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.

wrote in
ups.com:

Nonsense.

I agree.

Just like 2-stroke outboards......If you listen to the greenies, every lake
in the country should be about knee-deep in motor oil by now. We've been
pouring it in since the 2-stroke outboard was invented in the early part of
the last century.....

All the energy ever produced by humans is but a speck on the ocean when
compared with the radiation of the nearest star that provides the heat to
fuel life on this planet. Man just likes to THINK he is in control. He is
not.

If we're REALLY serious about doing something about pollution, hell that's
easy! Didn't any of you notice how CLEAN AND CLEAR the air over America
got the week AFTER 9/11/2001 when the goddamned jet planes were all
GROUNDED and not churning out billions of tons of crap, 24/7 over your
house?! Oh, wait, that can't be right. Only pollution from INDIVIDUALS
causes pollution....not big corporations like Delta, United, etc....sorry.

--
Larry

This jerk called my cellphone and was nasty.
Continental Warranty -- MCG Enterprises -- Mepco-
24955 Pacific Coast HWY Suite C303
Malibu California 90265
888-244-0925
Fax: 310-456-8844
Email:
Read about them he
http://www.ripoffreport.com/view.asp...3&view=printer

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