx
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I'll message the houston office (my company has an office there) and find out what is going on...will see how bad it is. they are in at 8am I think..about 15 minutes. |
Post by splinters // Sep 1, 2008, 11:19am
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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The world really is going to the dogs...just watching the news about a huge area of ice in the North pole that is now just water for the first time in history. Last week, a huge chunk broke away changing the landscape for ever...:(
It all seems to be happening so fast too....:( |
Post by brotherx // Sep 1, 2008, 12:00pm
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brotherx
Total Posts: 538
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yup. it is messed up. it has basically rained here for 5 weeks...not constantly but heavy showers every day...and some days all day.
Not heard from our US office - think they may have closed for the day... |
Post by splinters // Sep 1, 2008, 12:02pm
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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August was a washout here too...and this is the year we decided to go family camping....:o |
Post by brotherx // Sep 1, 2008, 12:10pm
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brotherx
Total Posts: 538
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we went to the lake district once for a long weekend...turns out it was raining bad and we had a hole in the groundsheet. woke up in soaking wet sleeping bags...the weekend was promptly shortened. it was a long drive from Aberdeen for one night. |
Post by RAYMAN // Sep 1, 2008, 12:44pm
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RAYMAN
Total Posts: 1496
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Good luck Tom !
Hope you will not be affected to much from it !
Hope to hear from you soon !
Peter |
Post by Délé // Sep 1, 2008, 1:21pm
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Délé
Total Posts: 1374
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The world really is going to the dogs...just watching the news about a huge area of ice in the North pole that is now just water for the first time in history. Last week, a huge chunk broke away changing the landscape for ever...:(
It all seems to be happening so fast too....:(
Discovery Channel has an interesting new series called "Project Earth". They have a group of scientists that are running eight experiments to fight climate change in different ways. I've seen a few of the shows. It's pretty interesting. It looks like some of these experiments have already shown some promise. It's nice to finally see at least some folks out there trying to do something. There isn't much more time to sit on our hands IMO.
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/project-earth/project-earth.html |
Post by teamonkey // Sep 1, 2008, 1:30pm
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teamonkey
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The world really is going to the dogs...just watching the news about a huge area of ice in the North pole that is now just water for the first time in history. Last week, a huge chunk broke away changing the landscape for ever...:(
It all seems to be happening so fast too....:(
Hell in a handbasket, I tell ya. The speed of change seems to be increasing geometrically.
What me worry? :( |
Post by splinters // Sep 1, 2008, 1:40pm
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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S'funny, I remember watching The day after Tomorrow on release and thinking how ridiculous it was.
You see the tsunami's, tidal waves, floods, hurricanes, temerature fluctuations, ice breaks etc. and it suddenly doesn't look quite so ridiculous.
Ok, rapidly dropping temps stopped by burning some books...still ridiculous! |
Post by weshowe // Sep 1, 2008, 2:33pm
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weshowe
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Not heard from our US office - think they may have closed for the day...
Today (Mon. Sept. 1) is Labor Day in the U.S. and most businesses are closed. So storm or no storm they were likely planning to be closed today.
I live with a 2-hour drive of Houston, but on the opposite side (NW) from the storm approach. I'm far enough inland to expect little wind, and while we desperately need some rain here, little is expected for us, from this storm.
<* Wes *> |
Post by W!ZARD // Sep 1, 2008, 4:26pm
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W!ZARD
Total Posts: 2603
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Yikes - would that be the big storms that hit the UK in '87? The famous Michael Fish forecast gaffe...
In our neighbourhood, there were 4 or 5 huge oak trees, more than 100 years old - the one in our neigbours garden fell during that storm but fortunately across a load of gardens without hitting any houses - most of the root stystem came up too, ripped up most of their garden. The 2 in our garden survived the storm but both had to be cut down for safety afterwards... I was there for that - living in Maidstone. Weirdest thing I ever saw, the next day. No buses, virtually no traffic, a third of the trees in Southern England not just blown over but uprooted. It was like living on the very edge of a nuclear blast site - all the alarms going off and the trees all lying on their sides and pointing in the same direction, the streets full of roofing tiles.Parva - in response to your query on construction techniques etc: well, yes, to some extent we can build to protect against extreme storms etc but it can be incredibly difficult/expensive to deal with extreme wind. Part of the problem with events like New Orleans are less directly due to the weather but about where we choose to build. Up until the industrial revolution, folks generally only built on high ground which protected them against flooding/tides. But since then we've built extensively on river floodplains and low coastal areas which are then at huge risk... a lot of New Orleans (and other parts of the world - e.g. Norfolk in UK, Netherlands, etc) are below sea-level, which makes dealing with floods and severe rain incredibly difficult. At least in NZ, there's lots of high ground, but the mountainous terrain means heavy rain is likely to result in streams/rivers overflowing (similar problems in parts of UK - e.g. Boscastle floods a few years back). It's also a facter of sheer economics - we get lots of earthquakes so our houses are built to stringent earthquake proof standards so they'll stand up in an earthquake but get their roof blown of in a cyclone! It's expensive enough building a house let alone one that is strong enough to survive all threats that Mother Nature can bring to bear. Another big problem in US is often the form of construction - a lot of the timber-built houses don't take a battering too well (common problem in tornado-prone areas). In the UK we generally use brick and heavier construction which are a bit more robust, although we don't tend to get such extreme weather.
There's plenty of us on this side of the pond thinking of you over there in the states (and in NZ W!zard) - hope you all come through OK. |
Post by TomG // Sep 2, 2008, 2:20am
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TomG
Total Posts: 3397
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Well it's not really here yet, just some rain and a bit of wind, but that may be as bad as it gets for me. All the worst effects seem to be to the east of the storm, so in Louisiana and Mississippi, and looks like we'll always be staying just on the west of it where it isn't having as much impact.
Will need to see as the day progresses. Did have to drag a giant branch off the access road when driving my son down to meet the school bus, so we're seeing some wind-related effects (and that's what brings power and internet down, so there is still the chance of being offline, though hopefully it won't come to that!).
For the silence over the last few days, just weekend and Labor Day holiday :)
It seems the storm was not as bad as it could have been so that is good, I hope it continues to weaken and does so rapidly without causing damage or hurt.
HTH!
Tom |
Post by frank // Sep 2, 2008, 7:08am
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frank
Total Posts: 709
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Thankfully that one was not as bad as it could have been.
The main concern as it reached land was the threat of tornadoes but we didn't have any nearby.
So, things went well in our area - just some wind and lots of rain. :-) |
Post by Délé // Sep 2, 2008, 8:07am
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Délé
Total Posts: 1374
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Yeah, looks like the Gulf Coast dodged a bullet this time. Glad it didn't hit as hard as they were thinking. Good to hear that you're still up and running too Tom. :) |
Post by frootee // Sep 2, 2008, 9:25am
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frootee
Total Posts: 2667
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Thank You Leif! :)
Froo |
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