(meteorobs) Re: Charley the nuisance

[Kim Youmans]

Well it's good to have heard from Norman and Lew...I sure hate it about the
banana trees!  I'm also glad to hear Joan made it through her first
hurricane intact.  Bonnie made sure I had no opportunity in East Georgia for
the Perseid max, then Charley wiped out my weekend post-max hopes; however,
the hurricane certainly put things into perspective for me!

Kim Youmans



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Norman W. McLeod III" <nmcleod at peganet.com>
To: "Global Meteor Observing Forum" <meteorobs at meteorobs.org>
Sent: Sunday, August 15, 2004 1:18 AM
Subject: (meteorobs) Re: Charley the nuisance


> Joan and I made it just fine after a heavy brush with Hurricane
> Charley.  Power was off for 26 hours -- we got it back just in time to not
> lose the freezer food.  Don't open the refrigerator unless absolutely
> necessary.  Still having water and phone made the blackout period
> bearable.  I showered with cold water a couple of times and sprinkled with
> water as necessary to stay cool while the air conditioning was off.  There
> is no excuse for dying in a heat wave if water is available; how often are
> people found dead in heat all bundled up in clothes?  We are fortunate to
> remain intact when so many people up the road don't have anything left.
>
> As best I can tell now, the eye of Charley passed 10-15 miles west of
> us.  It looked like winds at 75-80 with gusts to 90, plus 8 inches of
> rain.  We have the strongest rolldown shutters available for all windows
> and even the exit doors.  Each shutter is fastened on the outside of the
> opening in concrete block with 32 screws.  No water got inside.  I kept 3
> shutters up for viewing on the lee sides, and was watching for almost 3
> hours straight.  One window I also opened to hear the roar.  Saw various
> trees break up and uproot.  An early gust knocked over all of our largest
> banana trees -- just one big splat sound.  There was no house damage in
our
> neighborhood, an old one and built well.  We are also shielded by two
> 2-story apartment buildings in the back and a 1-story house on either
side,
> plus the elevation at our spot is 12 feet -- critical for storm surge.
The
> river is only 3 blocks away.  Living in a mobile home on low ground near
> the water is not the wisest thing to do.  It may be less costly but it can
> come to an end in minutes.  Our yard is pretty well trashed and will need
a
> couple of weeks to clean up.  The water had already sunk into the ground a
> day later.
>
> This was Joan's first hurricane, and my first in the daytime.  All others
> back to 1950 came at night.  I was able to see black clouds with heavy
> squalls coming.  It was unusually still until quite late when a squall
came
> suddenly and took us to 50 mph.  I could hear the roar in the trees
> approaching with a curtain of rain.  There were people caught in the open
> by that -- mad scramble to get to safety.  At no time was I concerned with
> a strong house to hide in.  The tune might have changed if we had gotten
> the 145-mph winds here.
>
> The sudden strengthening just before landfall reminds me of the 1935 Keys
> storm that was a category 5.  It only did a short hop from its origin in
> the Bahamas as a small storm but quickly developed the lowest central
> pressure on record in the Western Hemisphere, 26.35" of mercury.  Hundreds
> were trapped in the Keys and died in a 20-foot storm surge with winds at
200.
>
> Last night the sky over Fort Myers was LM 6.5 with so many lights
> out.  Tonight it is barely 6.0.  Can't consider going out of town for
> observing, roads are cluttered with debris and traffic lights are out.
>
> I lived in Punta Gorda, 26 miles north of here, for the school years
> 1973-75.  A delightful place to live, and a couple of great years for
> meteor observing.  Punta Gorda was ground zero for the hurricane.  Towns
> never look the same after a storm like this one.  They have to be
> completely rebuilt.
>
> Norman
> Norman W. McLeod III
> Staff Advisor
> American Meteor Society
>
> Fort Myers, Florida
> nmcleod at peganet.com
>
>
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