East TN and Western NC after the storm.
- Thread starter DirtySteve
- Start date
OP
DirtySteve
Ambassador of Hold My Beer
I forget that Spartanburg got hit hard, too. I sure hope you hear something soon.
Here we go again. Got a hurricane boiling across the Gulf taking a bead on the Tampa area. Currently it just hit Cat5 as it clips the Yucatán. It may weaken to a Cat3 as it makes landfall. Regardless. We all have friends and family in the bulls eye. I know Adrian lives just east of Tampa. And I know a few other TTR members lives in the same area.
Let’s keep them all in our thoughts and prayers. Hopefully everyone that’s been told to evac have done so.
Let’s keep them all in our thoughts and prayers. Hopefully everyone that’s been told to evac have done so.
OP
DirtySteve
Ambassador of Hold My Beer
I posted about it Saturday, my whole family is in Tampa.
My brother is planning to stay and ride it out, but my sister in law and their disabled son and my mom are on their way to a place they booked in Jacksonville until the storm passes. Then if the power's going to be out for a while they're going to stay with her sister in SC because my nephew can't be without power. None of my other family is evacuating.
Yeah…. Remember that now. Have a good friend that lives in Sarasota, so it was kinda front and center in my thoughts. She’s in Ohio right now so totally safe…. But seriously worried about what she might come home to.
Hope your family members that have chosen to ride it out stay safe.
OP
DirtySteve
Ambassador of Hold My Beer
As for back up here in the mountains,
This was posted yesterday by Chris Justus, WYFF 4 chief meteorologist in Greenville SC...
230 DEATHS, “HUNDREDS” MISSING:
This is a tough post to write and the most graphic to date. 9 days after Helene brought rain and flooding that meteorologically speaking occurs once every 1,000 years to the Western Carolinas “hundreds” remain missing. Over 70 deaths have been reported near Asheville and unfortunately that number will likely be much higher. The medical examiner there has stopped reporting deaths in the county awaiting assistance from state and federal officials due to the extreme number. Communication is improving and unfortunately I am hearing similar stories in rural communities and counties surrounding Asheville from my first responder friends. Bodies are being recovered every day and “the smell of death is everywhere” in the mountains. The flooding came on quickly; what we call flash flooding, entire homes were washed away in seconds. The recovery of that magnitude and assessment of who may have been inside those homes is a major undertaking.
I’ve had many report to me that their donations are being turned away. In an effort to keep rumors from growing I’ll tell you exactly what first responders on the ground have told me and not speculate on specific instances. Officials on the ground tell me the donations, supplies and volunteers have been an amazing blessing. They tell me in some instances “FEMA has taken the lead and is working to assist at the distribution of these donations. FEMA also controls the air space around certain airports like Asheville and Rutherfordton mainly due to increased traffic of military aircraft used to transport supplies and support rescue and recovery efforts. Private pilots must sign up for specific landing times at these airports.
While rescue and recovery efforts are a daily mission, power crews make progress and road crews are beginning to assess priority areas to rebuild. Many communities in the mountains are completely cut off due to bridges and roads being washed out. There are literally 10 to 15 foot high drops where roads used to be located. Makeshift bridges for foot traffic and ATVs are being created to allow some form of travel. This has set Western North Carolina back hundreds of years in some areas with regard to how quickly you can get to a location. What used to take 15 to 20 minutes may now take a half a day.
There’s also a deeper impact we will see play out in the weeks to come. Schools in many mountain communities are considered closed “indefinitely.” The infrastructure will take a long time to recover for travel, power and then internet.
I’ll conclude by reiterating a few things. A major hurricane will strike Florida’s West Coast this week, but with a cold front moving through our area on Monday, we will not see any impacts as it will block the hurricane from moving north. I’d like to continue to stress the need for support well beyond the last road being repaired in the mountains for first responders and regular people turned first responders. The horror they have seen and the recovery underway is taking a toll and will take us all rallying behind them.
This was posted yesterday by Chris Justus, WYFF 4 chief meteorologist in Greenville SC...
230 DEATHS, “HUNDREDS” MISSING:
This is a tough post to write and the most graphic to date. 9 days after Helene brought rain and flooding that meteorologically speaking occurs once every 1,000 years to the Western Carolinas “hundreds” remain missing. Over 70 deaths have been reported near Asheville and unfortunately that number will likely be much higher. The medical examiner there has stopped reporting deaths in the county awaiting assistance from state and federal officials due to the extreme number. Communication is improving and unfortunately I am hearing similar stories in rural communities and counties surrounding Asheville from my first responder friends. Bodies are being recovered every day and “the smell of death is everywhere” in the mountains. The flooding came on quickly; what we call flash flooding, entire homes were washed away in seconds. The recovery of that magnitude and assessment of who may have been inside those homes is a major undertaking.
I’ve had many report to me that their donations are being turned away. In an effort to keep rumors from growing I’ll tell you exactly what first responders on the ground have told me and not speculate on specific instances. Officials on the ground tell me the donations, supplies and volunteers have been an amazing blessing. They tell me in some instances “FEMA has taken the lead and is working to assist at the distribution of these donations. FEMA also controls the air space around certain airports like Asheville and Rutherfordton mainly due to increased traffic of military aircraft used to transport supplies and support rescue and recovery efforts. Private pilots must sign up for specific landing times at these airports.
While rescue and recovery efforts are a daily mission, power crews make progress and road crews are beginning to assess priority areas to rebuild. Many communities in the mountains are completely cut off due to bridges and roads being washed out. There are literally 10 to 15 foot high drops where roads used to be located. Makeshift bridges for foot traffic and ATVs are being created to allow some form of travel. This has set Western North Carolina back hundreds of years in some areas with regard to how quickly you can get to a location. What used to take 15 to 20 minutes may now take a half a day.
There’s also a deeper impact we will see play out in the weeks to come. Schools in many mountain communities are considered closed “indefinitely.” The infrastructure will take a long time to recover for travel, power and then internet.
I’ll conclude by reiterating a few things. A major hurricane will strike Florida’s West Coast this week, but with a cold front moving through our area on Monday, we will not see any impacts as it will block the hurricane from moving north. I’d like to continue to stress the need for support well beyond the last road being repaired in the mountains for first responders and regular people turned first responders. The horror they have seen and the recovery underway is taking a toll and will take us all rallying behind them.
OP
DirtySteve
Ambassador of Hold My Beer
I hate to say it because it's true. A lot of people choose to stay to protect their belonging from the looters that come out after the storm. That's exactly why my brother is staying. He did say that when it get's closer if it looks like it's going to hit direct that he will leave in time. He's not in a flood zone so the house should be ok except for maybe some wind damage and power outage, but we're all used to that. Right now even though the predicted path is moving further south, they're still hyping the storm to hit Tampa directly, which is a worst case scenario so they'll stick with that as long as they can. We'll see...