The predicted track on Sunday. (I made hotel reservations in Tallahassee Monday morning.) A closer track prediction on Tuesday convinced me it would probably be ok to stay.Here are a couple shots around my house, although it's a mess, there are few downed trees. Compared to some shots taken of the same area after Opal, and you can see the difference: Although not as bad as Opal, it was still pretty wild. I'm glad I decided to put plywood up on the east windows, I doubt they would have survived the onslaught of debris. Pine cones at 70 miles an hour can pack quite a punch. I did step out a couple times during the night on the west side of the house, which is protected by the garage and a large overhang. The Magnolia tree in the front yard, which has about a two foot trunk, bent over so far the tips touched the ground and the roots popped underground. At the height of the storm the rain really isn't rain, it's a mixture of sand and salt water. As a result there are little sand dunes everywhere. It's going to be tough to get all that sand back down on the beach! Overall, a pretty humbling experience. Here are some other pictures from in and around Sandestin, the beach side community I live in:
That's not supposed to be there: Watch that first step: The boardwalk below normally steps out onto a white sand beach. This shot was taken 24 hours after the storm. At the height of the storm, I would have been standing in about 5 - 10 feet of water. Hurricane humor: What used to be a parking lot and boardwalk. The parking lot used to come right up to the back of the building that's still standing. It's hard to see but there's about a 15 foot drop off too the beach where the pavement ends: Another boardwalk and restaurant: I'll try to get more pictures down by the beach in time and put them up here. Right now everything is still sealed off to protect people's property. A number of beach homes were torn up pretty bad. The price you pay for living right on the beach! Top 10 things to do after the hurricane passes: #10 - Categorize your CD collection by touch #9 - Search for obscure radio stations that don't play AC-DC #8 - Study the science experiment growing in your refrigerator #7 - 'Borrow' your neighbor's flat screen T.V. #6 - Violate the curfew so you can spend one night in an air conditioned jail #5 - Fall asleep to the soft pure of your neighbor's portable generator #4 - Think up stupid Top 10 lists #3 - Play jump rope with downed power lines #2 - Look forward to the insurance company writing you a check #1 - Drink warm beer! |