Hurricane Michael check-in thread October 10, 2018 10:58 AM Subscribe
Hurricane Michael has become a beast. Just want to know people in its way are safe.
Friends of the family live in Pensacola, and departed for Mississippi in plenty of time. I hope they have somewhere to go back to: they're not young, and rebuilding would be very difficult.
Stay as dry as you can, all.
posted by wenestvedt at 12:31 PM on October 10, 2018
Stay as dry as you can, all.
posted by wenestvedt at 12:31 PM on October 10, 2018
Yeah, what the heck? Usually they overhype the hurricane: OMG, there's a tiny tropical depression, it's going to destroy the east coast! Now all of a sudden, we wake up and it's almost a category 5? Yikes. Stay safe!!
posted by Melismata at 12:57 PM on October 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Melismata at 12:57 PM on October 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
I had a text conversation with my sister in Tallahassee about an hour ago; they had just lost power but otherwise she was in good spirits.
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:00 PM on October 10, 2018
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:00 PM on October 10, 2018
For all those going through this horror-show, you've got a transplanted Floridian in Seattle pulling for you. Holy crap but that is a monster, radar shows it covering a span that took me 6 days to bike across in July. That's a lot of territory under threat by a single storm.
A lot of North Florida may get a bit hilly, but I can attest as someone who's pedaled across the panhandle that that area is flat flat flat. Good luck everyone.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 1:04 PM on October 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
A lot of North Florida may get a bit hilly, but I can attest as someone who's pedaled across the panhandle that that area is flat flat flat. Good luck everyone.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 1:04 PM on October 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
Friends of the family live in Pensacola, and departed for Mississippi in plenty of time. I hope they have somewhere to go back to: they're not young, and rebuilding would be very difficult.
Pensacola is on the good side by a decent margin. Unless they are on the water and face flooding I bet they'll be ok. I hope they are my friend. My parents aren't far from there on the Alabama side of that state line in Baldwin County and they're perfectly fine with not even much rain thus far.
posted by RolandOfEld at 1:29 PM on October 10, 2018
Pensacola is on the good side by a decent margin. Unless they are on the water and face flooding I bet they'll be ok. I hope they are my friend. My parents aren't far from there on the Alabama side of that state line in Baldwin County and they're perfectly fine with not even much rain thus far.
posted by RolandOfEld at 1:29 PM on October 10, 2018
Take care friends.
posted by yoga at 1:39 PM on October 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by yoga at 1:39 PM on October 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
In somewhat upbeat news, my buddy from college* who is one of the meteorologists in New Orleans got to ride on the latest Hurricane Hunter flight into the eye of the storm a few hours ago. I am not sure how to link the post here but it is the top story on his facebook page at the moment and features a pretty neat view of them flying through the eyewall. Here is a quote from the Air Force pilot he flew with,
"I’ve flown in Ivan, Katrina, Rita, and Sandy. Not to mention dozens of others in over ten years of flying. This was the worst turbulence I’ve ever flown in”
*He's a really, really great guy that is a *perfect* fit for New Orleans and I know his station monitors his social media presence so if you use the facebook these days feel free to follow him and like his posts if you are so inclined. /pepsiblue
posted by RolandOfEld at 1:39 PM on October 10, 2018 [9 favorites]
"I’ve flown in Ivan, Katrina, Rita, and Sandy. Not to mention dozens of others in over ten years of flying. This was the worst turbulence I’ve ever flown in”
*He's a really, really great guy that is a *perfect* fit for New Orleans and I know his station monitors his social media presence so if you use the facebook these days feel free to follow him and like his posts if you are so inclined. /pepsiblue
posted by RolandOfEld at 1:39 PM on October 10, 2018 [9 favorites]
stolen from someone in r/tropicalweather: From NWS discussion on October 8th:
"Michael's steady intensification over the past 48 hours in the face of 20-kt westerly shear defies traditional logic. Either the shear calculations are unrepresentative or Michael has become more inertially stable due to its large eye and large outer wind field, making it more shear resistant."
This explains why people didn't have as much notice - they didn't expect it to be able to strengthen as much and as quickly as it did
posted by brilliantine at 1:44 PM on October 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
"Michael's steady intensification over the past 48 hours in the face of 20-kt westerly shear defies traditional logic. Either the shear calculations are unrepresentative or Michael has become more inertially stable due to its large eye and large outer wind field, making it more shear resistant."
This explains why people didn't have as much notice - they didn't expect it to be able to strengthen as much and as quickly as it did
posted by brilliantine at 1:44 PM on October 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'm still in the path, in Charlotte. The eye or what's left of it should pass just south of us tomorrow afternoon. By that time it should be down to just windy rain. I'll play it safe of course but I'm not anticipating much trouble from it, nothing like those along the coast are going through. I'll check in later, once I'm clear.
posted by scalefree at 2:15 PM on October 10, 2018
posted by scalefree at 2:15 PM on October 10, 2018
I'm supposed to be flying into Charlotte Friday evening...so far the flight hasn't been canceled but I'm wondering about possible flooding.
Stay safe, scalefree!
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:20 PM on October 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
Stay safe, scalefree!
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:20 PM on October 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'm posting from St. Louis, but my sister is in Lynn Haven (just north of Panama City proper). Last contact with her was around noon. I'm sure it's going to be several days until she has power (assuming her house is still inhabitable) but I'm definitely hoping cell signal is restored soon. I did find a pic (allegedly) of the High School she lives down the street from and there was some significant damage, but it didn't look like there was any serious flooding.
posted by Ufez Jones at 4:54 PM on October 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Ufez Jones at 4:54 PM on October 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
Waffle House has already closed 30 restaurants.
posted by elsietheeel at 5:05 PM on October 10, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by elsietheeel at 5:05 PM on October 10, 2018 [6 favorites]
Friend in tally is fine. Slight roof damage, few hurt orange trees, lots of cleanup so he's content. Here in the extreme NE of Florida it is quite pleasant.
posted by RolandOfEld at 5:10 PM on October 10, 2018
posted by RolandOfEld at 5:10 PM on October 10, 2018
I'm in Tallahassee. 100k without power, and we were VERY lucky because the storm kept going North and never quite turned as much East as expected. It's one weird, monster storm.
We have the generator going, and it's actually kinda pleasant at my house at the moment. We're eating all the ice cream and waiting for power. It may be a week. I'm hoping they mostly get our power fixed before going southwest because the roads are still a total mess. But we'll see. I'm trying to be patient!
posted by PearlRose at 6:55 PM on October 10, 2018 [3 favorites]
We have the generator going, and it's actually kinda pleasant at my house at the moment. We're eating all the ice cream and waiting for power. It may be a week. I'm hoping they mostly get our power fixed before going southwest because the roads are still a total mess. But we'll see. I'm trying to be patient!
posted by PearlRose at 6:55 PM on October 10, 2018 [3 favorites]
I'm supposed to be flying into Charlotte Friday evening...so far the flight hasn't been canceled but I'm wondering about possible flooding.
Didn't really see any flooding with Florence & that dumped crazy amounts of water on us. As long as you stay away from low lying areas you should be fine.
Stay safe, scalefree!
Thanks, will do. Safe flight.
posted by scalefree at 11:28 PM on October 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
Didn't really see any flooding with Florence & that dumped crazy amounts of water on us. As long as you stay away from low lying areas you should be fine.
Stay safe, scalefree!
Thanks, will do. Safe flight.
posted by scalefree at 11:28 PM on October 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
My folks finally heard from my sister in Lynn Haven this morning. She and her dogs are safe at a neighbor's who has some cell service. Some damage to her home, but nothing major, all things considered, although she said her neighborhood is "pretty bad", whatever that means.
That was a nerve-racking 20 hours.
posted by Ufez Jones at 7:35 AM on October 11, 2018 [3 favorites]
That was a nerve-racking 20 hours.
posted by Ufez Jones at 7:35 AM on October 11, 2018 [3 favorites]
I believe that my power and my wifi are back. If there are any meifites in the region that need some A/C and internet in Tallahassee, my door is open -- we were stupidly lucky.
posted by PearlRose at 9:09 AM on October 11, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by PearlRose at 9:09 AM on October 11, 2018 [6 favorites]
A big mess in Atlanta after a lot of wind and rain last night, but I slept through it all. We desperately needed rain, but it's usually better to not get it 4 inches at a time. Otherwise, no real damage, thank goodness. I haven't heard from my family in Middle Georgia. I suspect that they don't have power.
posted by hydropsyche at 9:55 AM on October 11, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by hydropsyche at 9:55 AM on October 11, 2018 [2 favorites]
I have a cousin in Tallahassee and a fallen tree completely smashed her house and her husband’s car in half. Thankfully they had evacuated to her inlaws’ house but I have no idea if they have any sort of home insurance.
posted by CrazyLemonade at 2:25 PM on October 11, 2018
posted by CrazyLemonade at 2:25 PM on October 11, 2018
I'm still in the path, in Charlotte. The eye or what's left of it should pass just south of us tomorrow afternoon.
Storm's past, sunny skies this afternoon. Had a few flickers of brownout to the power this evening but that's about it. You never know how these things will go, I'm quite thankful Michael didn't take a zig or zag & put Charlotte more directly in its path.
posted by scalefree at 8:42 PM on October 11, 2018 [3 favorites]
Storm's past, sunny skies this afternoon. Had a few flickers of brownout to the power this evening but that's about it. You never know how these things will go, I'm quite thankful Michael didn't take a zig or zag & put Charlotte more directly in its path.
posted by scalefree at 8:42 PM on October 11, 2018 [3 favorites]
eustatic posted some really helpful links to bleeding edge sat images from hurricane michael aftermath. Possibly useful for folks who have homes in the covered areas. Just fyi.
posted by RolandOfEld at 6:25 AM on October 12, 2018
posted by RolandOfEld at 6:25 AM on October 12, 2018
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Stay safe everyone.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 11:07 AM on October 10, 2018 [4 favorites]