Hurricane Thread

[Blazer85]

Batten down the hatches, Mobile. We have our first hurricane of the year. Dennis is officially now a hurricane with winds of 80mph. It's expected to strengthen to a Category 3 or higher and current projections indicate it coming right into Mobile Bay.... again.

[Blazer85]

Now up to 130mph (just 1mph short of Category 4 status).

[Blazer85]

Now up to 150mph and a strong Category 4.

[monsoon]

Wow, this is terribly powerful for a hurricane this early in the year. We always watch these gulf hurricanes as they have a way of ending up in Western NC.

[bobliocatt]

Luckily it decreased in size as it got closer to the coast. I must say it was pretty funny seeing the faces of the hotel clerks when I went to check out and drive back to Jax, Sunday morning.

[jmanhsv]

My car was crushed by my neighbor's tree. I am probably the only person up here to have damage from this storm.

[Southron]

My car was crushed by my neighbor's tree. I am probably the only person up here to have damage from this storm.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sorry to hear about that man. A few trees fell here as well, but for the most part Dennis was like any other strong thunderstorm in Montgomery.

[Southron]

Hurricane Katrina has come and gone, leaving major devastation in her wake along the central Gulf coast. New Orleans is under water and has significant damage from one of the worst hurricanes in the history of our nation. Much of the Mississippi Gulf coast simply has ceased to exist. Many of the surviving historic wooden structures (antebellum, Victorian) that survived numerous hurricanes over the last 100+ years, including the monster storm Camille, have been flattened by Katrina. I-10 and US Hwy 90 have been severed and are likely months, perhaps a year or more, from complete repair. Mobile suffered the worst storm surge ever recorded in the city.

This long(over 22 minutes), incredible video shows the damage along the Mississippi gulf coast from Long Beach to Biloxi:

http://www.wlbt.com/global/video/WorldNowA...ast%20Damage%20

[Southron]

CrimsonBlake, elb, mobileal1, or anyone else have a first-hand report from Mobile?

[Aessotariq]

I don't know where else to post this, but I really hope that the Mississippi legislature wakes up and gets rid of the stupid law requiring casinos be on the water. Every single casino barge on the gulf was destroyed.

If they are so concerned about gaming establishments proliferating beyond the rivers and gulf, they can easily establish special taxing districts that restrict development to those existing areas.

[tombarnes]

I think we will be seeing this requirement change very, very soon. The casinos are going to give the state an ultimatum, and the state will have little choice but to comply. They will do anything to keep their cash cows mooing. This isn't a case of moralism, but of simple economics. Once the casino cash cow is tapped, it's hard to turn it off. They will do whatever is necessary to rebuild the area, and this includes getting the casinos operational again- as fast as possible.

[sean]

I have an old house with an extra bedroom here in Winston-Salem, NC. I would glady host a family until they can rebuild they lives. PM me if you know of anybody in the affected area who could use a helping hand.