Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 02:18 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 1 words, total size 1 kb.

Well, we're still bewildered that we have power. No one in our immediate area aside from our neighborhood and an adjoining road does.

Most of the early part of today was spent cleaning up the yard.

This afternoon, I drove over to Newport News and later Virginia Beach to check on friends who weren't answering their phones...they are OK, modern landline phones don't work with no power.

Along the way I noted the damage, which consisted of a lot of blown down trees and missing signs.

Now, the storm lasted a LONG time here. It spawned tornadoes and its surge, which was abnormally high for storm of its intensity, came at the highest tide of the year. There was also a LOT of rain.

That..being...said...
As hurricanes go, this was a pretty gimp event.

This is Virginia, which happens to be in the coastal southeast. We are going to get hurricanes. I don't think that sustained hurricane force winds were actually recorded at ground level in Virginia. We actually endured a CAT 0.8. Such a storm ought not to have left just under a million people without power. It ought not to have collapsed a bridge. We wasted all that money on bailouts, and in the stimulus, and we didn't do jack for the actual infrastructure. Given the disruption and damage caused by this"hurricane by technicality", an actual CAT 4 or 5 storm would not have just left almost a million without power, it would have left nearly as many dead and shut down the whole state.

These were all lessons that ought to have been learned after Isabel. We've had 8 years.

It should be noted however, that there were some good points.  The storm drains which had been such a colossal failure during Isabel and Floyd and contributed to so much flooding, seemed to work very well this time except in areas that were very low lying anyway...and physics comes into play there.   So there was one civil engineering win.

In other good news, all that rain surely put out the fire Great Dismal Swamp so we don't...wait...what?...OH YOU ARE KIDDING ME!1!!

Grrr...Fires, earthquakes, storms...if there are suddenly swarms of bugs I'm gonna...

Oh good grief...

^{Bugnadoes!? In MY neighborhood?}

They don't show up well on the Blackberry camera but that's how thick the bugs are right now.

I'm off to work.

I hope everyone else is safe.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 12:06 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 401 words, total size 3 kb.

It looks like flooding will continue to worsen in Chesapeake for a time, but aside from severe thunderstorms, the possibility of tornadoes and the strange phenomenon of the wind being worse in what should be the least dangerous quadrant the worst seems to be over or us.

The same can't be said for the rest of the country. Remember, we were having a mild drought when these rains came, the Northeast has been soaked already. The huge rain on saturated ground and the possibility of an 8 foot storm surge and a high tide arrival is going to be a very rude awakening to Northeasterners.  The storm is already reorganizing and strengthening a bit as I type this. Weather Nerd has more. 

North Carolina and Virginia took a hit but those still in its path may well get the worst of it.

If you are northeast of here, this storm is NOT spent and it is coming toward you.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 08:38 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 162 words, total size 1 kb.

The storm is now offshore, but she held the worst waited for last. WNIS, which is broadcasting from Dominion Tower, is reporting the Elizabeth River is now topping the Norfolk seawall, financial district flooded. Dominion Tower parking garage is flooded. 
Caller reports hip high water in Fox Hill in Hampton.
Water mains have broken in Norfolk.

UPDATE: Nags Head reports that Albermarle Sound is overflowing and breaching the barrier island west to east....this will sweep everything out to sea.

UPDATE: Governor McDonnell  sez: 877,470 without power. 3 Deaths confirmed 1 in Richmond area. ALL major bridges and tunnels out of commission.

UPDATE: The storm is 30 miles offshore but the wind is the worse yet. House is shaking.  Radio reports Tidewater Drive is impassable. 6 inches of water in back yard. Reports on radio indicate LOTS of flooding.

UPDATE: I've just been informed that Wonderduck has better flooding pics.

 UPDATE: Wind sounds like thunder. Lights flickering. Sounds like branches are breaking. Bizarre that we get this now.

UPDATE: Radio says Midtown Tunnel not reopening. Great.

UPDATE: Radio says Richmond and Fredricksburg have a really large number of power outages.

21:41 UPDATE: The storm is more than 45 miles off shore and Naval Air Station Oceana STILL reports 69MPH wings in the "safe" quadrant. We've been getting the worst winds of the day since the storm passed offshore.

21:50 UPDATE: Radio Weather Dude says that the storm is strengthening as it passes over the water which is why we are getting more wind. There is a posibility that the Midtown Tunnel may open by Monday.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 07:21 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 267 words, total size 3 kb.

Portsmouth announced a curfew...to go into effect after the worst has passed.

The Portsmouth curfew was in effect as of 8 p.m. and was to be lifted at 8 a.m. Sunday. No person shall be on any public street between those hours unless for an emergency or essential purpose or operation of a business, the city said.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 06:47 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 62 words, total size 1 kb.

Info comes via WNIS.

No other info, but my commute to school from work has gotten longer.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 05:21 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 23 words, total size 1 kb.

We had a break in the storm about an hour ago and as part of my overall policy of making bad decisions I ran out to move my car (which was being menaced by a steadily listing tree) and drove around the neighborhood for a few minutes.

15 -21 inches of rain is what they're saying.

Everything smells like rotting fish.

702,413 reported without power in VA. Our neighborhood is an anomaly that is not likely to last long.
 
The break in the storm is well and truly over. The winds are picking up rapidly and the rain is again coming down in sheets.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 05:06 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 108 words, total size 1 kb.

This doesn't concern the storm, but it's of concern nonetheless.

If the R.O.U.S.s team up with the C.H.U.D.s New York is in trouble.
via

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 02:02 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 29 words, total size 1 kb.

This should not be news but...In marked contrast to The Weather Channel, the local network affiliates and the local Talk Station  (AM 790 WNIS) are doing a stellar job of reporting the situation. Dave Parker the Talk Host is a consummate professional.

Weather Nerd is doing a fine drama free coverage of this on a national level.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 01:55 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 58 words, total size 1 kb.

2 tornadoes have touched down in Sandbridge, a lowlying area of Virginia Beach near the NC state line containing the northernmost of the sounds and barrier islands. A caller on the radio reports considerable damage. The area is in the no go zone, no responders will be sent till after the storm passes.

Tornado warnings a bit ago in Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk but they have been lifted.

Via 790AM WNIS: Brookridge Apts in Newport News has been stove by a tree. A child is reportedly pinned.
UPDATE: Chid is dead.

Winds are picking up substantially.

350,000 380,000 without power.

Caller on radio reports Blackwater River is flooding the town of Franklin which suffered so much in Floyd.

5 hours till maximum winds. It looks like the dead center will pass right over us. There is expected to be a 7 foot storm surge or greater and will coincide with high tide.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 01:07 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 153 words, total size 1 kb.

Aiee.
There is rain.

Wind here is 15-25 knots. Weather Channel dude is on TV in nearby VA Beach dramatically "staggering" against the gale.

Weather Channel meteorologists, the mimes of the 21st century.

_{Actual video of Weather Channel meteorologists.}

Caller on the radio from Kill Devil Hills (which the Weather Channel reports devastated) reports terrible carnage amongst the islands pine cones. The storm is serious but not catastrophic. They really needed to stop overhyping the wind angle once it became clear it was not a major wind event. This will only cause people to ignore them in the future.


Note though that there IS rain...a LOT of rain;  really impressive rain that has been remarkably steady for hours.
I do expect inland flooding to be terrible.
Irene's jaundiced eye should pass over in 5-7 hours, nearly coinciding with high tide. Coastal flooding is going to be as bad as Isabel or worse.
This is going to be bad enough without the winds,...
...or the weather mimes.

100,000+ without power already including the next neighborhood over. We'll loose it here soon enough.
I'm going to go get what may be my last shower for a few days.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 11:35 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 197 words, total size 2 kb.

With the storm almost upon me I feel the need to confess something I have been holding back for a couple of years.

I...

I liked Pani Poni Dash.

It is a terribly stupid, pointless show but every bonecrushingly inane episode made me laugh. Worse, as the jokes reference everything from Matango to Scott Pilgrim, the fact that I understood many of them is a damming condemnation of my wasted life.

Also: Taeko explains much about the world.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 05:34 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 80 words, total size 1 kb.

The storm is a cat 1 as I type this so the worst fears won't be realized. Though the eye is still over 100 miles away, it is POURING here and has been for several hours. The street is already completely flooded and nearly impassable. I've moved my car into the driveway of a neighbor who evacuated.

Being half over the water, the storm is still able to pick up lots of moisture, so this Floyd type rainfall may continue up north, where they really don't need any more rain. That and the huge storm's surge are likely to be the most dangerous things.

I still expect to loose power once the winds get here.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 04:25 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 122 words, total size 1 kb.

Today was spent running around getting the last few items secured in the yard and adding to our stockpile of petrol for the generator. This last was a minor adventure as there was no longer any gas to be had in our part of Portsmouth. I went to Newport News and on the way back saw a Hawk on I-164 get thwacked by a car and knocked into the service lane.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 11:56 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 171 words, total size 1 kb.

My Mom had cataract surgery yesterday. While not major surgery, it did involve the eyes, and, with everything else going on it was an unwelcome stress for her. She had also developed this terrible fear that there was going to be another earthquake just as the knife was applied. Today my Dad took her in for her post-op and the operation seems to have been a complete success.

The Bahamas got hammered terribly. Much worse than one would expect from a category one storm in a hurricane savvy area. However it appears that there were NO deaths!

While it seems to be strengthening a tad overnight and has hurricane force winds over an unusually large area, the storm looks to be less intense than feared.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 11:42 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 128 words, total size 1 kb.

Yeah yeah yeah, impending storm and all that...
...but you know what jumps out to me on this latest NOAA map?

Qaqortoq stands a chance of getting hit by a tropical storm. That just ain't right.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 06:28 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 37 words, total size 1 kb.

One good thing about the approaching hurricane. It will probably put out the huge peat fire in the Great Dismal Swamp which has been stinking up Southeastern VA periodically (dependent on wind direction). Some days its seemed like pea soup fog, but it's really smoke. It smells like wet dog with a hint of charcoal. This has gone on for weeks. 

Here's how it looks from the International Space Station:

...and here's how it looks going into the Monitor Merrimack Bridge Tunnel when the wind is blowing from the swamp.

Some days it's like living in Silent Hill.

So, this month we've had fires, earthquakes and now the hurricane.

Soon...

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 06:14 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 113 words, total size 1 kb.

UPDATE: For some reason the Blackberry Browser does not recognize anything in the "make a post page" of Me n' You except the post title field.

Anything posted after power goes out will be posts disguised as big wordy titles.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 03:23 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 42 words, total size 1 kb.

In the comments to an earlier post Steven Den Beste asks about the situation in the Bahamas. I've heard very little except that the storm has been slowly moving up the archipelago. I'm beginning to think this is because not much news CAN get out. The only pic I've seen is from Weather Underground It purports to be taken in Nassau this morning.  It does not look good. 

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 08:25 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 72 words, total size 1 kb.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 02:38 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 132 words, total size 1 kb.