the rich! ramblings

We spent better part of the afternoon shuttering up (again); just the garage and the french doors in the back to finish up. I have to tie down the gazebo and a few trees (again) and move all the plants back inside. Definitely not as prepared like last time, but I was going insane having everything completely so early and then just waiting for Frances to arrive.

Generally speaking, with all the waiting like last time… most folks in the area are not as prepared. Tomorrow will be a busy morning before the winds kick-up and the first bands come in. Looks like another late Saturday night party, this time… I bought a portable TV! Since FPL is issuing statements we will be without power for a lengthy period of time. Great, another 2 weeks without phone/internet and probably a good week without power.

What is one more hurricane? and one more that is looking right at us again. I think a lot of people will be caught off guard with this one. I doubt the trees in the area can withstand another pounding.  Even the roof leak has gotten a little worse and no roofers are available for a few more weeks.

Good thing we still have plenty of supplies laying around so I can avoid the Costco lines for food and water.

Tropical Weather RSS Feeds:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutrss.shtml
http://rss.wunderground.com/auto/rss_full/tropical/index.xml
http://rss.accuweather.com/rss/blog_rss.asp?blog=headlines

SAME codes (NOAA WEATHER RADIO – County by County Coverage)
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/indexnw.htm

Other Resources
http://www.meteo.psu.edu/rtwx/ewall/ewalltropatl.html
http://moe.met.fsu.edu/tcgengifs/
http://my.sfwmd.gov/sfwmd/common/images/weather/plots.html

Well we are back and almost at 100% operational…

Well everyone out there has probably seen the pictures, heard of the gas shortages, no ice, no water… long lines at distribution centers. Yes it is that bad. Unfortunately some people have reached the breaking point. We witness too many accidents involving motorists who do not respect the 4 way stop rule.

In the end, Frances took 4 trees, 1 gazebo, 1 leaky roof, and a yard covered in branches. Not bad but could be worse. I’m lucky to live in a great community, folks started cleaning up on Sunday even in 50mph wind gust and rain. Neighbors that had generators offered ice and amenities to others – frankly it is nice getting to know everyone in the area. We planned ahead and had everything prepared with plenty of ice, water, and food. (Costco rocks).

I’m unable to describe the storm, this was my first hurricane. The hours it took for Frances to pass was crazy. Besides cabin fever, you are stuck inside listening 8-10 hours of high winds, trees snapping or hitting your shutters. I couldn”t sleep all night, I was glued to the TV(until 10ish on saturday), the weather radio, and radio with tv stations broadcasting. Down here in Delray we missed the eye,  but instead we got stuck in the eye wall. I’ll take a fast moving Category 3/4 over a slow moving Category 2 hurricane

maybe more fun this weekend with Hurricane Ivan.

Hurricane Frances

Hurricane Frances

the eye wall is approaching and the winds are way up. Luckily we haven”t lost power yet but an occasional flicker here and there. I did lose my DSL line a few hours ago. Winds holding steady around 60-80mph at times. A quick peak out in the backyard, looks like someone’’s tree is starting to go. We are just getting very antsy around here with cabin fever, boarded up since thursday afternoon and Frances won”t be out until Sunday.

Outside Shots

Outside Shots

Looks like West Palm Beach is going to get it hard and we are 15mi south of that… here are some quick pictures in-between some feeder bands. T-minutes 30 mins or so before the strong wind gusts hit, only 60mph gusts here at the moment. Power is flickering a lot, cable is in and out… maybe another hour before they are out.

Outside Shots

Outside Shots

A few shots in the backyard this morning, beautiful day for the most part. Some gusts up to 40mph when the first outer band hit around midday. With Frances slowing down, we are getting concerned about flooding. I suppose its a catch-22 with the storm getting weaker but slower.

View down the lake

Maggie - Wondering

Here is what we finished today… with the help of a few workers – managed to put up the shutters around the house in 3 hours. Not bad, though we have some issues with missing hardware. I won’t complain, last time the shutters saw daylight was 5 years ago. I’ll make sure after the storm passes we are prepared for the future. Though, I had to remove a small tree that was just planted – too much rain of late.

Accordion Shutters - Side

Garage - Sleep tight R32

Pool Area - Rear

Latest projections are putting Frances in vero beach… I’m still thinking she will land further south, maybe fort pierce. We will feel the affects here, lets hope everything turns out ok.

today will be a busy day! at least the weather forecast is ok, sunny out… much work to be done.

Latest update tonight at 11… still aiming at central florida. About a 1/4 of the homes in my small community have boarded up their shutters with others starting tomorrow. granted it is a lot of work but ii’d rather be safe than sorry if Frances takes a sudden turn (Andrew) I’ll be spending the day hanging the shutters while Liz tends to all of the potted plants.