One year ago today: September 28, 2021, a 40-year head start.
Five years ago today: September 28, 2017, I never trusted CARFAX.
Nine years ago today: September 28, 2013, seriously 260 times.
Random years ago today: September 28, 2018, pretty ho-hum for me.
No mercy this time, the storm is a Cat 5 heading NNE to Ft. Meyers meaning it will slice right through this neighborhood. Will I regret not having those tree limbs taken down? The official Florida hurricane map site is a joke, there is no map there. Just a membership site that says enter your e-mail and wait. There’s been a soggy rain for 12 hours, with the odd few minutes let-up. The birdies are in a feeding frenzy and I’ve put everything I can down on the ground outside. There’s Junior Red in his glory, he may have a younger cousin visiting, who he seems to tolerate. Now we wait. I took the drizzly morning to watch some documentaries. I decided on a closer look at the latest in yachts. The new Ms. Red has found the feeder tray. I did not want to scare her by reaching for the camcorder.
Some were touted to have ranges of 4,000 miles. These were for sale on the east US coast. Where would one go that many miles from, say, Hilton Head? That’s about the sailing distance to Rome. Using that as a radius, you could got anywhere from Greenland to West Africa to Argentina. Who would want to sail there except for the odd drug deal. We’ll assume you want to stop at ports that can accommodate big boats, have supplies, and something to see. If you start from the American west coast, 4,000 miles puts you in the middle of the Pacific. Maybe owning a yacht is not all it’s cracked up to be.
The USDA’s website is an inch closer in requiring anyone with a garden to register. The vague connection is that you may use chemicals or operate a gas-powered tool. Go look for yourself, but they are plainly moving toward mandatory compliance. My gosh, I have an undeclared peach tree.
AT THIS POINT THERE WAS A POWER OUTAGE THAT LASTED 3 DAYS.
From here on, nothing happens so you get some data on the storm. For most of it, I simply slept through it but there was panic everywhere. Here’s a view of the cabin, showing the bunker-like design. The building is buffered on three sides by trees, not all shown here, and on the fourth side by the neighbors large 2-1/2 story house. By 5:00PM the drizzle is getting intense. I’m all locked down and in the end I put up 38 extra hurricane straps. The wind is NNE, never a good omen.
Sure enough at 5:14PM the wind picked up and blasted open my shed door. Just as I got that bolted down, the power went. I no longer fuss with battery radios or candles. You can never find them in the dark and these items don’t keep. If need be, I go sit in the van and use that radio.
6:00PM The wind gust are up to 60 mph, but most steady at around half that. The city emergency lights are on. The church on Jackson Ave has an emergency generation, so that’s lighting up the eastern sky. The wind has shifted to the NW, complete dark cloud cover. I made coffee and moved all perishables to the front of the fridge, they have to go first. I hear small tree limbs hitting the roof. Take a nap until 7:30PM.
8:00PM Wind is still terrific, but as usual it is way up high over my place. The speed is steadily climbing, I’d say still around 90mph, but no longer gusting. Temperatures stay near 78ºF. Since there was no traffic, I hopped in the van and drover around 20 minutes to monitor the damage. Many trees are down, lots of roads are blocked and the whole downtown is without power. The wind shifts slightly to NNW, this means we are near the eye and catching arms. Still calm at ground level here, the radio says the storm is six hours away, and there is more to come. Loud crashing noises to the north.
Swiss avalanche.
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9:00PM Slight letup, no rain but wind maybe 80mph, no worse than a usual summer storm, but I hear a lot more cracking and popping. This calm interval had me out checking the yard and sheds. Broken tree limbs everywhere. Bigger trees are toppling and while there is no rain yet, there is growling thunder to the east. Cellular service is out, or I should say Boost. Other providers to not seem affected. Here’s a view of the main road out of town to the west, this NW wind of this strength is unusual.
10:00PM The wind does not really howl until 90 mph and that is just starting up. The “bubble” of wind that forms over this place is 30 or
11:00PM Steady 90 mph winds, mild rain. Lots of noise, trees waving around, slight window rattle. And that chill is staying. Distant sirens and roaring noises, this neighborhood is all buttoned up. The city emergency street lights went out. I’m getting a lot of reading done, I do have a suitcase full of those little blue LED cases that Harbor Freight used to give away. And a box of batteries, one light per room. When I read more than two hours, I often get reading fatigue, so I’ll read things that otherwise don’t interest me. Postage stamps of the world.
12:00 AM I guess this have topped out at 90 mph. Pitch black until the city emergency lights came on. It was nice for an hour, dark and quiet, we now have light rain and it is steady at 72ºF. I have small desk lights, also Harbor Freight and I fixed lots of small gadgets I’ve been meaning to get to.
3:00 AM A falling limb on the roof woke me. Winds are down, maybe 50 mph, temp still 73ºF. I shut off the battery lights. This is another reason for the lanterns gaining favor. I have no idea how long the power will be out, but full time batteries gives me maybe three days. I have a Coleman pump-up model, but you know, the gas will not store well and something always goes wrong with the gas needles on those things. The green 1-pound canisters are not perfect either, a certain percentage of them leak to empty of you remove the gas line and try to store them.
4:00 AM Mild wind, still SW, so it is over. Raindrops, steady temp.
5:00 AM Mild wind, no rain, eerie silence. It will be light in an hour, so check back tomorrow.
