74 replies to this topic

[striker]

Me too, following things on here. Greetz to all of you, from a (too) stormy and wet Netherlands.

[ebrke]

Thanks for posting Josh. Glad everything is okay. Now we can start worrying about Hurricane Jose, next up in the batting order.

[securitybreach]

ebrke, on 11 September 2017 - 08:58 AM, said:

Thanks for posting Josh. Glad everything is okay. Now we can start worrying about Hurricane Jose, next up in the batting order.

No worries. That is why I asked him to call me if the power went out. Let's hope Jose will be fine as well.

[zlim]

Thanks for the update.
I'm having lunch with a woman today whose daughter lives and works in the Tampa area. I'm anxious to hear any news about her daughter.

[securitybreach]

zlim, on 11 September 2017 - 10:05 AM, said:

Thanks for the update.
I'm having lunch with a woman today whose daughter lives and works in the Tampa area. I'm anxious to hear any news about her daughter.

Not a problem, glad to pass on the good news.

[Cluttermagnet]

Thanks, Josh! That's a load of worry off my mind.


Hi, Striker- nice to see you in here once in a while!


Clutter

[V.T. Eric Layton]

ALL IS WELL!

73 hours without electricity. I'm exhausted... can't sleep in the steamy heat. Myself and many of my neighbors spent the last two nights on our porches or talking out in the streets. I think we've all gotten about 10 hours sleep in the last 72 or so.

I'll be back here soon with pics and stories of the adventure.

Love you all!

~Eric

Oh, and thank for posting the update brother Josh!

[ebrke]

Glad you have AC back with the power, Eric. Now life can start again. Bet the cats were outraged at the lack of normal comforts and blamed it all on you, of course.

Edited by ebrke, 13 September 2017 - 11:25 PM.

[securitybreach]

Awesome, glad to help!

[striker]

Good to see you're back Eric, how are the cats doing?

[striker]

Cluttermagnet, on 12 September 2017 - 07:01 AM, said:

Hi, Striker- nice to see you in here once in a while!


Clutter

Thanks, how are you Clutter? Still one of the best places here on the internet I think!

[raymac46]

I am glad everything worked out for the best Eric. Hopefully it will be another 96 years before you have to deal with another situation like Irma.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

ebrke, on 13 September 2017 - 11:25 PM, said:

Glad you have AC back with the power, Eric. Now life can start again. Bet the cats were outraged at the lack of normal comforts and blamed it all on you, of course.

The cats were definitely not liking the break in normal routine.

striker, on 14 September 2017 - 05:51 AM, said:

Good to see you're back Eric, how are the cats doing?

Fine and dandy. Happy it's cool and back to the routine.

OK, so here we go...

Eric's Hurricane Irma Adventure

It started for me on Friday the 8th. That's when I decided that this storm was definitely coming into the neighborhood. I started preparing as well as I could... water, ice, sources of light, stowing away items outside, etc. Then Saturday came and I began to wish that I had done something to protect my house on the northern exposure (the side where the winds would be the worst). A friend offered me some HEAVY duty steel panels that he had in his backyard. These things are 40" by 14' long. They weigh about 75-100 lbs each. It took four of us (me, two neighbors, and my brother) to secure them to the front of the house using 3.5" tapcons screwed right into the concrete blocks.

This is a pic of those panels installed...

https://i.imgur.com/U1yKVhk.jpg

My truck all tarped up...

https://i.imgur.com/HzifYRo.jpg

So, now it's Saturday evening. About 7PM the winds start to howl and the howling increases by the hour. Thing started hitting the panels and making a helluva racket. My electricity went bye-bye at 8:05PM. At 1AM on Sunday morning the winds peaked. We were getting gusts of 70-80mph. They would come in bursts every 10 or 15 seconds apart. You could hear them coming about 3 seconds before they were on top of you. It sounded like a freight train accompanied by 500 screaming banshees. It was not a pleasant thing to experience.

Finally, about 3AM things mellowed out a bit. The storm was moving further north. The gusts were down to about 45-55mph and shifting from the previous direction of N to S to a more NW to SE direction. Oh, and the rain... sheets and sheets of it blowing around and 50+mph. The yard was saturated by then, ditches over-flowing, streets crowning over, etc. I finally got to sleep about 3:30AM or so.

I woke at about 7:30AM and proceeded out-of-doors to inspect the damages. The house was fine. The trees were a bit beat up, but OK. The tarps on my truck never moved. I had them tied down really well. The cleanup began. Everyone on the block was outside picking up debris, dragging tree branches to the street, using chainsaws, machetes, etc.

Here are some pics of the aftermath around my house...

Leaves everywhere...

https://i.imgur.com/dPbhQlo.jpg

Some downed branches...

https://i.imgur.com/zkeJ9Af.jpg

Soggy, muddy yard...

https://i.imgur.com/Iq1rwre.jpg

After the clean-up...

https://i.imgur.com/wlqiMrY.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/EkM7wux.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/kmXjO7l.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Z4CxBNo.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/SsYPevf.jpg

My old oak survives, a little scraggly and worse for wear, but not tipped over on my house...

https://i.imgur.com/CRBni2U.jpg

The kitties oblivious to it all, as usual...

https://i.imgur.com/iX6CT1u.jpg

So, now the storm has gone north to beat the snot out of some more folks. What does Eric do now in his hot, steamy home with no electricity? Well, he makes do...

... with old technology.

Cowboy coffee on a tiny camp stove using WWII issue trioxane bars and 30 year old Sterno. It was REALLY good coffee, too...

https://i.imgur.com/U3HEugg.jpg

Old school lighting, 1870s style...

https://i.imgur.com/rxzl7ce.jpg

More modern method...

https://i.imgur.com/ghTCtde.jpg

What to do on those hot, dark nights? Battery powered shortwave receiver w/ AM-FM, too. And some crossword puzzles, if you can manage to not sweat all over them while you're doing them...

https://i.imgur.com/eRXliCr.jpg

Yessiree... it was soooo much fun. I plan on doing it again in about 100 years.

We were REALLY, REALLY LUCKY in my area this time. Folks just to the east of me (50 miles or so) were getting 120mph gusts. They didn't fare as well.

And that's the story, folks.

Oh, and did I mention that after surviving Irma, my truck's old fuel pump gave up the ghost; must have been the stress. I'll be out there tomorrow fixing that.

[abarbarian]

Glad you survived Eric. Mind you it looks like you only got some minor effects of the storm. So while luck is with you it might be time to buy a lottery ticket.  

[securitybreach]

Good thing none of those trees around your house came down as your house would of been hit by them.

[abarbarian]

securitybreach, on 15 September 2017 - 09:58 AM, said:

Good thing none of those trees around your house came down as your house would of been hit by them.

That oak tree branch look like it would crush the house. It is a fine looking old oak be a shame to lop of the offending branches.Would you have to pay taxes if you made a tree house and lived in it ?

[securitybreach]

abarbarian, on 15 September 2017 - 12:44 PM, said:

securitybreach, on 15 September 2017 - 09:58 AM, said:

Good thing none of those trees around your house came down as your house would of been hit by them.

Would you have to pay taxes if you made a tree house and lived in it ?

Now you have me picturing Eric in a treehouse

[V.T. Eric Layton]

securitybreach, on 15 September 2017 - 09:58 AM, said:

Good thing none of those trees around your house came down as your house would of been hit by them.

Well, the strong winds were primarily out of the north, so I was only worried about that big old oak out front. That's also why I only protected my northern windows. Anyway, the big old oak out front just got a much needed trimming and thinning out. It'll probably be good for it. I expect it to fill back up beautifully come spring.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

abarbarian, on 15 September 2017 - 12:44 PM, said:

That oak tree branch look like it would crush the house. It is a fine looking old oak be a shame to lop of the offending branches.Would you have to pay taxes if you made a tree house and lived in it ?

Actually, that tree is only 65 years old. The big ones in my back yard were grown from acorns in 1987. They're relatively young and supple compared to the old guy out front. Now, the tree that used to be on the other side of my front yard was old when this house was built in 1953. Sadly, the city came by and chopped it down back in 2013. I miss that old tree a lot. There were many tree houses in that thing... my brother's before me and then three others that I had up there. All of us neighborhood kids grew up in that old tree. It had a tire swing, too.

Here's a pic of the old fellow before it came down...



Here's what it looks like there with the tree gone...

[abarbarian]

Well there   may be more light but the older pic certainly looks much better than the palm tree shot. At least you had fun whilst a youngster.

[ebrke]

Well, Eric, now we know why Tampa was spared worse damage. Native Americans blessed it long ago to protect burial grounds. (Hey, you got a better explanation?)
https://www.washingt...m=.7e170c22df32

[V.T. Eric Layton]

abarbarian, on 16 September 2017 - 04:21 AM, said:

Well there   may be more light but the older pic certainly looks much better than the palm tree shot. At least you had fun whilst a youngster.

The problem with that "more light" situation is that in the summertime in Florida, my front bedroom (the one in which I'm sitting right now at this keyboard) ROASTS in due to NO shade from the old oak anymore. In about 50 years, I'll have some shade from that little live oak the city planted for me as consolation for cutting down my old laurel oak.

ebrke, on 16 September 2017 - 06:33 PM, said:

Well, Eric, now we know why Tampa was spared worse damage. Native Americans blessed it long ago to protect burial grounds. (Hey, you got a better explanation?)
https://www.washingt...m=.7e170c22df32

That one works for me!

[ebrke]

This doesn't pertain to Irma, but generally to weather: it now looks like Jose may do another loop in the Atlantic and hit the coast of my state at the end of the week. It would most probably be post-tropical storm after it's time over cooler water, more like a nor'easter, but could have significant winds. It's like a zombie that won't die. And then there's Maria barreling through the Caribbean. At least furthest-east TS Lee is predicted to die in a couple of days. ARGH.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Maria's the one Florida is keeping an eye on.

I haven't removed the metal panels yet.

[zlim]

I keep checking this site http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
Looks like we might get rain starting tomorrow night from Jose. We've already had more than this year than all of last year.