Hurricane Isaac

[pinkpopcorn]

I have been sweating it out thinking about this storm becoming a hurricane. I live in central Florida and have been avidly watching the weather channel. We are 45 minutes from Tampa. I know they have now forecast this storm to HIT New Orleans and land in that general vicinity.

Right now we are getting the 'feeder bands' of very hard rain and winds plus we have tornado watches until. 9 am. People are in power outages right now (not here yet). My sister lives in West Palm Beach and has had 12-15 inches of rain so far today. The bands are coming from the east across the state from the right. The weather will be rainy all week long. UGH! BUT- I am very glad not to be in the impact zone.

I am very concerned about the brothers and sisters where the storm is headed. Ever since Katrina, I get nervous. I am hearing sirens right now going down the main drag here in our city.

Are any of you in the area to be hit? So scary.

[surfergirl]

I hope you guys will be okay, May Jehovah be with you guys. I will pray for you are not to effected..

[lavritt]

I live in the very center of the storm track...not on the coast, but directly north of New Orleans at the eastern point where Louisiana and Arkansas touch Mississippi. Though we need the rain, the farmers are frantically trying to get in the rice and corn crops. Cotton is blooming now and it remains to be seen whether or not the rain destroys the buds. Prediciting +15" here in Greenville with high winds, tornadoes, power outage and trees and lines down. Nothing we can do but hunker down and make sure we've got all our emergency supplies.

And when I say we need the rain, sooo true. Last year we were all holding our breath wondering if the levees would hold on the Mississippi (I live about 5 blocks from the river). Flooding and highest water levels in history...over 100 ft here. Now the river is closed....lowest levels in history...less than 6 feet. Needless to say, not deep enough for the barges. Amazing. Especially if you know how wide the river is normally.

[pinkpopcorn]

Well Lisa, I surely will be thinking and praying for you. Hurricanes make me nuts!

[surfergirl]

I feel for you guys living in those areas must be very frightening..The only major incidents we might get is bush fires or strong southerlies but nothing powerful like what you get.

The only warning I have ever had was 3years ago. It was the memorial night. I was out preaching and handing out the rest of the invites. We live close to the water. My Dad rang me after while I am out. A warning had been issued for a Tsuanmi and it was to hit our coast. This was from the C'O and Bethel had been passing on the message to all who lived between New Guinea and Tasmania. There had been an earthquake of one of the Islands around the South Pacific at the time. My hubby likes to go of diving for hours Dad and all concerned was worried he might get sucked out to sea LOL. But that passed. May Jehovah Be with you both Chris & Lisa

[surfergirl]

We just got our late news. Issac sounds like he is getting stronger. I hope it passes soon. & No one is affect. I will be praying for you guys. May Jehovah be with you all. xo

[Musky]

So, how did you make out Lisa?

[lavritt]

So, how did you make out Lisa?

Pretty good, actually. TONS of rain and wind for about 2 days. Don't know the actual amount yet, but I'd say 18" or so judging by how far the water came up my driveway. Today it is breezy and sunny....and HUMID! sheesh! No trees down, power only flickered a few times at my house. Lots of shingles off and a leaky roof...but other than that.... My house is a 100-year-old brick craftsman....pretty sturdy old girl. Though the Delta is completely flat, I actually sit on an invisible-to-the-eye rise (must be the size of an ant hill!) but even in the flood of 1927 this house didn't get water in it.

That said...lots of areas around me had damage...flooding, trees, etc. But as far as I know everyone (brothers) is okay..even if they had to evacuate. Thanks for thinking of me!!!

[Musky]

So, how did you make out Lisa?

Pretty good, actually. TONS of rain and wind for about 2 days. Don't know the actual amount yet, but I'd say 18" or so judging by how far the water came up my driveway. Today it is breezy and sunny....and HUMID! sheesh! No trees down, power only flickered a few times at my house. Lots of shingles off and a leaky roof...but other than that.... My house is a 100-year-old brick craftsman....pretty sturdy old girl. Though the Delta is completely flat, I actually sit on an invisible-to-the-eye rise (must be the size of an ant hill!) but even in the flood of 1927 this house didn't get water in it.

That said...lots of areas around me had damage...flooding, trees, etc. But as far as I know everyone (brothers) is okay..even if they had to evacuate. Thanks for thinking of me!!!

Good to hear! I saw on the satellite picture how close you are to the mighty Mississippi! How is the water level now? Is the river traffic starting to move again?

[lavritt]

Eleven miles of the river had been closed to traffic because of low levels. I heard (unconfirmed) that a portion of that has reopened to limited barge traffic. Water levels at the gage are at 7.5 ft....should be like 24 ft or so. The Levee Board has been dredging all along both shores of Mississippi/Arkansas trying to deepen the center. Barges have a shallow draft, but they were running aground on the sand bars. The rain from Isaac should eventually help....but it will take a while because it would have to come down from the north and since everything is under draught, most of the water will soak into the ground and not run off into the rivers that feed Mississippi. Early spring is the wettest/highest for us here because of the snow melt up north. Lots of snow means we flood.

What this has done for the economy is to help raise gas and feed prices. The Mississippi is a huge transportation route for both. Plus, this is harvest season for corn, rice and soybeans here and the farmers use the barges to get the grain to the buyers. On the way to the meeting Tuesday night I passed a grainery....there were 25 huge grain trucks parked on the street waiting their turn to pull into the grainery drive....where there were another 25 or so trucks in line...at least what I could count. They were trying to get it off the trucks before Isaac hit. The fields were lit up with combine lights all night.

Today I get to tarp a roof and determine if it is an insurance job or not....thank goodness my son is back home from Alabama....!

[Musky]

Sounds like a fun time is being had by all--NOT

Be careful walking around on a wet roof!

I read a book that I can't remember the name of at the moment, but it was about farmers and the love/hate relationship they had with the Mississippi river. They needed it of course to get their crops out, but every now and then it flooded just before harvest and wiped the crop out or at least prevented harvest and/or seeding. It will be so nice when these things are back in Jehovah's control!

[lavritt]

Agree! It takes a special kind of person to be a small farmer in this world. Always at the mercy of the bugs or disease or weather or government. Always guessing at which crop to plant for the next year that will bring the best returns. It is definitely a love/hate relationship. My husband loved farming. His daddy was a farmer. His uncle was a farmer. His granddaddy was a farmer...all in the tiny little spot on the map of Shaw, Mississippi. His daddy just recently, because of health/age issues, had to leave Shaw...the only place he has ever lived in his 80+ years. I used to just listen to them talk about the land and the crops and the chemicals. Their heads were packed full of so much knowledge....what a crop duster was spraying by watching his flight pattern and height, how to break down a tractor engine, what you could learn from walking the turnrows, which snakes to kill and which will run before biting, how to tell if a crop was in distress. DId you know that you don't want to see the blooms on cotton? If you look out over the field and you see the flowers, your crops are hurting, probably lack of water. The flowers should be hidden down under the leaves. And the flowers start out red and turn white before they become bolls.

They both missed their farming days. And they both were looking forward to farming in the new system...

[lavritt]

;)

[pinkpopcorn]

Lisa I am so happy that you got rain in your area and not destruction! Yeah!