DU --- Sort-Of-Official --- HURRICANE ISABEL Check-In Center !!!

[WillyT]

A place for all to post observations, comforts, meteorological wit, and any and all info concerning Hurricane Isabel, the people effected by the storm, and the rest of us who love them.

Safety first, reporting... further down the list.

:loveya:

And then the rains came ashore...

Link: http://www.intellicast.com/Local/USLocalWide.asp?loc=kclt&seg=LocalWeather&prodgrp=RadarImagery&product=RadarLoop&prodnav=none

On edit: Hit Refresh on graphic as time goes by.

.......

[Terwilliger]

1. Thanks Willy!

I'm in Berkeley...skies are calm and clear...I'll update you as conditions warrant!!

;-)

[WillyT]

3. Yeah... I've Seen The Clouds Over YOUR Head, LOL !!!

:smoke:

[proud patriot]

11. LOL

:smoke:

[Skip Intro]

2. I'm far enough away, but it is getting really breezy here

Charleston.

I really thought this one was headed for us. Hope everyone has arrived to their evacuation destination or is strapped in safe, animals, plants and all.

Good vibes for my neighbors to the north.

[Darranar]

4. It'll hit us here tommorrow...

so let's keep this thread kicked if need be!

Nothing happening here in MD just northeast of the beltway.

[Lizz612]

5. Posted this on the old thread, oops! St. Mary's MD, Staying put.

Windows are taped, loose stuff is packed away, bike is in my dorm, room mate left with her mother. Thank goodness I'm on the third floor, the first is going to flood, everyone knows it. I have my list of emergency contacts, and I have seen the emergency food. And I'm not drunk or even drinking, unlike others on campus. Alcohol, college students,water front property and hurricanes; bad combination.(If you're wondering, home is in MN, thats why I'm staying put.)

The wind picked up around sun down, but the last two days have been beautiful, thanks to the high pressure outside Isabell. Looking at the very latest from nhc.noaa.gov I'm a little freaked about flooding more than anything.

I'm not used to having DAYS to wait for a storm to get to me, and the waiting is driving me a little crazy. With tornadoes, they come out of nowhere with 10 min warning and are gone within a half hour. This is so drawn out!!

Thanks for letting me freak a little. Be safe everyone!!

~lizz

[WillyT]

6. More Coming Ashore Radar !!!

.......

And...



Wow...

[inthecorneroverhere]

19. Rain in Raleigh beginning

Looks like Raleigh's getting the first bands of rain now -

[lanlady]

7. still a beautiful evening in No. VA

n/t

[Fatima]

8. Checking in from Chesapeake (just west of Virginia Beach)

and the wind is beginning to pick up...

Mike Seidel from the Weather Channel is shivering in his Land's End rain jacket at the oceanfront.

They had mandatory evacuations in parts of Va Beach and other parts of the state today, and soon the bridges and tunnels will close.

Tourists fled by the thousands. We get a lot of folks who come down after the Labor Day crush.

Local universities moved students from the residence halls to places further west of here.

The Navy "bugged out" and all day Tuesday you could hear the roar of jets overhead as they took off from NAS Oceana (I work near the base). About 40 ships went to sea.

We are ready with plenty of water, munchies, flashlights and batteries. Gonna suck to lose the Internet though.

I will try to get pics of the scene outside my door and the aftermath and put them on my page.

Fatima, waiting for Isabel with plenty of chocolate

[youngred]

9. Foggy Bottom DC checking in

this could be fun

[proud patriot]

12. Be safe

:hi:

[youngred]

15. Hey PP

I don't plan on going out....much.

[ewagner]

10. Good Luck folks

Be safe.

Best thoughts are with you from central wisconsin.

[WheresWaldo]

13. older thread from few days back

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=191297&mesg_id=191297

[MrScorpio]

14. Hampton VA in the Hizzouse

I hear a little wind, but right now all is quiet.

Still waiting.

OBTW. I'm staying off the computer starting tomorrow.

[arwalden]

39. We Took My Grandmother OUT Of Coliseum Park Nursing Home...

... and moved her to "higher ground". My brother and his family got out of the Buckroe / Fox Hill area because of flood warnings.

I hope your hurricane adventure is a safe one.

== Allen

[5thGenDemocrat]

44. As a former troop at Fort Monroe (Phoebus) VA

I'm adding my best wishes for the Tidewater area.
Your brother is in Buckroe, Allen? Jeez -- that's due north of the old fort.
John
And the whole area is, like, two feet above sea level. Maybe less by now.

[electricmonk]

16. SW Virginia here

It all depends on the track for us either a breezy day with rain showers or dangerous flooding. The ground is saturated so any rain over an inch is going to cause flooding here and since we are in a valley lots of rain can cause major problems. Not too concerned with the wind since the mountains will block a certain amount of them depending on where you are. Over 3000 feet it could be a problem down in the valley not so much. Right now the forecast is half an inch to 6 inches of rain and winds up to 40 mph. It's the 6 inches that worries me. Here's what 2 inches did back in February.

[Dookus]

17. Good luck everybody!

Us Californians are thinking about you. Stay safe.

[Booberdawg]

18. Be safe everyone

I'll be thinking of all of you from Iowa. :hi:

[radfringe]

20. Northeast PA

local weather forcast is for 20-40mph winds, 1-2 inches of rain

but I think we will see more rain than that from the way my neck/shoulder has been and is aching

Local forcasters don't expect the Susquehanna River to flood, but there is a strong probablity of local streams/creek flooding

the big concern is tree toppling because the ground is so saturated from the rain we've had over the past couple of weeks

Isabel is moving at 13mph now, so while weather maps are showing that it's going to hit us late tomorrow morning/early afternoon - I think we'll see her sooner

[SoCalDem]

21. Stay dry as best you can..

Can you brace your tree, so that it does not fall "your way"???

BTW.. I showed my husband the first orchid pic.. He was duly impressed :)

I am so excited about seeing them together.. My son & his wife will be very appreciative.. A housewarming gift to your child should be a special thing that no one else could ever give them, Thanks for helping me achieve that :):)

[playahata1]

28. Are you in the Lehigh Valley area?

Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton? I have family in Easton, and I'm worried because of all the rain that has already come down there.

[Zuni]

22. I'm shit out of luck

I live on the water, off the chesapeake. I am gonna be swimmin today.

[inthecorneroverhere]

23. be safe -

Be safe and get to higher ground if you have to! Floodwaters can rise rapidly in some situations -

[buddhamama]

24. be safe everyone

and be sure to check in when you can.

will be thinking of y'all.

take care!

[SoCalDem]

25. WWAY in NC has a good site.. NC'ers check it out

http://www.wwaytv3.com/

[Hubert Flottz]

26. 10 inches of rain expected in parts of north eastern WV!

2 to 4 inches here, but I live on the bank of a river that heads up in an area that will get hit hard, if the storm tracks as predicted! 20 to 40 mph winds expected here Friday morning!

I have a son and 3 grandkids in inland NC!

[WillyT]

27. Kick !!!

:kick:

[WillyT]

29. A Couple Of Pix:

.......

[WillyT]

31. And A Curent Satellite Shot:

.......

[Don_G]

30. Dimbo Won't Escape

Current predictions are 5+ inches at Camp David with the storm passing directly overhead. If we're lucky, Limpwad is visiting and we can actually "Flush Rush" and the stump at the same time.

[bikebloke]

32. Northern Virginie/DC

I was phoned last night and told the office would be closed today. This morning, seeing it was still dry, I hopped on my bike and rode in to the office. I wanted to pick up something in case I needed to pitch in from home tomorrow (with my old steam powered PC). Though breezy, I've plowed fiercer head winds. Auto traffic was Sunday-ish. According to the radar, the wet is due to strike in another hour.

[spinbaby]

33. The wind is backwards in Pittsburgh

Here in Pittsburgh, weather usually blows in from the southwest. Today it's cloudy with a light breeze blowing from the northeast.

We're getting major rain and blowing later on tonight.

[WillyT]

34. Current Radar Shot:

Link: http://www.intellicast.com/Local/USLocalWide.asp?seg=StormCenter&loc=kclt&prodgrp=RadarImagery&product=Radar&prodnav=none&pid=none

Weather Channel worried about storm surge coinciding with high tides, and movin up the Chesapeake. Hopefully they are not hyping along with the CNN crew.

Then again, hopefully they are.

:shrug:

On edit: Why they own SUV's... apparently.

[WillyT]

35. Current GOES East Shot:

.......

[catpower2000]

36. Fredericksburg, VA...it's, uh, raining...

that's about it. People are freaking out though. :shrug:

[Mr. Brown of MD]

37. The rain has started in the Baltimore area

It just started to rain about 15 minutes ago. Not supposed to stop for quite a while.

Doesn't look like we will get the worst of the winds, though, so I'm not terribly worried.

-CollegeDude
Going outside at some point

[WillyT]

38. First Storm Fatality:

<snip>

ATLANTIC BEACH, N.C., Sept. 18 — Hurricane Isabel’s 100-mph winds lashed North Carolina’s Outer Banks islands Thursday as the storm moved toward the mainland, where hundreds of thousands of people have already lost power. A man drowned in Rhode Island when he was swept away by fierce waves.

<snip>

Link: http://www.msnbc.com/news/961894.asp?0cm=c20

.......

On edit: Damn, they closed the Metro in D.C. Too!!!

[Darranar]

40. Wind and rain, here!

It's gonna get worse...

[arwalden]

41. My Power Is Out!!! I'm sitting here in complete darkness.

No... wait a minute. The computer is still working and the cable internet connection is still live.... OH!

The lightbulb to the ceiling fan blew out.

Never mind!

-- Allen

[WillyT]

42. LOL... I Always Post In Complete Darkness !!!

No distractions that way, ya know???

Bad Allen... :spank:

[WillyT]

43. Weather Channel Just Reported Some Good News...

Apparently some dry air is being sucked into the storm from the south, and that, with the speed of 17 mph, is supposedly gonna cut the rains down to 1\3 of what it would have been if had kept plodding along at 8 mph!!!

Here's hoping that they are correct!

.......

[Don_G]

45. Strange

Dry air in Florida?

[WillyT]

46. Now That You Mention It.... Yeah, huh ???

They showed some weird upper atmosphere graphic (color coded, so that the drier air went from orange to reddish), and said that Isabel was folding that air mass into its cyclonic mix, and was making it drier than anticipated.

But...

What the hell do I know, LOL!!!

:hi: Thanks for the great PM pix!!!

[Darranar]

47. I'm going off now...

my computer just turned off and back on again, and I don't want it to happen again.

Bye, everyone.

[WillyT]

49. Be Safe Darranar, And Check Back In When You Can !!!

Peace!

[Darranar]

60. This is temporary...

just checking back in for a few minutes. The worst is still to come here. In the morning I'll try to post again.

[goobergunch]

48. Checking in from the Philly suburbs

Current storm total rainfall is 0.06 inches. Rain began to fall at about 3 PM. Breezy.

[meow2u3]

68. Philly's getting socked by winds!

I even heard a real powerful wind gust break a window on my block!:wow:

[Renew Deal]

50. NY, NY

It's windy and cloudy. We are about 4 hours away from the beast.

[renegade000]

51. Washington DC...

Scattered showers with some wind...heh

[Ivory_Tower]

52. Breezy and rainy in Maryland/DC (what a surprise)

Power is still on, it gets kind of gusty, but so far it hasn't been too bad. I understand we're supposed to get the worst of it overnight, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Still have power, so I figured I might as well keep the computer up for as long as I can.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

53. We're starting to get some moderate gusts of wind...

The worst is supposed to be between 8-10pm EST tonight (College Park, MD area). We've had a couple of power blips already, and I suspect we'll eventually lose power completely later on.

Fortunately, most business establishments are already closed, so my crazy 16 year old couldn't go to the mall even though he wanted to...

Time to fix dinner...Be safe, y'all! :-)

[short bus president]

54. nary a problem

here in North-central NC. Looks like I've seen the worst of what I'm gonna see, and I've been playing online through it all day. Only one little cable blinkout when someone at Time Warner sneezed. Don't even get to crank the generator. <sniffle>

On the other hand, YAY! House still here!

[comsymp]

64. We've been laughing at The Weather Channel all day

Keeps showing the local forecast as 1/2" rain w/gusts up to 30- meanwhile the yard is under a couple inches of water in most places and 100' oaks are bowing @ >45 degrees.

But other than that and a few minor limbs down it's been pretty harmless. Spent most of the day on the front porch and only lost power for about 30 min.

Dunno if Koko or any other Triangulars are online but my mom says it hasn't been very bad there either.

[short bus president]

67. sis in Raleigh lost power for awhile this afternoon

it's back on. Folks down the road in Hillsborough are in the dark now, but it's just a local fallen tree problem that Piedmont Electric apparently can't be arsed to fix. Isabel is no Fran, that's for damn certain. I'm pretty grateful for it, too.

[haele]

55. Our Virginia Beach office (corporate) just got knocked offline...

The downside is that our company is on electronic accounting - including timecards, payment of vendors, billing and recieving, etc... and the file servers for all forms is at VB corporate. Since right now, my main job is to track purchasing and expidite logistics for the work out here, that's basically taken all my tools away - and hopefully, they'll be able to get the servers back up later this week, or I'm out of a job and going home without pay for a few days.

The upside is that for once, the corporation actually looked after us worker-bees, and had rushed Finance to get the bi-weekly payroll out early this week, and we all got paid today instead of waiting to see if they survived to get the payroll out Friday.

Keep dry, you folks to the East. Hope y'all are able to ride the storm out "in a sturdy boat, not a leaky one..."

Haele

[mvd]

56. Some wind and moderately rainy, but..

not bad so far. I'm sure it will be worse. The hurricane is taking a track pretty far to the west, though. They did close schools tomorrow in this district, but others are trying to delay. Weird that kids that live very close to each other can have different outcomes where school is concerned.

[WillyT]

57. Kick !!!

I hate how ya can't ask people if they're out of power when they are out of power!!!

:eyes:

750,000 in VA without power at the moment.

<snip>

More than 750,000 households in Virginia were without power this afternoon, as Hurricane Isabel pummeled the Atlantic coast with hard rain and bracing winds and began traveling northwest toward the Washington region.

Most of the outages -- just over 600,000 -- were along the coast in the Norfolk area, while 140,000 homes lost power in Richmond and neighboring suburbs, according to Dominion Virginia Power.

Forecasters predicted that the brunt of Isabel would strike the Washington area after sunset tonight, and that the storm should depart by late morning on Friday.

<snip>

Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29296-2003Sep18.html

.......

[WillyT]

58. Everybody Surviving Ok Out There ???

:shrug:

[Mr. Brown of MD]

59. Having a blast

I was outside playing football earlier, when it was windy and rainy but not too windy and rainy.

We've lost power once, will probably lose it again but hopefully not while I'm awake.

Right now it is pouring and winds are 35mph, I hear they are supposed to get up to 50mph. I'm probably going to go back outside when they do.

-CollegeDude
Hopes everyone else is okay

[WillyT]

61. Where Abouts Are Ya ???

:shrug:

Sounds like a fun time, glad to hear it!

[Mr. Brown of MD]

63. Outside of Baltimore

Southwest of Baltimore, in a dorm built in the 1960s. I'm not worried about property damage. Maybe if the storm had hit our area with worse parts of it, but this is child's play. Or rather, college kids' play.

-CollegeDude
And we do well

[TheDonkey]

62. Shippensburg PA checking in!

I never thought I'd be in Pennsylvania and have to worry about a hurricane haha. But we are just getting moderatley wet and some wind but not too bad. It is supposed to get worse later tonight.

Shippensburg is directly south of Harrisburg or right above Haggerstown Maryland if curious!

[youngred]

65. What a bust!

It's not even raining in DC (yeah I know its not supposed to hit for a bit, but c'mon).

People here don't know what real weather is!

[WillyT]

66. Latest Radar Image:

Looks like Robertson's Lynchburg is gonna get wet!!!

Link: http://www.intellicast.com/Local/USLocalWide.asp?seg=LocalWeather&loc=kdca&prodgrp=RadarImagery&product=Radar&prodnav=none&pid=none

He deserves to get soaked, but not the rest a y'all!

:shrug:

[PittPoliSci]

69. we just got a flood/high wind warning...

here in Pittsburgh. other than that, nothing to report other than i love storms.

[flama]

70. Florida's relieved!

But we understand the people who go outside to watch the storm. I got to hear a tornado in the middle of a tropical storm just because I was standing in my driveway watching the whitewater go to the street. ;-)

That said, I can empathize with the people in this story:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32406-2003Sep18.html

May everyone ride out the storm safely - and maybe get some good pictures.

[WillyT]

71. Think Some Of These Folks Are Out Of Power ???

DU as seen from space!



Posting seems to be a tad slow today, especially in LBN!!!

:shrug:

[Darranar]

72. Well...

I jusr got my power back, after around 14 hours without.