How Cold Is IT?

[mgwin]

I would take that temperature anytime!
At least I could go outside and do some work without the sweltering heat.
I'm jealous Charlie.

 

[rkelm]

The temp here is so hot you can't even lay your tools down outside for a while and then pick them up without them hotter than you know where. They are too hot to work with. Had to fight about a three to 5 acre fire the other day, it got within 100yrds of the house and 50 yrds from the 10 bales of hay and barn. That was too close and too hot, still 100 degrees here.

 

[mgwin]

Rodney,

Wow! Hope everything is ok.
It is the opposite here.
Had over 5 inches of rain yesterday, and roads are getting washed out. A lot of local flooding.

 

[rkelm]

Marty, everything is ok. The firefighters really helped a lot. They were already down the road fighting another fire and were about finished when some of them broke off to come fight this one. One time it got a little hairy as it crept to a bunch of oak trees that had a lot of leaves underneath, it flamed up about 10 feet but they were able to douse it and then foam the area. Most of it was in an easement for a big tall powerline from the power plant and I had just shredded it on the weekend and it was short pasture grass. Next day I disc plowed around the place and around the woods of which I had planned on doing anyway this week. Sorry to hear about the rain all at once and the flooding, that is real disaster also. Hope you are on high ground.

 

[wshytle]

We here in North Carolina are getting ready to have our bells rung. We are right in line for Florence to knock the heck out of us come Thursday. They are predicting this storm will be worse than hurricane Hazel in '54. That one can be read about in history books.

Batton down the hatches Marty! We might be in for it.

.

 

[mgwin]

Wayne,

All of my vehicles are full of gas along with my gas cans for the generator.
I may go and fill up the generator also before Thursday. I just hate to have to drain it if we don't lose power.
Where I live, I should be able to handle the 15-20 inches of rain they are predicting. I kind of live on a hill.
If not, my boat is in the basement!

 

[kmcconaughey]

Wayne, Marty, and anyone else that's in the path of Florence, hopefully you will all be safe. Sounds like it's going to be quite the storm.

 

[dschwandt]

What a freaking mess this will be!!
And, where in the world do a million people go on such short notice and how??
And, I suppose it's all our fault to boot!!

 

[wshytle]

Thanks Kraig...it ought to be fun.

Marty-

I'm gassed up enough here as well. Since I live alone the worst that can happen is I go from general living to camping. That's what happened with Fran in '96. I got over 9 inches over night and I had just finished building the damn back on my pond which filled completely. I went 4 days without power and I was fine. I'd fire up the generator to cool down the freezer/frig for a while each day. I cooked on a Coleman "white gas" cook stove I bought in the 70s.

My biggest fear or concern is a giant maple tree that is leaning over my house. If the ground gets saturated I might be camping longer than I want.

The last I saw of Florences track showed it going right south of both of us with a direct hit on Greensboro. This would put us on the windiest side and if it stalls could be devastating.

.

 

[mgwin]

Wayne,

I have a Coleman camp stove as well, a charcoal grill, along with a gas grill. I just filled both tanks for the gas grill Saturday.
At least I won't starve.

I do not have any trees close to my house. I took care of that before I built my home.
Greensboro is 11 miles south of here, so that is pretty close for me.

Guess I will wait until Thursday to make any more decisions.

 

[wshytle]

Good luck Marty. I know as well as you how devastating these storms can be. They can literally change your life over night.

I hate being on stage here.

Be careful and be safe.

.

 

[mgwin]

Wayne,

The latest update/guess lists the track going more toward the west after landfall instead of northwest.
They are also saying the storm will pretty much keep moving, instead of stopping in one spot as previously stated.

This sounds much better than what they were initially forecasting.
It still is a nasty storm. It just won't nasty all in one spot.

Stay safe.

 

[wshytle]

Thanks Marty-

I do hope it keeps moving. I can't remember exactly how Fran moved through but this old house I occupy held up well then. The north exterior was covered in green leaves after the storm. There were no trees on the north side that could have produced the leaves so they had to come from a good distance away. The winds were unbelievable.

I thought I'd go ahead and get 10 more gallons of gas today and ended up waiting 30 minutes in line.

This ain't gonna be no fun.

.

 

[eford]

To all my cub friends out east, I hope you weather the storm with minimal damage. I wish to hear from you all again!

 

[wshytle]

Marty-

It looks like it's sort of a coin toss here. The storm is predicted to go south of us but how far south is the question. Nevertheless, we will get rain/wind and a bunch of it at that. It looks like we're in the path to get between 10 and 20 inches of rain. Both Reidsville and Chapel Hill are in the same line as far as the hurricanes path is predicted. Hopefully it will take a more southern path (only for our sake). I still feel sorry for the people forced to camp for days following.

Good luck to the both of us. I have one generator set up to accommodate the basics and the big one on standby for later concerns. I only filled 3-5 gallon gas tanks so I may be rationing if it does get rough. I do have a lot of cubs with gas in their tanks if "push comes to shove".

I did get some last minute type mowing done today. I'm more concerned about the fall garden I have already planted. It might get washed out.

And, as a last minute attempt today, I attacked maybe 10 more fire ant hills in the garden area...maybe the size of softballs with one big one. They will really show up after the heavy rains. I'm determined to get the best of them little critters yet.

.

 

[jchamberlin]

All: Florence didn't just slow down, it dang near stopped & stood still. It poured wind and especially rain down on where my son lives in Newport, NC (just down the street from the National Weather Service outpost and about 20 minutes north of Morehead City, NC) Thursday, Friday, Saturday into today, Sunday. Rainfall records have already been broken. I-95 and I-40 are both closed. Mandatory evacuations on the coast, and now along the Lumber River. The governor has asked motorists to drive around NC to get north/south on the eastern seaboard.

Seventeen (17) confirmed deaths in NC and SC for everything from carbon monoxide poisoning and electrocution from generators, to trees falling on cars and houses, one murder/suicide, one guy fell trying to pack up to evacuate, and one guy died trying to check on his hunting dogs, most people were washed off the road trying to use roads covered with water.

Storm is now moving toward Charlotte; Wayne & Marty are probably feeling its effects now. We're still getting rain where we are (between Raleigh and the coast), but the rivers won't crest until the middle of next week: record levels expected in that department too. A storm doesn't need to be a Category 4 or 5 (or 3 or 2) to do a lot of damage.

Personally, I'm tired of being cooped up in the house, but I'm staying off the roads to let the emergency crews get through. I haven't lost power, but I've lost my patience with the advertisements on television. Could use the time to clean the house, but I'm too lazy, I suppose.

Its been the mother of all storms, as far as I'm concerned. I sure it could have been worse, but it has been plenty bad so far. I may not be able to make it in to work until next weekend.

 

[wshytle]

Jeremiah-

I'm glad to hear you're okay and I can't believe you haven't lost power. Mine went out last night for a few hours and again for about 15 minutes a short while ago.

I definitely dodged a bullet with this one. It stayed just south enough so the worst we got were wind gusts to around 40 mph tops and rain...lots of rain. There are thousands and thousands of miserable people south and east of me. The TV has been nothing but storm coverage since Thursday and the rivers are not suppose to crest until Tuesday.

It could have been a lot worse with greater wind damage but the rain will prove enough by itself. I don't think anyone will see any sun until maybe late Tuesday.

.

 

[mgwin]

Did someone say rain?

The heavy, steady rain has moved in. It has been raining off and on since Friday, and is forecasted to continue until Tuesday.

The Dan river is (as of today) forecasted to crest about 11-12 feet above flood stage.
I went across it around lunch time, and it is already pretty full.

If the rain continues until Tuesday, who knows what level it will crest at!
I'm pretty sure I am far enough away from it, I hope.

I have been blessed to have not lost power so far.
Hang in there guys, it can't rain forever.

If it is cold this winter, and we get as much moisture as we have had this spring and summer, we will have to get Charlie down here to dig us out!

 

[kmcconaughey]

Marty, Wayne, Jeremiah, thanks for checking in, so glad you are all doing OK.

 

[mgwin]

Thought I was going to make it through the storm, but I got a surprise this morning.
It must have came a cloud burst some time early this morning, because when I went down to the basement, there was water all over the floor.
I thought my water line had busted.

I have been living here for 21 years, and I have never had water in my basememt!

I had gained four inches of rain during the night. I know it must have came all at once, because some of it had already started drying up.
Spent all evening cleaning up the water and throwing away wet stuff. I got about 90% of the water up, and about 30% of the wet stuff thrown away.

Probably looking at a good weeks worth of work to get it all back to normal.

My dehumidifier is sucking up almost a gallon every hour, and I have three fans blowing.

Just thankful it wasn't any worse than it was.

Wayne, Jeremiah, and Tim,
How did you guys make out with the storm?