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Originally Posted by Susan G
Just now getting power back here in Plaquemines Parish, LA. (where Isaac and Katrina came ashore!) I can tell you first hand of this "minimal" hurricane. What they did not/could not factor in was the extremely low pressure. Power went out last Tuesday, rain and wind relentless for 2 1/2 days. It beat up the home of our Parish President (Billy Nungesser) that has 2 foot thick concrete walls and is built like a fortress adjacent to the Mississippi River. 12 to 14 ft. storm surge pushed up the River and surrounding bays/bayous and into the area. Seven days later, there is about 6 foot of marsh grass, canes, snakes and dead cows floating in that toxic soup.
I stayed as my employer (Home Depot) has to be back up and running as soon as winds die to provide supplies to repair homes. That will never happen again for a "minimal" hurricane. This will be one for the record books as I'm sure the forecasters will find a way to correctly factor in the pressure.
The new levees held, although there is some early speculation that water was funneled to other areas because of the construction. Corps of Engineers will be looking at all the possibilities.
In closing, as luck would have it, I had to take one more "spanking" from Hurricane Issac before my move to The Villages end of September. My home here was already sold and held up well...others were not so fortunate. In summary, I and other Louisiana residents now know there is NO SUCH THING AS A MINIMAL HURRICANE...especially if it stalls when coming ashore as Isaac did.
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We did see the devastation to Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana on the news....and read about the low barometric pressure.......etc. Horrific damage.
Glad you are safe, as well as your home. You are correct as far as there being no such thing as a minimal hurricane.......as seen earlier this summer on the Gulf Coast of Florida...........whether it was a tropical storm or not.
The Tropical Storm "Irene" that hit Vermont and Schoharie County, New York plus the Berkshires of Massachusetts last August 28,2011 did what only Mother Nature on a rampage could do.....destroyed roads, bridges, you name it. Destruction beyond belief. Little Vermont never makes the news, but it did last August.
I just bought great "picture" books with personal human interest stories on amazon....that brought back those memories of what damage WATER and flooding can do.
"GOOD NIGHT IRENE" Stories and Photos about the tropical storm that devastated Vermont, the Catskills and the Berkshires......awesome pics.
"THE WRATH OF IRENE" Vermont's Imperfect Storm of 2011.....ditto.
I bought extras for "stocking stuffers" for our kids......although they certainly won't fit into stockings.........but a great pictorial history of what the POWER OF WATER / FLOODING / TROPICAL STORMS can do to mountain towns and small villages in Vermont, New York and Massachusetts. There were barns and homes rolling down rivers, cows, horses, you name it..........people lost so much.
Driving up and down our state this spring and summer.........saw the damage that was done........houses still "tilted over", bridges that were washed out being rebuilt.
Talk about "sink holes" in TV.........our roads had HUGE cracks and holes.......where the roads were just MISSING..........that rivaled any sink hole in TV.
When it was happening, people in the MIDDLE OF THE STATE.........the spine of the Green Mountains.....were totally "cut off" from going either east or west.
Since most of their jobs were either east or west........you can imagine. They ended up WALKING down the mountain or using all terrain vehicles to get "out and about" via the woods........it was definitely something else to see the damage up close and personal...........our town had flooding near the rivers, but we were up high and dry, thankfully.
The power of rushing water is fierce. The wind was not a problem.
AGAIN, GLAD YOU ARE SAFE !!!!!!!!