Tampa, I'd like you to meet Agnes' son . . .
Ah, St. Petersburg, city of my birth. Florida, not Russia. In 1972, my parents evacuated to the east coast of Florida to hang out with the grandparents for a few days when Agnes clipped the Keys and set a path for Tampa Bay. Lots of tornadoes, but the house survived.
Funny things happen when hurricanes find their way into the Bay. The water has nowhere to go but up, so storm surges tend to be a bit worse. It's little wonder that tonight's evacuation of the lowlying areas of the Bay was mandatory. Both that first St. Pete home and the second may well be submerged for a bit this time around.
In a matter of hours, Charley will clip the Keys and set a path for Tampa Bay. Like mother, like son. Where does Charley go after the Bay? My understanding is that it'll follow the southbound lanes of I-75 for a bit. My uncle and aunt on Dad's side now live in Dunnellon, and they're right in the projected path. They have a screened porch, a pool, and at least twenty very tall oaks and pines in their backyard. They've never been through a hurricane before, but the uncle is stubborn and refuses to listen to friends, neighbors, and his own brother, who's been through and/or fled a few in his time. They've been invited to stay with my parents about thirty minutes away near The Villages. No telling if the know-it-all and his wife will finally relent and go. If they do go, they'll probably completely forget to bring everything inside from that patio that probably won't still be in one piece when they return. And they'll hopefully remember their new 3-pound Yorkie.
My parents will be on the east side of the projected path, so they'll get all the heavy rain, strong winds, lightning, tornadoes, etc, but they won't feel the worst of it, and they have no large trees to worry about. Mom and Dad have brought everything inside, purchased a lot of bottled water and Coca-Cola (what is this, an Atlanta snowstorm??), and found some grass-scented puppy pads for Schami the schnauzer to pee on. In the garage, on the end of a leash, as though everything is normal. Schami has an aversion to peeing on any manmade surface. I hope she gets over it fast. Schami's frightened of even normal thunderstorms, so I don't even want to imagine how she'll handle this one. Dad has cancelled his plans to attend some sort of Promise Keepers convention in Orlando this weekend, partly to be with Mom, Schami, and other family members, and partly to free up a hotel room for the Tampa refugees. Many others are following suit.
Promise Keepers, breaking a contract? I think it's for a good cause.
The remnants of Charley will probably ruin the post-wedding reception that I plan to attend on Saturday up at Lake Hartwell, and of course I'll be worried about how everything came out down in Florida. The reception is for Fred and Velma from last year's Halloween party. Fred went to my high school, Class of '92. Velma once dated my younger brother. They were married two months ago in a small ceremony.
Next weekend, I'll travel down to Florida for my parents' 40th wedding anniversary. My cousin Paul (the younger one on Dad's side - there's one on each side of the family) will also be there. I really hope there isn't any damage for Paul and me to clean up over in Dunnellon.
Meanwhile, we had a bit of a freakish storm here in Atlanta this morning. It wasn't related to Bonnie, or Charley. A strong band came through and woke me up around 6 AM. No thunder or lightning, just very heavy rain. I couldn't make out the sound of any individual drops. It was like a solid sheet of water was cranking out 80 dB white noise in my house. And the backyard has large puddles in it once more. Some of the neighbor's yard is eroding into mine - I have sandbars near my deck now. And with the ground saturated, the remains of Bonnie and Charley could make this weekend very interesting indeed.
To sum up: Mom and Dad aren't visiting via evacuation this weekend. Uncle Ken and Aunt Ellie have a deathwish. Rich will be cleaning up the damage. Bev will probably receive no news coverage of it all. And Daphne will probably spend more time with Shaggy and Scooby.
Funny things happen when hurricanes find their way into the Bay. The water has nowhere to go but up, so storm surges tend to be a bit worse. It's little wonder that tonight's evacuation of the lowlying areas of the Bay was mandatory. Both that first St. Pete home and the second may well be submerged for a bit this time around.
In a matter of hours, Charley will clip the Keys and set a path for Tampa Bay. Like mother, like son. Where does Charley go after the Bay? My understanding is that it'll follow the southbound lanes of I-75 for a bit. My uncle and aunt on Dad's side now live in Dunnellon, and they're right in the projected path. They have a screened porch, a pool, and at least twenty very tall oaks and pines in their backyard. They've never been through a hurricane before, but the uncle is stubborn and refuses to listen to friends, neighbors, and his own brother, who's been through and/or fled a few in his time. They've been invited to stay with my parents about thirty minutes away near The Villages. No telling if the know-it-all and his wife will finally relent and go. If they do go, they'll probably completely forget to bring everything inside from that patio that probably won't still be in one piece when they return. And they'll hopefully remember their new 3-pound Yorkie.
My parents will be on the east side of the projected path, so they'll get all the heavy rain, strong winds, lightning, tornadoes, etc, but they won't feel the worst of it, and they have no large trees to worry about. Mom and Dad have brought everything inside, purchased a lot of bottled water and Coca-Cola (what is this, an Atlanta snowstorm??), and found some grass-scented puppy pads for Schami the schnauzer to pee on. In the garage, on the end of a leash, as though everything is normal. Schami has an aversion to peeing on any manmade surface. I hope she gets over it fast. Schami's frightened of even normal thunderstorms, so I don't even want to imagine how she'll handle this one. Dad has cancelled his plans to attend some sort of Promise Keepers convention in Orlando this weekend, partly to be with Mom, Schami, and other family members, and partly to free up a hotel room for the Tampa refugees. Many others are following suit.
Promise Keepers, breaking a contract? I think it's for a good cause.
The remnants of Charley will probably ruin the post-wedding reception that I plan to attend on Saturday up at Lake Hartwell, and of course I'll be worried about how everything came out down in Florida. The reception is for Fred and Velma from last year's Halloween party. Fred went to my high school, Class of '92. Velma once dated my younger brother. They were married two months ago in a small ceremony.
Next weekend, I'll travel down to Florida for my parents' 40th wedding anniversary. My cousin Paul (the younger one on Dad's side - there's one on each side of the family) will also be there. I really hope there isn't any damage for Paul and me to clean up over in Dunnellon.
Meanwhile, we had a bit of a freakish storm here in Atlanta this morning. It wasn't related to Bonnie, or Charley. A strong band came through and woke me up around 6 AM. No thunder or lightning, just very heavy rain. I couldn't make out the sound of any individual drops. It was like a solid sheet of water was cranking out 80 dB white noise in my house. And the backyard has large puddles in it once more. Some of the neighbor's yard is eroding into mine - I have sandbars near my deck now. And with the ground saturated, the remains of Bonnie and Charley could make this weekend very interesting indeed.
To sum up: Mom and Dad aren't visiting via evacuation this weekend. Uncle Ken and Aunt Ellie have a deathwish. Rich will be cleaning up the damage. Bev will probably receive no news coverage of it all. And Daphne will probably spend more time with Shaggy and Scooby.