2018: Hurricanes and Tropical Storms

[Nikedagain?]

HAY Y'ALL.

Ugh. We were without power for 6 weeks! Wait... it just seemed like it. We didn't have terrible storms, with thunder and lightening and horrible winds, just STEADY wind and STEADY hard rain. Non stop. I'm not sure which is worse. Literally, just pouring, hour after hour. A bunch of trees fell and boom! No power. Hoping that it stays on...

But we are fine. Sweaty and so, so bored. SO BORED. But not going to complain. Heartbroken to see my beloved coast in such a mess. There's something about the beach that is very grounding for kids with autism. It's primal. So we go a lot, just for the day. I'm so sad.

It's supposed to continue raining like this for 2 more days. A few of our big rivers are supposed to crest sometime Monday. (it amazes me that they can pinpoint the time) That's supposed to cause some new problems. Authorities here would like for people to continue to stay home, off the flooded streets and the Universities (except maybe Duke, but who cares about Duke?) are closed on Monday again. Some businesses are open, but a lot of things remain just shut down. They have opened some really large shelters at UNC and they're bringing people here from the coast as well as the apartment complexes that flooded here. One of my former students is at a shelter now. His trailer park is in a flood prone area so they were evacuated.  He and his brother are both in wheelchairs and his parents are undocumented. He's convinced that Trump is coming for them. (He's been living in terror for 22 months.) F'ing Trump. He has an iPad and has been texting me non stop. BLESS HIMSSS. I read "Circe" and started "Educated" and my eyes hurt! We ate all of our Special Florence Snacks in like the first 2 hours, so that didn't help. My litterbox is electric therefore my cats are ALL kinds of perturbed with my incessant scooping. Just indignant. My daughter hates me, she is so very done with everything, especially me, right now. We are needing that routine so badly! Sun might help, too. 

Well this is my stream of consciousness post-Florence post. Sorry about that. But thank you all so so SO much for checking on me. As soon as my internet came back on, I RAN to FJ. You guys are the best. ❤️

PS The return of @VelociRapture has made Florence worth it! Yay!

[VelociRapture]

42 minutes ago, Nikedagain? said:

HAY Y'ALL.

Ugh. We were without power for 6 weeks! Wait... it just seemed like it. We didn't have terrible storms, with thunder and lightening and horrible winds, just STEADY wind and STEADY hard rain. Non stop. I'm not sure which is worse. Literally, just pouring, hour after hour. A bunch of trees fell and boom! No power. Hoping that it stays on...

But we are fine. Sweaty and so, so bored. SO BORED. But not going to complain. Heartbroken to see my beloved coast in such a mess. There's something about the beach that is very grounding for kids with autism. It's primal. So we go a lot, just for the day. I'm so sad.

It's supposed to continue raining like this for 2 more days. A few of our big rivers are supposed to crest sometime Monday. (it amazes me that they can pinpoint the time) That's supposed to cause some new problems. Authorities here would like for people to continue to stay home, off the flooded streets and the Universities (except maybe Duke, but who cares about Duke?) are closed on Monday again. Some businesses are open, but a lot of things remain just shut down. They have opened some really large shelters at UNC and they're bringing people here from the coast as well as the apartment complexes that flooded here. One of my former students is at a shelter now. His trailer park is in a flood prone area so they were evacuated.  He and his brother are both in wheelchairs and his parents are undocumented. He's convinced that Trump is coming for them. (He's been living in terror for 22 months.) F'ing Trump. He has an iPad and has been texting me non stop. BLESS HIMSSS. I read "Circe" and started "Educated" and my eyes hurt! We ate all of our Special Florence Snacks in like the first 2 hours, so that didn't help. My litterbox is electric therefore my cats are ALL kinds of perturbed with my incessant scooping. Just indignant. My daughter hates me, she is so very done with everything, especially me, right now. We are needing that routine so badly! Sun might help, too. 

Well this is my stream of consciousness post-Florence post. Sorry about that. But thank you all so so SO much for checking on me. As soon as my internet came back on, I RAN to FJ. You guys are the best. ❤️

PS The return of @VelociRapture has made Florence worth it! Yay!

I’m so glad to hear you guys are ok!!! I’ll keep my fingers crossed that your power stays on and the cleanup efforts (when they begin) go as smoothly as possible. 

And for your entertainment tonight, because I just watched the CNN Movie, I present... Notorious RBG:

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Some old and new “Daily Show” funnies:

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And two Florence related jokes, just because I feel it’s healthy to laugh about scary situations once in a while:

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Stay safe tonight everyone!

[Nikedagain?]

Yay! These are great! And that was a great movie! Here's my RBG, she remains a stable genius. Here she's watching a tiny moth. Look at that laser focus. 

 

[Shadoewolf]

@Nikedagain? Glad you are ok! Sweaty and bored is s rough combo but I know you'll get through it. My ASD kiddo loves the beach too. 

My cute story for today involved said kiddo. He plays hockey and today was the evaluation scrimmage to figure out what kids go to which team. The other kid kept trying to trip him, constantly had his stick in Youngest's skates. Youngest finally had enough, dropped the shoulder and laid the kid OUT!! Textbook legal check like you'd see in the NHL (except they're not supposed to have contact at this age, they're 10)  and off Youngest goes after the puck. Kid was okay. Me, Hubby and both his coaches were hiding our faces so nobody could see us laughing. He ended up with like 5 breakaways once they figured out he's better as a right wing forward but all his shots went wide or dinked off the post so he only had one assist.  The life of a hockey mom!

In case you're feeling a little nuts..

[Cartmann99]

I know that some folks are still without power right now, so I'm hoping those that weren't able to get here on Saturday, will hopefully be able to check-in with us on Sunday.

 

[PennySycamore]

I'm not sure how hard it's raining here at the moment -or even of it's raining at all- but it at least isn't pounding the roof.  We do occasionally get some wind gusts, but nothing too bad.  I'd asked the big puppy, Gwen, if she needed to go out.  She wouldn't,  but she did have to and pooped on the pee pads in the dining room.  The mess wasn't too bad. though.  I've got a candle burning in the dining room to kill the odor. 

@Nikedagain?,  I'm glad you and your family are doing reasonably well and I hope your power stays on and not just because of the litterbox!  Being without power sucks in so many ways!  I have an electric litterbox, too and I've never thought about it not working during a power outage.  I'm more concerned about the den being so damn dark with the lights off.  And no TV and the modem having no power.  My husband did talk about getting a generator.   I want one of those that comes on automatically (we have gas heat already), but he thinks they're too expensive.  I think they may have a big Generac at his office.  We don't need one that big!

ETA:  Alnwick Castle was not only Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films, it also served as Brancaster Castle on Downton Abbey.  It's where Lady Edith lived after she became the Marchioness of Hexham.  The Honorable Marigold Crawley-Pelham lives there still.  She's 96.  (For those who don't know their DA, Lady Edith is the middle daughter of Lord and Lady Grantham [I think of her as the Anne Elliot of the Crawley family].  She's been rather unlucky in love being jilted at the altar, having her married lover get killed in the Beer Hall Putsch, discovering she's pregnant by said lover, and finally meeting estate agent Bertie Pelham during a country weekend.  He helps her out one evening while she has to meet a magazine deadline and they fall in love.  After Bertie's cousin dies in Morocco, he inherits the title of Marquess of Hexham.  Lady Edith and Bertie marry on the last episode of series 7.)

[Howl]

13 hours ago, Nikedagain? said:

I read "Circe" and started "Educated" and my eyes hurt!

Whooo-eee.  "Educated" is mind bending.  Let us know what you think. 

[Carm_88]

Hey guys! My aunt got a new puppy, a shih zu/poodle/terrier mix named Oscar. Oscar is not a grouch, he's all kinds of adorable but like most babies and toddlers, he will not go to sleep when he should. So yesterday, we were playing with Oscar and my cousin knew that he was about to pass out. He had been busy chasing around her dog and it was just time. Sure enough he comes over and attacks my shirt with vigour and proceeded to conk out with said shirt in his mouth. I was stuck for a bit.

[Beermeet]

I'm glad to hear that you guys are safe.  Being without power and unable to go out sucks real bad tho.  I remember Gloria well. Not so fun.          I thought I'd share this for a laugh,  these news people are redic.  You'd think they would  knock it off considering the attack on the media.

Weather Channel Reporter Acts Like Hurricane Is About To Blow Him Over... While Two Dudes Casually Stroll By In The Background - Digg

http://digg.com/video/weather-channel-reporter-hurricane-florence-wind

 

[DancingPhalanges]

Ugh. Power is back and wind/rains are calm for now. I’m so glad to read people have checked in and are okay, but I haven’t read all the way back. The LTE service has been slow/nonexistent but WiFi is on now. We have no flooding so far but in the past have had water to our porch. The retention pond is holding. Our cat (floofy floof  as nicknamed by @Nikedagain?) got out the front door. She’s back in, excited by the rain and wet mulch. She’s chipped with a tagged collar but thankfully Mr Dancing and I cornered her and grabbed her. 

Everything here is minimal compared to what other people are dealing with. We’ve had winter storms worse than this and we feel very lucky. So much of our state and neighbors are flooded. 

Take care everyone. 

[Carm_88]

Oscar dreaming.

Oscar dreaming.

[PennySycamore]

The Weather Channel meteorologist in the video that @Beermeet and others have linked is none other than Mike Seidel who used to be with WYFF here in Greenville SC before he went to TWC.  One of my friends used to date him.  

BTw, I think it was on the first page or two of this thread when someone said you could see both The Weather Channel's logo and LL Bean's logo on someone's jacket.  I'm pretty sure the supplier to TWC for their foul weather gear is Lands' End now although it used to be LL Bean.  Both companies are famous for foulies.  I could have used some of Bean's "duck" boots today.  

We had a brief respite from the rain, just long enough to take two of the dogs out. I took Chloe out first and then Trinket.  She hates the rain!  Gwen had already been out., but it was raining lightly then.  ETA: I also set the rain gauge up straight when I was out with Trink.  It had fallen sideways, felled by some wet fern fronds.

 

[Alisamer]

So far here just rain. Tons of rain. I’m on a high spot but will probably have to take a detour to work tomorrow. Internet was out for a few hours this morning but is now back, the power blinked a few times but hasn’t gone off at all.  The rivers are flooding in low spots here. We are very lucky otherwise!

[FeministShrew]

Just rain here, too, not too heavy, but fairly steady. The wind has died down, though it was gusting pretty hard through the night. Our power never even blinked, thank goodness! My final paper for this term (I'm going after an MA in History) is due tonight & I was terrified we'd lose power, but I submitted it a little while ago. Now I can relax, watch Amazon Prime, & watch the rain.

[Cartmann99]

Has anybody heard from @melon today?

[DancingPhalanges]

35 minutes ago, Cartmann99 said:

Has anybody heard from @melon today?

No and I’m worried. I know the area where she lives but not sure if she’s close to flooded areas or is part of the power outages.  @Cartmann99 thank you for asking about her and I hope she checks in soon. 

*edit to add: one part of a county can be fine and another part, not so much. It’s hard to explain.  My oldest child has a home in a county in a devastated area yet they are completely fine. It just really depends if you are close to rivers or have buried power lines. 

Inland flooding and cresting rivers will continue. It’s worse for some people than the 2015/2016 events. 

I hope all of you that haven’t checked in are okay. 

[formergothardite]

Lots of rain and wind last night. Just rain today. We lost power briefly last night but it has been on all day. I saw on Facebook a baby died in NC today when a tree fell on the house. 

https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/3-month-old-killed-after-tree-topple-into-gaston-county-mobile-home-officials-say/835601743

[grateful1230]

Safe, and a friend got power back tonight! There's no way in or out of the city right now, and the rivers are expected to crest on Tues. 

We're not out of the woods yet, but so far, so good.

[Cartmann99]

[Shadoewolf]

Kitty pic!! Smokey almost never snuggles with me so this is rare!

 

 

[Myomy]

4 hours ago, Shadoewolf said:

Kitty pic!! Smokey almost never snuggles with me so this is rare!

 

 

Looks just like the Smokey I had.  She wasn't a snuggler either.  Miss her so much.

[nvmbr02]

On 9/16/2018 at 11:14 AM, Nikedagain? said:

Ugh. We were without power for 6 weeks! Wait... it just seemed like it. We didn't have terrible storms, with thunder and lightening and horrible winds, just STEADY wind and STEADY hard rain. Non stop. I'm not sure which is worse. Literally, just pouring, hour after hour. A bunch of trees fell and boom! No power. Hoping that it stays on...

But we are fine. Sweaty and so, so bored. SO BORED. But not going to complain. Heartbroken to see my beloved coast in such a mess. There's something about the beach that is very grounding for kids with autism. It's primal. So we go a lot, just for the day. I'm so sad.

So glad you are okay! With all the rain did your area/neighborhood have a lot of flooding? After watching what friends went through after Harvey I am glad we live in an area that doesn't flood easily. It is difficult enough to get around with areas flooded nearby. I hope you guys continue to be safe (and dry!) and that soon the coast is clean and things feel back to normal for you. 

I can totally relate to it feeling like forever when the power goes out. When Mangkut hit last week we were without power for almost 54 hours and has low water pressure/no water off and on for a lot of that time. It was miserable and we were all tired, hot and crabby. I am thankful cell service was only down for a few hours and we have several external battery packs because I would have gone out of my mind without it I think. I do feel bad complaining though as we do still have some people here without power and it has been a week now. 

 

[PennySycamore]

@nvmbr02,  you went through Typhoon Mangkhut?  I saw the news and was grateful that my granddaughter was no longer in southeast China.  I think a tropical storm hit Hong Kong on the day my daughter and son-in-law arrived to come home with one of the girls.  Now, that I think about it, it was their daughter from SE China.  I think they took a bus from where they were in SE China to Hong Kong.  

I woke up this morning around 6:45 and the rain had stopped!  There were clouds early on, but now the sun is out.  There's no standing water in the yard, but the bird bath is full! YAY!

[melon]

Hi.I'm checking in.We were lucky.Our lights flickered a few times,but we did not lose electricity.We had some winds,and rain but that's it.Our driveway and yard has some debris.Branches and leaves.Local schools are open and everyone is back to work.

[Carm_88]

2 minutes ago, melon said:

Hi.I'm checking in.We were lucky.Our lights flickered a few times,but we did not lose electricity.We had some winds,and rain but that's it.Our driveway and yard has some debris.Branches and leaves.Local schools are open and everyone is back to work.

Thanks for checking in! So glad all is well!