AUGUST 25, 2005
For the past few days, we have been watching a tropical wave come towards So Florida. Yesterday late, it developed into a Category 1 hurricane, named Katrina. Today, it is forecast to come ashore between Ft Lauderdale and Boca Raton, with winds barely over 75 MPH, but with a lot of rain.
The morning of the 25th was beautiful to behold. Sunny with a light breeze gave no hint of what was to come. Since the projected landfall was 75 miles north of us, Medequip, where I work, determined it would be a normal work day. I had 2 appointments that afternoon, the first would be to get my feet measured for my annual pair of free shoes (diabetic style), and then visit Dr Dirk, the dentist, for a deep cleaning. When I got to the foot place, it was all shuttered up. Hmmm, what do they know that I don't?
Dr Dirk was able to see me 1 hour early, so I headed there. It was beginning to rain and get windy. When I left Dr. Dirks, it was raining very hard and a lot breezier. I got home and went out in the rain to close the shutters on the front of the house. At this point in time, the storm was going along the track just as predicted.
I checked the weather again, all was OK. Then at 9 PM, the electricity went out. No problem, I'll open the bedroom windows and go to bed. The breeze was cool coming in and the rain was not too heavy, so I went to sleep. About 3 AM, it began to get nasty out. The wind was blowing quite hard, and the rain was coming in the windows. So I closed the windows and went back to sleep. But all through the rest of the night, my sleep was interrupted by heavy rain and wind and strange noises from the outside.
I got up about 5:30 to check the weather on my battery operated TV. It seems that when Katrina came ashore, instead of turning north, she turned south. So what I had heard during the night were the noises caused by a Category 1 hurricane. The eye had passed just a little to the north of me, but I was getting the full wind and rain that occurs in the southwest quadrant of a storm. When it was light enough to see, I went out to see what had been damaged. I lost most of a Pink Tab tree, and the Travelers Palm was in sad shape. My banana grove was just about destroyed. The roof was missing several tiles. Across the street, Angel and Susie had a big palm tree lying across their driveway, where Angel normally would park his car. But he put it in a neighbors drive way and it didn't get damaged.
The whole of Mansions Cove, where I lived, had a lot of trees down. The Lakes of the Meadows had streets flooded and many trees down also. The storm dropped 15 to 20 inches of rain on South Dade, so many areas were under water. The shops in Homestead along Krome Ave had 1 ft of water inside. 1.4 million people were without power. Most had no phone service either. I was included on both counts. Plus, cell phone service was very iffy.
Friday I fired up my new generator long enough to keep the freezers and refig cold. I grilled a steak for dinner. I had plenty of ice, so I was able to keep hydrated. Most of the day was spent with my machete, trimming branches and hedges for the community trash pile. I helped my neighbor move his palm by hooking it up to my 4WD and moving it to a better position.
On Friday night, I slept in the front bedroom, since it provided the best ventilation. About 2 AM, I awoke to the sound of the power coming back on. Oh Joy! I cranked the AC to cold and went back to my own bed to sleep as late as I could. I still had no phone service, but that would come back on Sunday at 10 AM.
Today is the 29"h, and South Florida is slowly getting back to normal. However, once Katrina reached the Gulf of Mexico, it grew into a Category 5 hurricane and headed for New Orleans. Again, at the last minute, she turned away from the projected path and spared New Orleans the brunt of her force. Biloxi and
Gulfport, Mississippi are the victims today. She is slowly moving inland to the northeast and will visit my family in Nashville, and my buddy Sam, in Pittsburg. I think my friend, Bob Lakey, just north of Memphis is feeling a little right now.
Katrina was the first real hurricane to affect me since Andrew in 1992, almost occurring on the same dates. But this one was a pussy cat, here in So. Florida, compared to Andrew. But it taught several lessons- don't assume it will track the projected track and get gas for the generator as soon as the season starts. You may need it.
No comments:
Post a Comment