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Hurricane Sally

Discussion in 'Non-Vegas Chat' started by MikeOPensacola, Sep 17, 2020.

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  1. MikeOPensacola

    MikeOPensacola El Jefe

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    Power just got restored. :woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo:

    I just wanted to take a quick moment to let VMB Nation know that I'm alive and well in Pensacola. Power just got restored and cell service only within the last hour.

    Anyway, I just logged on and noticed I had PMs from several of you and about a dozen texts and a few voice mails from VMBers. Thanks for all your support; I'll definitely get back to you when time allows.

    No major problems. Actually, a few funny things happened along the way. When time allows I'll post some pics and give a few details of Hurricane Sally.

    :peace: :beer:
     
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  2. win4me

    win4me VIP Whale

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    I am happy to hear that you are okay @MikeOPensacola :licklips: Pensacola took a drenching!
     
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  3. Mudhen

    Mudhen Always in Dutch

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    Glad to hear you survived. Are you near the coast, or a little more inland? I used to live off of 9 Mile Road.
     
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  4. Richard Alpert

    Richard Alpert LOST

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    It's great to see your post, @MikeOPensacola!
    I'm glad you made it through Sally! :D

    RICHARD
     
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  5. NCAAHoops

    NCAAHoops VIP Whale

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  6. flyguyfl

    flyguyfl MIA

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    90 mph winds and 20 inches of water in a hurry can't keep Mike down.
     
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  7. Valgal

    Valgal VIP Whale

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    Glad you are okay. I’ll send you some emergency/survival pack Twizzlers.
     
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  8. jamesxnj

    jamesxnj VIP Whale

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    Good News !!
     
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  9. amk121

    amk121 VIP Whale

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    Thanks for the update Mike! Glad you are ok.
     
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  10. RedRiverRose

    RedRiverRose VIP Whale

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    Glad to hear you are okay. Fill us in when things have settled down.
     
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  11. davehughes123

    davehughes123 Low-Roller

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    When I saw that Sally was pounding Pensacola, my first thought was of Mike, which is a little weird because I've never met nor really interacted with him on the board. Anyhow, Mike, I've always enjoyed your trip reports (and Hugo Boss jackets) and am glad to hear you're doing well. Stay safe!
     
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  12. Breeze147

    Breeze147 Button Man

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    Great news, Mike. Glad you are safe.
     
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  13. KellyLovesVegas

    KellyLovesVegas Earthling/retired space nerd

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    Thanks for letting us know you are safe!
     
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  14. MikeOPensacola

    MikeOPensacola El Jefe

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    Weird, weird, weird hurricane. This was the sixth hurricane I've been through in Pensacola and it was, by far, the oddest of them all.

    Hurricane Sally had a really bizzare track as it approached land and had meteorologists and all of us Gulf-coasters in a guessing game right up until the end.

    4891F1F3-18A7-4665-823F-A30B3FCB590A.jpeg

    It was really frustrating watching Sally hovering in the Gulf, crawling along at only 1-3 mph, just knowing she was picking up a lot of energy from the shallow warm waters of the Gulf. After she stalled out it didn't take too long fro TS Sally to become Hurricane Sally. She dumped a helluva lot of rain on the Gulf coast with Pensacola receiving anywhere between 20-34 inches of water, depending on which part of town you live in that was a huge swing. I live very close to the airport and they estimated that we took in 28.14 inches on this side of town.

    The other thing that was kind of interesting was that this storm hit at the exact same location and on the same date that Hurricane Ivan hit in 2004. Hurricane Ivan devastated Pensacola and it took the city about 18 months to get cleaned up and back to running normal again. Fortunately, Hurricane Sally would prove to be much less of a menace.

    FC6C8A4C-3945-4214-B620-A738BFD99B67.png

    I live far enough inland, and at a high enough elevation, that I really don't have to worry about tidal surge or flooding. With any hurricane my major worry is the wind. Most people worry about the flood surge but I had a good chunk of my roof blown off from Hurricane Ivan, as a great portion of Pensacola did, so I really worry about the wind. It looked like the wind wasn't the main concern with this storm but you never really know until everything blows over.

    Anyway, it rained most of Monday night, all day Tuesday and going in to Wednesday morning I along with my GF, Trina, and her Boykin Spaniel named Prince (as in the artist formally known as.....) were glued to the TV watching the hurricane coverage. Power went out at about 1:15 am and the eye wasn't due to hit for a few hours so I decided to get a few hours of sleep. I use a CPAP when I sleep so when there is no power I always have to be very careful about how I sleep. My GF told me to get some sleep and she would wake me if my breathing acted up. So, Prince snuggled up to me on my couch and I was in the land of nod despite all the hell that was breaking loose outside.

    Just like Hurricane Ivan, Pensacola was in the absolute worst spot in respect to the eye of the hurricane. The east side of the eye wall is the spot where the winds are the strongest, especially the northeast quadrant of the eye wall. (Whenever a hurricane hitting your area is imminent you're always praying to anything that is holy to be on the left side of the storm) The winds started really amping up at about 4:30 am and we were in the thick of it for the next three hours with winds in the 100 mph range. Hurricane Sally made landfall about 30 miles west of Pensacola at around 4:45 am in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Again.

    The winds weren't nearly as bad as Hurricane Ivan. During that storm the wind made a sound like one of those old freight train steam whistles. Truly frightening. This wasn't nearly that bad - the best analogy that I can come up with is that it sounded like there was passenger jet revving up its engines for takeoff right outside of my condo. The worst winds, in about the 100 mph range, lasted a couple of hours and then everything got absolutely dead quiet. As it turned out there were very few feeder bands on the back end of the storm so once the eye, to the west of Pensacola, passed the winds died down considerably. We had maybe an hour where gusts of wind, lasting about 15 seconds or so, would rattle the trees, but after that it was basically crickets. No more wind and just a mist of rain - almost like a fog for the rest of the day and it was eerily quiet. No wind, no EMS sirens, nothing but those damn magnolia tree pods falling.

    This could have been worse and we dodged another bullet. Power got restored within 48 hours, we didn't get injured and the only property that we had damaged can easily be replaced. I didn't see any broken windows or roof damage near my place. Compared to what the West coast is going through I can't complain at all.

    My GF is an archeology professor and moved to the states from Romania several years ago. Her English is impeccable but she still has a fairly thick accent and when she cusses it still cracks me up a bit. Her cuss word inventory is fairly shallow - her go-to word is "bullshit" but it comes out as "boooolsheet!!!!!". Yesterday, right before our power was restored, we were on my patio having some gin and tonics and she told me my 'booooolsheet" beard had to come off. (In her defense I've been growing this thing since last December and with the COVID outbreak I just said the hell with it and let it grow despite its' 'crazed mountain man' appearance). She went down to her condo and grabbed a set of trimmers and it only took her about two minutes to shave it all off. When she got done she said, "There, no more booooolsheet beard."

    I did not take any of the below pictures. Most, if not all, are from the Pensacola News Journal.


    Downtown Pensacola besieged by 3' of standing water.

    DD6C7C83-1F07-4628-8CC9-360F1BDB087C.jpeg


    A portion of the recently completed Pensacola Three Mile Bridge that had some pretty bad damage from a barge that got loose from its moorings.


    3CF99905-4DE4-44B6-9ED8-F68751D65E56.jpeg


    2154EABC-33B1-4DD3-9A05-360F5E3BDF21.jpeg




    The Flora-Bama Lounge, which straddles the Florida/Alabama state line, survived yet another hurricane. It is unbelievable what this place has been through over the years. They've been on borrowed time for many a storm......


    56DD9DC7-CFAA-4946-B41C-F4AFF0DE6E07.jpeg


    If this guy, Jim Cantore from The Weather Channel, shows up in your town during August or September it does not bode well. He is great on TV but if he is anywhere close to you during hurricane season its a pretty bad sign of things to come.


    455BA8E6-A513-46A6-98D2-083BD145992D.jpeg

    There are 100s of interesting photos in this link from the Pensacola News Journal.

    https://www.pnj.com/story/news/2020/09/16/penscola-bay-bridge-hurricane-sally-damage-repair/5820536002/

    When I read this story it absolutely broke my heart.

    https://weartv.com/news/local/missing-man-in-escambia-county-last-seen-in-a-boat-during-hurricane-sally

    This link provides a story about an incredible rescue that took place. Definitely worth a read.

    https://www.pnj.com/story/news/2020/09/17/hurricane-sally-perdido-key-community-shocked-sally-strength-thankful-no-one-died/3484398001/

    And finally, one of those "A Florida man" photos that put a big grin on my face.....
    There is just something about this guy that says he's making the best of a bad situation and even in while in dire straits things will turn out fine. Love this pic.


    72BE827C-CA23-4F60-8D12-074C927195EF.jpeg

    :peace: :beer:
     
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  15. bubbakitty

    bubbakitty Doing retirement again and happily so....

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    The bad ones always come when it’s dark!!! At least that’s the worst I remember as it was just noise. Glad you came out fairly unscathed.
     
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  16. Geogran

    Geogran VIP Whale

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    So glad to hear all is well with you. Thanks for sharing some interesting yet scary pics, laughing at the booolsheeet. :haha:
     
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  17. KellyLovesVegas

    KellyLovesVegas Earthling/retired space nerd

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    I had the same thought the night Hurricane Ike stormed ashore near Galveston. We had evacuated to north Tx and watched Jim Cantore broadcast from the Clear Lake Hilton - a hotel that was about 2 miles from our house. (We were so relieved when we returned home to find our house with a few shingles missing over the garage and tree branches/leaves in our pool.)

    I'm glad you and your family weathered the storm.
     
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  18. flyguyfl

    flyguyfl MIA

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    Thanks for all the details Mike. We have been through many hurricanes too and it looks like you came out pretty good. Nice to hear the long I-10 bridge was left undamaged.
    Sounds like the power company did a good job. I heard that different companies had 7000 crews out working AL and FL.
     
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  19. Sonya

    Sonya Queen of VMB

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    LOL! Yes. If Jim Cantore is setting up in your neighborhood, EVACUATE!! EVACUATE!! :haha:
     
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  20. MikeOPensacola

    MikeOPensacola El Jefe

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    Indeed. Nothing but great things to say about Gulf Power. They always do such a great job after these storms. Big props, as well, to all the power companies from adjoining counties and states that sent help this way. :clap:

    One other thing that I forgot to post. These battery powered fans are worth their weight in gold. They take 6 D cell batteries. The battery powered lanterns are also extremely nice to have around.

    051629AF-8405-45E1-A98B-A2E38EAA8A5E.jpeg

    C03E1338-0F3F-4778-9CF9-401899D542FD.jpeg
     
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