Jun 25th 2012 08:16 am Move over, Ludwig
One of my favorite places in the world is taking it on the chin this morning. That would be the armpit of Florida, although I think the tourism people prefer “Big Bend.” It’s the sparsely populated—relative to the rest of the Sunshine State—stretch of coast between Apalachicola and Cedar Key. Slow-moving tropical storm Debby is centered in the gulf south of Apalachicola, pushing lots of water counterclockwise, into the Big Bend. Even though Debby is not even a hurricane, this kind of almost stationary storm can do a lot of damage. Piers and shoreside buildings are washed away from days of high surf. Major flooding from rain and surge occurs along estuaries and rivers.
In 2005, Hurricane Dennis hit this same area. Dennis was a major storm, but we were told by weather reporters that damage was minimal, because it missed major population areas. I suppose it was, compared to what might have been if the storm had hit a city directly, but I was astonished when I saw for myself a couple of months later. There was a lot of damage of the nature I mentioned above. That damage is being rebuilt even today. I hope the area fares better this week.
Posted by jimmyjohnson / Vintage A&J
20 Responses to “Move over, Ludwig”
Steve from Royal Oak, MI on 25 Jun 2012 at 8:29 am #
Too much rain in Florida, but it is dry throughout the midwest. We are at the mercy of Mother Nature, but we are resilient.
We had a cold front move in up in Michigan and got scattered showers. But it did allow me to run(/walk) a couple of 5Ks. I had not really run much since being told that my hips were bad, but I have been walking 3.3 miles everday for the past 2-3 years. Funny thing is that I went faster than I expected, but the times were about as slow as the last 5Ks of the last few marathons that I ran. Because of my hip condition, my legs felt nearly as sore!
Jim in Daphne on 25 Jun 2012 at 8:54 am #
Days of rain with those stalled storms will get to your nerves. Hurricanes are one of the prices that we pay to live here on the wonderful Gulf Coast.
redagainPatti on 25 Jun 2012 at 8:59 am #
I am praying there are no more deaths from this storm… Had friends down in the area and just got out ahead of the waters.
emeritus Minnesota biologist on 25 Jun 2012 at 9:39 am #
Why is Arlo is more angry at fulfilling his dream than one would expect? Maybe because he’s scared. Be careful of what you pray for; you might get it.
Tom from the Front Range on 25 Jun 2012 at 9:47 am #
It was a weird weekend. I still own a house in Colorado Springs where the Waldo Canyon fire is raging out of control. While my house isn’t near the fire, I have friends who have been evacuated from Manitou Springs and other nearby communities. I’ve been following the fire news via a continuous news stream from one of the Colorado Springs TV stations.
Meanwhile here in the Tampa area where I live now, the TV stations are delivering continuous coverage about Debby. Here on the very north side of town we have experienced minimum wind and a great deal of rain. We are very fortunate in that respect.
So, in one ear, fire and temperatures at record breaking 100+ degrees, in the other, rain and storm damage reports. Weird.
Boise Ed on 25 Jun 2012 at 11:51 am #
Mamma Nature seems to be pretty upset just now.
Redman in "The Big O" on 25 Jun 2012 at 11:52 am #
Apalachicola is one of my favorite places also. Hope that this storm doesn’t destroy the oyster crop in “The Last Great Bay”.
Craig T on 25 Jun 2012 at 2:39 pm #
I came here to comment on the oysters and was beaten to it! I the beds aren’t being messed with.
The last time I was in PCB, which I admit was several years ago, I hit that bar with the big shark out front during happy hour, and they were selling Apalachicola oysters $1.20 a dozen. They were great.
Mary in Ohio on 25 Jun 2012 at 3:40 pm #
“Minor damage”, like “minor surgery” usually means it doesn’t involve you personally. But as one of my farm-wife friends pointed out, the weather service will soon be announcing that, on average, the averages are average.
Lost in A**2 on 25 Jun 2012 at 6:51 pm #
$1.20 a *DOZEN*!? ‘Round these parts Apalachicola oysters are $3.50 EACH, when they are available.
Bob on 25 Jun 2012 at 6:53 pm #
Here in central FL we’ve gotten over ten inches of rain with more on the way. With this sandy soil we will be hoping for more rain in ten days.
Ghost Rider 6 on 25 Jun 2012 at 7:08 pm #
Not that it’s necessarily significant of anything, but the National Hurricane Center says this is the first time four tropical storms have been recorded before July 1 during the Atlantic hurricane season since record keeping began in 1851.
Craig T on 25 Jun 2012 at 9:13 pm #
It may have been $2.40 a dozen, but no more. I think it was around 2004 or 2005. I was just driving by and saw the sign out front.
Jerry in Fl on 25 Jun 2012 at 9:14 pm #
Sunny day with high winds. The switch went off about 6:00 and now it’s calm. I have to drive to central Fl tomorrow and will probably go through bad weather so good luck to me. In today’s news Jimmy Carter woke up from the coma that he’s been in since 2000. I hope that he can read and catch up on what happened since he went to sleep.
John on 25 Jun 2012 at 9:15 pm #
What impresses me, Ghost, is how the NHC always predicts the number of hurricanes for each upcoming season…and how wrong the usually/always are. There was an older gentleman in New Orleans, Nash Roberts, on WWL Television Channel 4 [watch me have to eat my words when I find out he was on Channel 6] who did their weather. The joke was that Nash couldn’t tell you accurately if it was raining or if it was daylight or dark, but that really nice gentleman was a wizard on hurricanes. On numerous occasions he could predict the track of a new storm brewing off the African coast, I kid you not. There were more times than I can count that the NHC said one thing and Nash differed completely…and correctly. As I recall, he had an inherited journal in which a couple of generations of Cajuns/Creoles had recorded weather conditions in the Crescent City going back, as I recollect, to the 1820s. Won’t swear to the dates. Of course, I don’t think they classified “tropical storms” as such back then. Most likely the entries were along the lines, “It’s raining like heck, Cher!” Imagine living there, along the Mississippi, before the levees were built up. It’s dangerous enough now that they are!
Mark in TTown on 25 Jun 2012 at 9:38 pm #
Jimmy, why don’t you see if you can get the syndicate to allow you to have some t-shirts made using the art from the book cover. On the back it could say, if your paper doesnt’ carry this, ask for it!. And put the website on it. We could all pick one day and wear them at the same time. And like Arlo said in “Alice’s Restaraunt”, “…Pretty soon they’ll start to think it’s a movement.”
TruckerRon on 25 Jun 2012 at 10:15 pm #
Why is Arlo is more angry at fulfilling his dream than one would expect? Pride. Gus didn’t ask Arlo a high enough price, so Arlo thinks Gus doesn’t think he can afford a fair price. In his heart, Arlo knows that’s not a fair or reasonable assumption, but pride enables him to be angry when no ill intent was present.
No wonder Janis was rolling her eyes as she left.
Ghost Rider 6 on 25 Jun 2012 at 10:25 pm #
John, I remember Nash Roberts well, actually from when he was with WDSU-TV, prior to being at WWL-TV. (I was a mere child at the time, of course.) As well as being a pioneer in the field of television meteorology, he certainly did seem to have a knack for accurately predicting hurricane paths, notably Betsy and Camille. Mr. Roberts passed away in 2010 at age 92.
As I understand it, much of the historical record of hurricane/tropical storms in the 19th century was interpolated from ship reports. Probably from such things as which way the wind was blowing and how much of the rigging blew away during a storm. Iron men and wooden ships, indeed.
Dave in NC on 26 Jun 2012 at 6:34 am #
Even before Gus’ low price offer, Arlo was angry … at suspicions that Gus wanted a high price for example. It just seems that, when faced with the reality of actually getting his dream boat, he’s panicking!
Debbie in Alabama on 26 Jun 2012 at 1:42 pm #
For the past four years we have vacationed at St. George Island right near Apalachicola. Beautiful spot and somewhat undiscovered. This year we are going to Alligator Point. So glad we weren’t scheduled to go this week. However, our children moved from Tallahassee to Pembroke Pines yesterday with the furniture preceding them by a day. I think they had to swim!