Hello, Helene...you b%*%$ (Short Ed Musings, Noah-inspired)

[Hey-O]

The death and destruction from this storm is unbelievable and I have no idea when these storms will ease up in the future. Aside from the deaths, as if that isn't enough, is the financial toll on every single person in its path. This will crush families to the breaking point.

As we speak, almost half of the homes in America are at risk of severe or extreme damage from environmental threats, affecting nearly $22 trillion in real estate. For really the first time ever, we’re seeing a widespread trend of homeowners doing a cost-to-benefits analysis of insurance and deciding to drop insurance all together. It’s estimated that a staggering 15% to 20% of Florida homeowners lack homeowners insurance. It’s unclear how much damage Helene wreaked across the Southeastern states, but homeowners should be prepared. This is devastation of biblical proportion, that I truly hate to see..............Prayers sent...

 

[Speedbird]

As though east GA wasn't hit bad enough with a tropical storm slash hurricane.
When life imitates art.

Rockdale County chemical fire: GDOT reopens I-20 in both directions
Plume From Chemical Plant Prompts Evacuation of 17,000 People
Rockdale County chemical fire: Newton Co. Schools closed Monday due to potential Biolab impact

 

[Just Send It]

I don't think people understand the scale of the devastation from this storm.

My wife went to Blowing Rock, NC in 2022 to look at real estate for us. Many of the areas that she visited are still underneath flood waters with no ETA of when services will be restored.

It's very sobering to see an area that you're familiar with get completely destroyed. This storm is going to hurt for a long time.

 

[Hey-O]

I don't think people understand the scale of the devastation from this storm.

My wife went to Blowing Rock, NC in 2022 to look at real estate for us. Many of the areas that she visited are still underneath flood waters with no ETA of when services will be restored.

It's very sobering to see an area that you're familiar with get completely destroyed. This storm is going to hurt for a long time.

Buying on higher ground and looking at the 1000 year flood information is going to be the new normal. I've done it for years. In terms of probability, the 1,000-year flood has a 0.1% chance of happening in any given year. Our new reality. Just imagine the cost of building materials after this! It's depressing...

 

[moparedtn]

Buying on higher ground and looking at the 1000 year flood information is going to be the new normal. I've done it for years. In terms of probability, the 1,000-year flood has a 0.1% chance of happening in any given year. Our new reality. Just imagine the cost of building materials after this! It's depressing...

Personally speaking, choosing to set up a homestead where I did (hundreds of feet above the nearest creek, backed by
a forested/rocky ridge) will always keep us out of flood waters - but that doesn't do a thing so far as being able to get
out to town - or for having anyone get to us in time of emergency.
After damn near a foot of rain the previous two days, I was actually out on the tractor by yesterday - we're well-drained
up here, so I'm not concerned so much about property damage from an event.
What the concern is winds up being like it would be anywhere at any elevation - being able to access needed provisions
(especially things like the scripts that keep my mangy *** alive).

 

[Cranky]

Well, I'm back finally. What a day...
First, I am VERY grateful we're safe here - it's our 22nd anniversary. Great day for a hurricane, eh?
That said, the entire region has been inundated with truly record-breaking rainfall and damage from winds.
There are multiple dam failures, mandatory evacuations of entire towns, power outages everywhere....

We lost power this morning and when I checked into reporting the outage, the system informed me that
pretty much the entire county was also out! To make matters even worse, the repair crews of our co-op
(the best crews are right here) were out there in full force in driving rain trying to fix everything - and one
casualty amongst their ranks resulted, unforunately.

Verizon had already declared a loss of service to the area before today and of course, Spectrum cable soon
followed suit as well, so communications from the home base was basically zero - so I headed out to town.
The carnage along the way was truly depressing - 200 year old trees uprooted, multiple roads blocked, houses
damaged, vehicles crushed and ALL the interstates and highways between us and North Carolina closed!!
(A chunk of I-40 actually collapsed into the Pigeon River - looked like a scene out of a movie).
I made sure the wife was ok at work and reported the power outage in person at the co-op, then headed back
home to start my own repairs...

The Trent Lane Highway Department (me) cleared trees, dug new trenches for drainage, repaired the gravel roads
and got drowned by more monsoons whilst doing so.
I got up the ridge finally and not having much faith in the restoring of power, proceeded to lay out all the power
cords in the house for fridges, computers, lights, etc. and got the generator fired up and running.
I just got sat down, soaked from both rain and sweat, with a cold drink, generator chugging away....
and the power came back on.
Sumbeech....of course it did.

It was a two shower day for me for sure, but again - wife and I are blessed and fine up here on the ridge.
No significant damage to anything, too. Just really fortunate - there's so many suffering right now.
Y'all see that hospital in Erwin, TN that had to be evacuated by HELICOPTER from the rooftop?
Holy Snikeys!

Personally speaking, choosing to set up a homestead where I did (hundreds of feet above the nearest creek, backed by
a forested/rocky ridge) will always keep us out of flood waters - but that doesn't do a thing so far as being able to get
out to town - or for having anyone get to us in time of emergency.
After damn near a foot of rain the previous two days, I was actually out on the tractor by yesterday - we're well-drained
up here, so I'm not concerned so much about property damage from an event.
What the concern is winds up being like it would be anywhere at any elevation - being able to access needed provisions
(especially things like the scripts that keep my mangy *** alive).

I'm thinking that living in the areas that might could become a rushing river is going to take on new meaning. When stationed in Germany, I wasn't too far from the Moselle River. Very beautiful but every road that led to the river in that area was through a valley on the way down from the base. Used to think about what would happen to the establishments along those roads in case of a major rain event like we get here from time to time. When Hurricane Harvey came through here, it was this area's THIRD 500 year event in THREE years!!! And the Houston area was even the hardest hit. There were areas around here that never flooded before and it amazed me how some areas north of I-10 got flooded by 10 feet that also never flooded before.

Anyways, since we're pretty flat, we don't experience the rushing waters in very many places but the coast sees a lot of storm surge damage. Hurrican Ike was huge but lost a lot of punch as it got closer to land and it still pushed in a 10' surge. I'm plenty far enough away to not experience any of that but might have got flooded by rising water if Ike would have been a really wet storm. TS Allison filled up the county flood control ditch behind my place but Harvey got it just barely over half full. And now there's probably over 200 new homes on the other side of that huge ditch.

And glad y'all are ok and happy anniversary!! I got flooded for the 1st time at my old place 2 weeks after getting married to my 1st wife lol

 

[Hey-O]

Personally speaking, choosing to set up a homestead where I did (hundreds of feet above the nearest creek, backed by
a forested/rocky ridge) will always keep us out of flood waters - but that doesn't do a thing so far as being able to get
out to town - or for having anyone get to us in time of emergency.
After damn near a foot of rain the previous two days, I was actually out on the tractor by yesterday - we're well-drained
up here, so I'm not concerned so much about property damage from an event.
What the concern is winds up being like it would be anywhere at any elevation - being able to access needed provisions
(especially things like the scripts that keep my mangy *** alive).

I live in town, in a development that could NEVER flood. Not one mile from my house is everything I need and getting there is not a problem. Well drained, they're out there right now aerating and overseeding my yard. Things like this are not supposed to happen, many that have never seen water like this are at a loss, it's sad. My concern is that this may be the new normal, to a degree anyway. I'm not talking about global warming, I know nothing about that and don't really care. We have all this great technological knowledge, but yet we have dead spaces in the ocean from all the crap we throw in there, out of site, out of mind. That's like sh*ting in your pants and it no big deal, till it runs down and ends up on your shoes, then it becomes a problem, really!!

 

[CherryBomb]

Floridian here, St. Petersburg out in the Tampa Bay area. The eye cruised right on by us miles off to the west, but the storm surge absolutely wrecked us and all the surrounding coastal areas. Thankfully I live in a neighborhood lovingly nicknamed "Mount St. Pete" for it's unfathomable 45 foot above sea level elevation (lol).

That said, literally every person I have talked to has a personal friend of family member that lost their home, myself included. My brothers home had 32" of water throughout it, and he lost two vehicles. His neighbors have lived in their home since 1983, and have never seen more than a few inches of water in the street. The communities are coming together in a big way with neighbors helping each other all over. Really heartwarming to see after such a mess.

 

[Charles Cook]

This is the Congaree River outside of my office window. 30’ above normal level. It’s coming over it’s banks in a lot of places.

 

[Charles Cook]

This is one time that I'm glad I work on the 3rd floor.

 

[moparwacko]

My old employer is sending 105 Bucket trucks, 45 Digger Derrick trucks, 4 pole hauling rigs (loaded), and all support. 200+ Lineman, 50+ support personnel,etc.
They are in route to Johnson City Tn., and or Boone Nc.

I sort of miss it.
Godspeed to them, and safe returns.

 

[Speedbird]

40 years ago I worked with one of the old timers from Miami. An electrician .He told me two things relevant.
Three things counting what what he said about houses there. That they tied the blocks together by pouring into the block voids.
1. Miami was cooler before they built high rises that blocked the ocean breeze.
2. Sooner or later the Big One would come.
Wisdom also told us years ago beach houses should only have disposable furniture in them. That was the rule.
Flat Florida is one thing but this last flood I finally heard a retired metrologist here say something about construction and impermeable surfaces In our hilly area.
In our local 2009 flood that's one thing nobody talked about.
Development and construction money. Water has no were to go. There's cause and effect no one wants to hear.
30 years ago our real estate mayor pushed a mall here They destroyed wetlands and had to.get approval to divert a creek. People fought it.
The mall is just about vacant now and in the doctor's office tody I heard a guy on the phone talking about Macy's and what to put in "a million square feet".. Assumed the mall.
Yet other green spaces here are being cut down as I type this. "Commercial development".
Not making that up.

 

[moparedtn]

My old employer is sending 105 Bucket trucks, 45 Digger Derrick trucks, 4 pole hauling rigs (loaded), and all support. 200+ Lineman, 50+ support personnel,etc.
They are in route to Johnson City Tn., and or Boone Nc.

I sort of miss it.
Godspeed to them, and safe returns.

Godspeed and God bless them. It's been pretty incredible, the armies and fleets of help pouring into the region from afar.
Of course, those residents here already who have the provision to do so are ignoring the officials' calls to delay any
repairs and/or rescues and they're just going about business themselves.
There's a Mennenite community in one area south of here whose only access bridge was wiped out - who promptly whipped
out all their big equipment and just built a dang dirt road right over the large creek, sticking a culvert under it in the process.
The gov't showed up and fussed some, of course.

 

[Budnicks]

Ashville NC was decimated by the floods...

sad **** to see

stay safe people, Mother nature is one cruel B_I_T_C_H

People say leave the west & move east my friends, NOT
sorry no thanks, I'm not dealing with that crap
(annual floods & huge annual tropical storms, then hurricanes &/or tornadoes)
almost all east of the Mississippi river...
Almost every damn year, it's something somewhere back there
either where they are or near where they are...

Sad to see it happen too

I truly feel bad for people that relocated
&/or didn't know or didn't do their due diligence, prior to a big move...

 

[moparwacko]

My old employer is sending 105 Bucket trucks, 45 Digger Derrick trucks, 4 pole hauling rigs (loaded), and all support. 200+ Lineman, 50+ support personnel,etc.
They are in route to Johnson City Tn., and or Boone Nc.

I sort of miss it.
Godspeed to them, and safe returns.

Update, 75+ more Lineman from projects in upstate NewYork. Every available truck and tracked diggers and swamp equipment are being sent. 4 tractor trailer loads of hardware, and approximately 3-5 trailer loads of available wire are also on the way. The word from the host utility is plan on 6- 8 weeks for just the first wave.
This is one of the largest mobilization of utility workers I've seen in quite a while.

 

[dadsbee]

I've read a few places, from "boots on the ground" that kids are going around looking for their parents, 100's missing.

 

[Cranky]

Godspeed and God bless them. It's been pretty incredible, the armies and fleets of help pouring into the region from afar.
Of course, those residents here already who have the provision to do so are ignoring the officials' calls to delay any
repairs and/or rescues and they're just going about business themselves.
There's a Mennenite community in one area south of here whose only access bridge was wiped out - who promptly whipped
out all their big equipment and just built a dang dirt road right over the large creek, sticking a culvert under it in the process.
The gov't showed up and fussed some, of course.

Let the gooberment fuss.....citizens get things done pronto anyways.

 

[Budnicks]

I've read a few places, from "boots on the ground" that kids are going around looking for their parents, 100's missing.

That part is truly sad...

 

[moparedtn]

Ashville NC was decimated by the floods...

sad **** to see

stay safe people, Mother nature is one cruel B_I_T_C_H

People say leave the west & move east my friends, NOT
sorry no thanks, I'm not dealing with that crap
(annual floods & huge annual tropical storms, then hurricanes &/or tornadoes)
almost all east of the Mississippi river...
Almost every damn year, it's something somewhere back there
either where they are or near where they are...

Sad to see it happen too

I truly feel bad for people that relocated
&/or didn't know or didn't do their due diligence, prior to a big move...

Again, this was a 500-year event. Nothing like it has EVER happened in this part of the country,
so I have no idea what the hell you're talking about?
I'm 30+ years in this stint here (formerly, a 20 year spin in the DC suburbs) and both sides of my
family are from here - I was born in this state, no less - and contrary to whatever you're on about,
it's been one heck of a long stint of normal, uneventful life here, surrounded by true salt of the earth
type people.

I wouldn't trade the location or the people for where I was before - either DC or Atlanta.
There's simply no comparison, which is why the region is such a drawing card for young folks who
want to escape the hell of urban life. The most tech-savvy generation does plenty of "homework".
"Feel bad" for these folks? No, it's the other way around actually...

In fact, there HAS been a large intake in this region of people from places up north and out west.
Typically younger folks - and in many, if not most, cases, they've decided to live in RV's, tiny houses,
things like that. Not camp in them - they set up permanent residence in them, typically in RV parks
and such.
Problem with that, of course, is that when a truly historic, first time ever event occurs like Helene,
their stuff isn't exactly storm-resistant.

You like it where you're at? GREAT! Everyone should find a place in this life where they feel like
they belong.
To be honest, we've got enough here anyways.

 

[moparedtn]

I've read a few places, from "boots on the ground" that kids are going around looking for their parents, 100's missing.

Yes, there's many still unaccounted for - but for the constant reading and observing of all the reports
coming out of the badly-hit areas, that statement of yours is a first.