A non-political (for a change) big wind (1 Viewer)

Isaac

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OK, here is the latest. We rode out the storm on 8/29/21, lost power 12:45, tree fell at 15:20, and for the next couple of days we stayed around with no power, no fresh water (but we had bottled water to drink so OK there), no A/C, no NOTHIN' to speak of. Some minor roof damage, probably needed a new roof anyway but this pushes up the priority.. H. Ida hit us as a category 4 storm and a slow-moving Jezebel at that. Here are a couple of pix. If you look, you might see power lines under the branches off to the left. That was a 60-year old "white oak" tree. It stayed up through H. Katrina 16 years ago, stayed up after a direct hit last year by H. Zeta (including that the eye of Zeta passed directly over us). But H. Ida with sustained winds of 150 mph and gusts of 185 was more than it could take.

Moral of the story: A category 4 hurricane is NO JOKE. We are looking at a solid two weeks and maybe more before power can be restored because one of the main 300-ft tall transmission lines from the Entergy (power provider) blew into the river. They are working on rerouting but apparently it is going to be non-trivial. Until the work crews can clear that tree that is on our power lines, though, it won't matter if anyone else has power. We won't.

We found a safe haven to wait out the repairs with some family in central Alabama. Won't be cheap but what do you do?

I will be working on unpacking in the motel so my posting will still be limited, but wife and I are OK and in a building that actually has a working air conditioner. You don't realize just how much you miss that until you don't have it any more.
Glad that you're okay and that you have a plan to ride out the repairs now. I can imagine it's pretty bad to be without power and air conditioning for a long time. What a huge storm. I hope things go well in the coming weeks and that in some way you end up enjoying things along the way on the Alabama trip.
 

The_Doc_Man

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Thanks for the kind wishes, @Isaac, there will be no problem in enjoying the Bessemer AL area - I've got maybe half-a-dozen or more relatives still living here whom I only see one weekend a year. This will be a chance to visit with them a bit more in a less hectic fashion than trying to relate to 20+ different people in a 2-hour or 3-hour window.

I worry more for my dear wife because two of the kids chose to stay. They have generators and are responsible adults, but they ARE still "her babies" and that will never change. I know, I was my mother's "baby" until she fell victim to Alzheimer's and didn't know me any more. I was over 40 and she STILL called me her baby. So my sweetie is trying to find grounding that I cannot completely provide at this time. She has to accept that the fledglings left the nest a LONG time ago. But then, mothers are like that, never quite letting go.

I think the saving grace is that we have found a place where we can charge up our cell phones as often as needed, and the kids either have generators they can use - or one lives on the Atlantic coast of Florida and was out of harm's way from Ida. As long as she gets to talk to the kids every so often, I think she will make it. I just have to be her rock for a while.
 

moke123

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It'll be interesting to see what happens with the rebuilding process and the current supply chain problems. My contractor brother in law told me today that he just ordered kitchen cabinets for a job and the delivery date is 9 months out. I haven't been to home depot lately, is the price of lumber still out of control?
 

AccessBlaster

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The democrats unleash Mr. Magoo on the world and then complain inflation is going through the roof as they print trillions in new dollars.
 

CJ_London

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Price of lumber is up all over the world, not just USA - in the UK up around 50% on last year.

Doc - only just seen this thread so a late responder, glad to hear you are through the worst - it can only get better for here😊
 

Minty

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@The_Doc_Man , I have also only just caught up on this, very glad you have survived and the house is mainly intact.
 

The_Doc_Man

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It'll be interesting to see what happens with the rebuilding process and the current supply chain problems. My contractor brother in law told me today that he just ordered kitchen cabinets for a job and the delivery date is 9 months out. I haven't been to home depot lately, is the price of lumber still out of control?

We have not seen the aftermath yet for Ida, but I also lived through Katrina, where we had flooding and had to rebuild the ground floor of the house. About two weeks after the insurance adjusters sent their novices into Hell on Earth, dealing with already frustrated home-owners with nothing left except a framework, checks started arriving. Can't speak to all of the chains, but Lowe's provided the materials for our house once we had a crew. My wife would go to Lowe's to pay for the pile of stuff the crew boss would select (when he could). In conversation, we learned that once the roads were opened, they would get 18 semi trucks arriving just after midnight and a special night crew would do the midnight to 8 AM shift unloading. By about 8 PM, the store would be empty again, and that lasted for a couple of months.

This time, it might get worse because COVID has shut down many factories due to lack of workers. Also, I don't recall that Katrina morphed into quite the rainmaker that Ida did. This morning on my "Weather Channel" app on the cell, I see that Ida merged with a front and dropped flooding rains in Philadelphia, northern New Jersey, parts of New York (including flooding the subways), and the witch even spawned tornadoes. Not only will the early part of Ida's path be in rebuilding mode, but the more heavily populated northeast populations centers will need materials too, just as there is a series of forest fires in western states that often produce lumber. If you thought the country was divided before, just wait. I can see riots breaking out already over gas lines here, and with the damage in the northeast, I think more chaos will ensue.
 

Isaac

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We have not seen the aftermath yet for Ida, but I also lived through Katrina, where we had flooding and had to rebuild the ground floor of the house. About two weeks after the insurance adjusters sent their novices into Hell on Earth, dealing with already frustrated home-owners with nothing left except a framework, checks started arriving. Can't speak to all of the chains, but Lowe's provided the materials for our house once we had a crew. My wife would go to Lowe's to pay for the pile of stuff the crew boss would select (when he could). In conversation, we learned that once the roads were opened, they would get 18 semi trucks arriving just after midnight and a special night crew would do the midnight to 8 AM shift unloading. By about 8 PM, the store would be empty again, and that lasted for a couple of months.

This time, it might get worse because COVID has shut down many factories due to lack of workers. Also, I don't recall that Katrina morphed into quite the rainmaker that Ida did. This morning on my "Weather Channel" app on the cell, I see that Ida merged with a front and dropped flooding rains in Philadelphia, northern New Jersey, parts of New York (including flooding the subways), and the witch even spawned tornadoes. Not only will the early part of Ida's path be in rebuilding mode, but the more heavily populated northeast populations centers will need materials too, just as there is a series of forest fires in western states that often produce lumber. If you thought the country was divided before, just wait. I can see riots breaking out already over gas lines here, and with the damage in the northeast, I think more chaos will ensue.

Wise words - I'm always interested in political/social predictions, I just think it's an interesting business. You may be on to something there. What a crazy world.

Your response about Alabama living made me realize you might be in for a longer-term move than I was thinking. Months? Or is your wife just so beautifully connected with the children that a lesser time period evokes the same worry and missing. Or is it mostly because things are still potentially real dangerous.

Trust me - I'm just beginning to understand: We moved BOTH of our children out of the home within the last month. It's very .. strange, is the only word I have so far. I'm much younger than most of the parents of my kids' friends, but I guess I started young on the baby business.
 

The_Doc_Man

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Don't get me wrong, I love my family and want to see them. But it ain't home. I have an update from my stepson, though. He says next week the local power people will be reconnecting houses in his area. Some power is being restored. It's just a long, slow process because there are over a million customers in the affected area. A million of anything takes a while to fix.
 

The_Doc_Man

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Now if we could just persuade them to do the dumping along the Pacific coastline....
 

The_Doc_Man

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Good news, a sign of progress. Our oldest daughter drove by (she's got a generator so stayed home) The tree that had fallen on the power lines has now been removed. There is a new power pole on the easement but she said they didn't have the right kind of truck to remove the old one and erect the new one. I expect progress within a couple of days (this is Saturday, 6 days after the storm.) We might have power within two or three days. If so, we will head back. I've already checked the list of stores open in the area and expect it to get better as power is restored. Our son's area will get power back on Wednesday if Entergy holds to their published schedule.
 

Isaac

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Good news, a sign of progress. Our oldest daughter drove by (she's got a generator so stayed home) The tree that had fallen on the power lines has now been removed. There is a new power pole on the easement but she said they didn't have the right kind of truck to remove the old one and erect the new one. I expect progress within a couple of days (this is Saturday, 6 days after the storm.) We might have power within two or three days. If so, we will head back. I've already checked the list of stores open in the area and expect it to get better as power is restored. Our son's area will get power back on Wednesday if Entergy holds to their published schedule.
That is really good news, seems better than expected
 

The_Doc_Man

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The ultimate good news. We have power and I already have called AT&T about the phone service. I think they will be visiting customers as they can get around. My stepson is staying in the house tonight to watch it and will be enjoying my DVD collection. We have another day here so we can get to a laundromat and have clean clothes in the suitcases. Drive back on Friday and start cleaning up the yard. Before we leave here, we will visit WalMart for some lawn & leaf bags, 'cause my stepson verified that we will have a pot-load of loose branches.

The end is in sight!
🙂🙂🙂🥲
 

pbaldy

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Great news! I'd come help with the yard, but the commute is a bit much. :p
 

Steve R.

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Good luck with the refrigerator. Had to toss a whole bunch of stuff. Took a long-time to clean. At least we did not have a freezer full of stuff. Next time, should we have to evacuate, we will pre-clean the refrigerator.
 

conception_native_0123

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pbaldy

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Vegas to New Orleans. Yes I would say it is a bit much. but you might want to consider moving Paul, if this is indeed true:


I live in northern NV, so not a concern for me personally. I have seen Lake Mead and it is a sad sight to see it so low. That said, if I move, it certainly won't be to hurricane or tornado country!
 

conception_native_0123

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I live in northern NV, so not a concern for me personally. I have seen Lake Mead and it is a sad sight to see it so low. That said, if I move, it certainly won't be to hurricane or tornado country!
That's too bad Paul, because I was looking forward to seeing your face :). In terms of the country you're moving to, what country would that be? Drought country?
 

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