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A Dennis Story
Saturday morn, we thought that Dennis was going to hit Pensacola and
all we would get 200 miles east was tropical storm force winds and maybe a slightly higher tide, So, Saturday morn, I went down to Shell Point (just south of Tallahassee) and tied my boat a little better, secured some dinghys and came home. Sat evening and Sunday, we had tropical storm force winds here in Tallahassee, some falling limbs but our power never went out once, no big deal. I never see TV and the radio in my truck doesnt work and the internet was down so I had no idea of the damage. Got to work this morn and got a call from a relative of my technician Karl sayoing he had not heard from Karl since Fri eve. Karl lives on his old Hunter 27 at St. Marks just south of Tallahassee and on Fri he had been talking about anchoring out in the Wakulla River. I figured I better go check on him and check on my boat too. Got to St Marks to find the town had been flooded by a 10' surge and he sherriff would not allow me in but took Karls name. I drove over to Shell Pt, about 8 miles west and on the way saw Karls car so we stopped and talked. Sat night, he spent on his boat but Sun Morn the water began to rise rapidly. He went to put his car on higher ground and the water had risen so fast he was unable to get back to his boat, then he was unable to get back away from the marina. He climbed on top of the bait shed and waited for it to recede and spent the night atop the shed in the rain and wind. I told him to call people to tell everyone he was ok. Later in the after noon, he actually shows up for work!!. Apparently, St Marks really got hit bad by the surge. Many boats destroyed. Karls says there is seaweed all over his boat somehow as if a large wave inundated it (St Marks is 5 miles upriver from the open Gulf. At Shell Pt, I encountered a lot of standing water, a lot of debris but all boats at flaoting docks were ok. My dock came within 1' from flaoting free and my finger pier had broken free. I had tied it to the pilings as someone here had reccomended (Thanks for the advice). Small Holder sailboats still on trailers belonging th the Sea Scouts had been carried into the nearby marsh. I could see much damage closer to the open water (I am about 3 blocks back in a canal). I just saw a video on Fox taken at Shell Pt of a ground level house blasted clean by the surge. There are many mobile homes just above ground level that probably had damage but I did not want to add to anyone misery by gawking so I just went back to work to find Karl working and complaining how tired he was. What a slacker! |
So what are we supposed to learn from this? That some stupid idiot almost
lost his life because he refused to obey the evacuation orders? I'm glad that he survived and the boats were fine, but there were emergency personel who could have lost their lives trying to protect someone who didn't obey orders. Sorry if I'm not impressed that he made it to work. -- Geoff |
I do not defend his actions. I'd never stay on my boat in that
situation. He's a good technician so I am glad he's ok. |
Geoff Schultz wrote:
So what are we supposed to learn from this? That some stupid idiot almost lost his life because he refused to obey the evacuation orders? I'm glad that he survived and the boats were fine, but there were emergency personel who could have lost their lives trying to protect someone who didn't obey orders. Sorry if I'm not impressed that he made it to work. Was Tallahassee under evacuation orders? I had the impression that just the lower Keys and the panhandle were at risk. grandma Rosalie |
On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 02:01:57 GMT, Rosalie B. wrote:
Geoff Schultz wrote: So what are we supposed to learn from this? That some stupid idiot almost lost his life because he refused to obey the evacuation orders? I'm glad that he survived and the boats were fine, but there were emergency personel who could have lost their lives trying to protect someone who didn't obey orders. Sorry if I'm not impressed that he made it to work. Was Tallahassee under evacuation orders? I had the impression that just the lower Keys and the panhandle were at risk. grandma Rosalie Sign the Kyoto protocol on global warming - or its going to get worse |
Nonsense. I am a Florida native and remember the early 60s when we
seemed to have many Hurricanes. My parents also Fl natives say the same. Looking at tracks of all tropical storms and hurricanes since 1851 shows no inscrease in storms. We have simply had a 30 yr window of few storms that has ended. People just forgot what normalcy was. |
Tallahassee, St. Marks or Shell Pt did not have evacuation orders.
Tallahassee is simply too far inland and the storm was not expectd to really impact St. Marks or Shell Pt. History really should be a guide here. Both St. Marks and Shell Pt sit at the tip of broad shallow south opening Apalachee Bay, a perfect scenario for extreme storm surge. The earliest recorded storm surge was int he mid 1500s when the Spanish fort at St. Marks was destroyed by a 20' surge. In the early 1800s, Port Leon just downriver from St. Marks was destroyed by a storm surge. In the mid 1800s, numerous deaths were caused at the St. marks light when people took refuge in the lighthousekeepers house and in the stairwell of the lighthouse. People less than 20' up in the stairwell drowned. I have heard that there are indications of a 28' surge on very old trees some time in the past. I once read of indications in inland dunes of a 30' surge just to the west hundreds of years ago. |
As someone that has evacuated from a couple of hurricanes (and ridden out a
couple), I can tell you it is no fun at all being stuck in traffic, not knowing if you'll get away in time. My greatest fear is to be stuck on I-95 with my family when even a catagory 1 storm hits. When we get an evac order, we don't get any advice on where to go. For each storm last year our decades old highway system was a parking lot, and the hotels filled to capacity as far away as South Carolina. I don't know for a fact, but would bet that all the evacuees didn't make it to the mainland from the FL Keys before Denis passed by. If you haven't been through it, please lighten up. Guy was probably doing the best he could. As the man said "You buys your ticket and takes your chances". wrote in message oups.com... I do not defend his actions. I'd never stay on my boat in that situation. He's a good technician so I am glad he's ok. "Geoff Schultz" wrote in message 6... So what are we supposed to learn from this? That some stupid idiot almost lost his life because he refused to obey the evacuation orders? I'm glad that he survived and the boats were fine, but there were emergency personel who could have lost their lives trying to protect someone who didn't obey orders. Sorry if I'm not impressed that he made it to work. -- Geoff |
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